Switching to All Guard Lamb bolus leads to 90% of lambs finished by weaning

sandywil90

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Ruthin
Please delete if not allowed.

Here’s @Al R experience using the ‘All Guard Lamb 4in1’ bolus

Switching to All Guard Lamb bolus leads to 90% of lambs finished by weaning.

“We are so severely trace element deficient here that if lambs are not supplemented by 8 weeks of age their ears will start falling off by weaning.” says Welsh lamb producer Aled Davies who farms at Treginnis in St David’s, Pembrokeshire with his wife Stacey.

Aled has tried numerous ways of curing his trace element problem over the years with varying degrees of success. In 2017 Aled decided to try the Mayo ‘All Guard Lamb’ bolus after they were recommended to him. “Since switching to All Guard Lamb the growth performance of our lambs has been exceptional, all trace element deficiency symptoms have disappeared and our lambs are gaining 350g a day on grass at 14 weeks of age which definitely cannot be achieved without the use of the bolus”, says Aled.

“We start drawing lambs from 11 weeks of age and wean about 15 – 16 weeks’ Aled says. An astounding 90% of our fat lambs are now finished by weaning. We draw at 40kg providing the lambs have good cover, aiming for a carcass weight of 18.5kg deadweight.

‘The Lamb boluses have been a game changer for us, and we’ve recommended them to lots of people. Because they are so small you can easily administer them at 7-8 weeks of age, that’s the secret” says Aled. “I hear people saying they bolus at weaning but in my opinion, you’re missing out on a huge amount of growth potential waiting until then. Get them in early and the lambs won’t be around by weaning!”

“Two years ago, we did a trial where we didn’t give some of the biggest singles a bolus. What a mistake that was, the smaller singles and twins that had received the bolus overtook them and were sold several weeks before those singles that were the biggest at 8 weeks of age.”

The flock comprises of 1500 Glamorgan Welsh mules, Texel Cross and Exlanas. On the back of the success with the lamb boluses, the ewes are now also bolused twice a year with the Mayo ‘All Guard 4in1’. Boluses are administered to ewes in September and again in February.

The Davies’ family lamb mostly outdoors from January until end of April. The farms scanning rate is around 190%. ‘We are introducing more of the Exlana breed into our flock as they require less labour input.

‘We are big fans of the ‘All Guard’ range as they contain such high levels of trace elements, especially Cobalt. Lamb welfare is better as lambs are not showing any cobalt deficiency and are far healthier. They are a firm part of our system and we would not farm sheep here without them now. It’s nice to know that stock are getting a daily, continual supply of trace elements all year round. We’ve finally found a solution to the trace element problems that has caused us big headaches for many years’ concludes Aled.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
I’ve had to Welsh lambs ears curl up and fall off this year thought it was a reaction to dysect do you know what mineral deficiency causes this
It could be cobalt?
These ears have all dried up etc and are looking healthier since bolusing - both of these lambs are charmoise X which are more susceptible and both 1 of a twin which is off a ewe lamb so obviously isn’t getting everything it really needs. Lambs would be 4-6 weeks old when pictures taken.
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C053C7FD-5357-4E30-BC5D-FA2206EB5EBB.jpeg
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I’ve had to Welsh lambs ears curl up and fall off this year thought it was a reaction to dysect do you know what mineral deficiency causes this

Cobalt deficiency typically makes the ears go scaly, and worse in time. Most of Wales has soils deficient in Cobalt, but well worth blood testing a handful to know what you’re dealing with before you go in blindly with any drench or bolus.

Farming Connect have been regularly offering £250 worth of vet testing per holding, which means you could look into it foc.👍 Certainly worth speaking to your vet before a mineral/drench/bolus salesman!
 

Welshram

Member
Thanks for the reply’s started like that then completely curled up like rugby players cabbage ere and fell off never seen it before and only on 2 lambs
 

Guleesh

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Isle of Skye
Check what the skin on the back is like, if it’s all flaky and wool is falling out that could be photosensitisation instead

Could well be, We have a few this year, Known here as 'Yellows' as photosensitivity is caused by a yellow flower called Bog Asphodel. It's very common on some hills around here. I guess you perhaps already know about this, but the question is, Is mineral deficiency a contributing factor to the lambs susceptibility to photosensitisation? or is it just a case of some unlucky lambs eat too much Bog Asphodel and other lambs simply don't?
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Could well be, We have a few this year, Known here as 'Yellows' as photosensitivity is caused by a yellow flower called Bog Asphodel. It's very common on some hills around here. I guess you perhaps already know about this, but the question is, Is mineral deficiency a contributing factor to the lambs susceptibility to photosensitisation? or is it just a case of some unlucky lambs eat too much Bog Asphodel and other lambs simply don't?
I have 1 with bare skin on his back typical of photosensitisation, I’ve never seen Bog Asphodel here at the farm where he is yet 3 mile away at another farm there are some fields covered in big asphodel yet never had a case of photosensitisation over there 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Ive an old MAFF sheep book (1966) which lists St Johns Wort (the wildflower variety?) as plant problem and phenothiazine and carbon tetrachloride as "occasional" contributers to photosensisitation. Are either of the drugs still used in drenches any more?
 

Guleesh

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Isle of Skye
I have 1 with bare skin on his back typical of photosensitisation, I’ve never seen Bog Asphodel here at the farm where he is yet 3 mile away at another farm there are some fields covered in big asphodel yet never had a case of photosensitisation over there 🤷🏻‍♂️

Ewes seem unaffected on the whole, really only a problem for younger lambs, I'd say around 5% on some hills, with ears partially missing and completely gone in the worse cases. I've tagged plenty ewe lambs at weaning time that have only got stubs of their ears left. Curiously the same animals go on and seem unaffected, with some folk maintaining that lambs that suffer from it but survive, go on to be amongst the best ewes in future years.

I have one bit of a hill I graze with a lot of Bog Asphodel, only around 30 lambs on this area, I had them in a couple days ago, 2 that are worse than the one in your pic, and 2 that were much milder- just a bit of curling at the tips really.
 

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