What should I vaccinate sheep for.

Becs

Member
Location
Wiltshire
I get what you’re saying - I find it pretty much impossible to hand the reins over but it’s a marathon not a sprint and yoI’d be doing yourself, and your sheep, a big favour if you can step down, even for a few hours. You sound exhausted and it’s hard to think straight when you’re knackered and in the middle of it.
 
I get what you’re saying - I find it pretty much impossible to hand the reins over but it’s a marathon not a sprint and yoI’d be doing yourself, and your sheep, a big favour if you can step down, even for a few hours. You sound exhausted and it’s hard to think straight when you’re knackered and in the middle of it.

Very true. Usually lambing is tiring but the effort is concentrated on the very small % that need messing with. All I’m doing usually if weather is kind is pulling odd big single of tangled multiple and picking up anything lost / stuck in a hole / straggling etc. Few sets of little lambs to bring in etc. Mostly it’s for me and because I hate losing anything. With my exlana usually a very small number don’t really (foster off any spares to ewes with dead lambs). So this is very alien and has knackered my system.
 
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First time she’s been inside in her life. Welsh flock currently running with 200% at foot 😂
B20C0796-C30E-488E-B59A-6124207385FF.jpeg
A80740C7-E602-4D73-B613-0D6C43024AE2.jpeg
 

Ceri

Member
U can always rely on the trusty welshys 👌👌👌.....!! Ah mon I feel so sorry for u, I feel like jumping in the car & coming down to help u... If it wasn't for my own I would...! If its any constellation its the worse start to lambing I've ever had, bloody dam unforgiving creatures they are.......!!
 

Skyline

New Member
It's a tough job being the boss . Try and remember what drive and hard work got you there . The same will ultimately get you through this and onto the next bit .
Let people help if they want too. Best way to make a big problem small is to share it out .

Currently looking at a shed full of the ungrateful mutha fluffers night lambing.

Keep going 👍
 

Uggman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi cooperbeech I don't know what to say I don't think anyone can imagine what you're going through it must be horrendous hope it gets better
 
Hello,

Sorry I’ve gone a bit quiet, just sort of got my head down, gritted my teeth and got into a routine with it.

It’s been a little bit of a blur, Easter weekend was about as bad as it gets and it didn’t get much better after that for a bit.

It is now getting better, I was picking up probably 90-95% dead, And then 60% dead 20 %weak and 20 % ok. Now it’s probably 50- 60% ok, 20% weak and 20 -30% dead.

Ive learnt a lot about enzo. It appears that when I jabbed them it stopped any further damage but for a lot of ewes the damage was already done. So most of the first wave of ewes just had dead lambs, then weak lambs that died and then weak lambs which some survived and some didn’t. Where we are at now is you can tell who got hit, lots with one good lamb and one dead or one weak. The weak lambs are basically coming out starved of oxygen and glucose, they look normal to start but you have to lamb more of them, they get up but quickly fade. If you get them tubed and warmed up they mostly come good. It is very strange.

I’m having to lamb a lot of sheep, the ones with dead lambs and weak lambs seem to have a lot of mispresented lambs which they just aren’t trying to push, it’s messed with the hormones etc. I’m having to bring a lot of sheep in, both to give back their revived lambs if I’ve taken both and foster on weak lambs I’ve got going off a pair if they’ve lost theirs. Usually I bring maybe 40 - 60 in over the whole lambing, maybe lamb half that that number or in a good year less. We’d be at 150 brought into the shed now and probably another 60? Lambed and left in the field. My main lambing dog is double figures aged now and is feeling it, she is sore and tired and fraying a little. You can see she doesn’t want to throw herself in so much any more, but she digs deep because that’s how she is. We have a lot more pets, usually bring in some weaker ones or triplets or quads and they go back out fairly quick but this year I can’t keep up with reviving lambs and also catching enough ewes etc so we’ve probably got 50 pets now. One day soon I will go and catch 20 ewes and put them in adopters and go from there, I have some adopters on order.

It is getting better. I’ve been out till dark and in shed till 2-4am and back up and out by 6am which isn’t sustainable but it has been saving lambs and getting lambs under ewes. The lambing fields are starting to look like lambing fields now, but the non carrying ewes stand out.

