This weekend Binty and Little P took on the not-so-easy task of worming and Heptavac-ing the flock.
For those who aren’t well versed in sheep maintenance, it is important to ensure that they are up to date with everything, especially prior to lambing. Heptavac P Plus is a vaccination that covers Pasturella as well as diseases caused by clostridial bacteria such as tetanus and lamb dysentery. All of our flock get an annual booster at this time of year. We have timed it this way so that the unborn lambs will get some of this benefits from their mothers.
Worming/fluking is another important part of the sheepy health regime. We don’t do faecal worm counts as we are able to rotate and rest our paddocks quite readily, but we do make sure we are on top of worming. The sheep are wormed with a drench, which doesn’t smell particularly nice and probably tastes about the same. We change the drenches to ensure that a tolerance doesn’t build up, so they are always as effective as possible (we hope!). Generally, we run from white (Combinex), to yellow (Oramec) to clear (Cydectin) and it is advisable to change your wormer annually.
Now that everyone is up to date we’re looking forward to the start of lambing and will be preparing the poly-tunnel in the coming weeks – watch this space!