It will have wiped out most of the lambs from the first cycle ewes, I don’t want to put a number to it, but it will be bad. Whatever happens now, and we are still losing too many to enzo and of course the odd hung lamb, backwards, in bag etc the final score will be rough. I will be happy if we go over 100- 120% reared this year off 172% scanned. It could well be less. But it will be over and I will take the dogs and jump in my truck and get out of here for a bit.

For now it’s just an endless cycle of driving around, looking for weak lambs, tubing, putting them under heater in the footwell, catching and hobbling the ewe and moving on, picking up the dead, skinning lambs and doing it every two hours rather than twice a day.

Oh and obviously given that so many ewes have had dead lambs and puss and knackered placentas inside them, we are having a higher rate of sick and dead ewes.

On the upside the ewes have been fantastic and the lambs that are on the ground by my new rams both home bred and bought are cracking.

It will be ok, because it’s got to be ok, one way or another.
 

Becs

Member
Location
Wiltshire
Thanks for taking time out of your hectic days to update. I can’t think of anything to write that is helpful/positive about the awful time that you’ve been having but your dedication to shepherding is so apparent. I hope that you, your other half and your very good dog get to have a decent break away from the farm before too long.
 

exmoor dave

Member
Location
exmoor, uk
Hello,

Sorry I’ve gone a bit quiet, just sort of got my head down, gritted my teeth and got into a routine with it.

It’s been a little bit of a blur, Easter weekend was about as bad as it gets and it didn’t get much better after that for a bit.

It is now getting better, I was picking up probably 90-95% dead, And then 60% dead 20 %weak and 20 % ok. Now it’s probably 50- 60% ok, 20% weak and 20 -30% dead.

Ive learnt a lot about enzo. It appears that when I jabbed them it stopped any further damage but for a lot of ewes the damage was already done. So most of the first wave of ewes just had dead lambs, then weak lambs that died and then weak lambs which some survived and some didn’t. Where we are at now is you can tell who got hit, lots with one good lamb and one dead or one weak. The weak lambs are basically coming out starved of oxygen and glucose, they look normal to start but you have to lamb more of them, they get up but quickly fade. If you get them tubed and warmed up they mostly come good. It is very strange.

I’m having to lamb a lot of sheep, the ones with dead lambs and weak lambs seem to have a lot of mispresented lambs which they just aren’t trying to push, it’s messed with the hormones etc. I’m having to bring a lot of sheep in, both to give back their revived lambs if I’ve taken both and foster on weak lambs I’ve got going off a pair if they’ve lost theirs. Usually I bring maybe 40 - 60 in over the whole lambing, maybe lamb half that that number or in a good year less. We’d be at 150 brought into the shed now and probably another 60? Lambed and left in the field. My main lambing dog is double figures aged now and is feeling it, she is sore and tired and fraying a little. You can see she doesn’t want to throw herself in so much any more, but she digs deep because that’s how she is. We have a lot more pets, usually bring in some weaker ones or triplets or quads and they go back out fairly quick but this year I can’t keep up with reviving lambs and also catching enough ewes etc so we’ve probably got 50 pets now. One day soon I will go and catch 20 ewes and put them in adopters and go from there, I have some adopters on order.

It is getting better. I’ve been out till dark and in shed till 2-4am and back up and out by 6am which isn’t sustainable but it has been saving lambs and getting lambs under ewes. The lambing fields are starting to look like lambing fields now, but the non carrying ewes stand out.

It will have wiped out most of the lambs from the first cycle ewes, I don’t want to put a number to it, but it will be bad. Whatever happens now, and we are still losing too many to enzo and of course the odd hung lamb, backwards, in bag etc the final score will be rough. I will be happy if we go over 100- 120% reared this year off 172% scanned. It could well be less. But it will be over and I will take the dogs and jump in my truck and get out of here for a bit.

For now it’s just an endless cycle of driving around, looking for weak lambs, tubing, putting them under heater in the footwell, catching and hobbling the ewe and moving on, picking up the dead, skinning lambs and doing it every two hours rather than twice a day.

Oh and obviously given that so many ewes have had dead lambs and puss and knackered placentas inside them, we are having a higher rate of sick and dead ewes.

On the upside the ewes have been fantastic and the lambs that are on the ground by my new rams both home bred and bought are cracking.

It will be ok, because it’s got to be ok, one way or another.


@CopperBeech
Sheep halters off Ebay are a cheap way of having alot of rudimentary adopters, esp if putting one lamb on to a ewe who's lost both her own
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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