Flock Register

The National Scrapie Plan has been moving forwards slowly and now it has got to the stage where commercial flocks can start to get involved on a voluntary basis. There are concerns that BSE could happen in sheep because it can readily be transmitted to them experimentally from parts of infected cattle. It has been assumed that sheep that are genetically resistant to Scrapie are likely to be resistant to BSE as the two diseases appear to work in the similar way. Sheep with experimental BSE are dangerous because the infective agent can be detected throughout the carcass not just in central nervous system tissue that could if necessary be kept out of the food chain. Countries throughout the world are actively looking for naturally occurring BSE in sheep. If ever they find it only lambs with a known resistance to Scrapie will be allowed into an abattoir.

Voluntary Scheme

This month DEFRA have launched a voluntary flock registration scheme and for some smaller flocks it would not take much effort to get established in one of the higher categories. This is how they will be classified with ‘A’ being the most resistant and ‘E’ the least.

Apart from Category A which is for pedigree breeders you do not need to know the genetics of any of the ewes just the rams involved. Most pedigree rams are blood tested for scrapie resistance now and have an electronic identification bolus in their rumen. If you can buy only rams from National Scrapie Plan 1 & 2  you will be able to leap ahead in the registration scheme.

Annual Registration

The idea is that you will have to apply for registration six weeks before tupping is due to start. Some farms will get a visit to check the identity of the tups that are to be used. Registration will be on an annual basis and will need to be renewed each year. You can get more information about this on the National Scrapie Plan Help line 0845 6014858 or follow the links from the sheep page of the Minsterley Vets Web Site.

Tupping Ewes

It will not be long before some flocks start to think about next years lambing and tupping the ewes again. Last year there were problems getting the Toxoplasmosis Vaccine in the first part of the summer and some flocks experienced lamb losses or ewes that failed to produce lambs as a result of the infertility the disease will cause. Hopefully this year the vaccines will be available again and you will be able to protect your ewes against both Toxoplasmosis and Enzootic Abortion. Remember the injections should be completed one month before the tups are used and you need to take care to keep the vaccine cold before it is first injected. Again thinking of the tups most of them only have one short burst of activity each year and it is important to get them fit well before you want to use them. Check their feet now and try to get their weight down so that they can go onto better grazing a week or so before you want them to work. Try to organize things so that they are on a small field and if you are using more than one tup keep an eye on them as some individuals seem to spend more time fighting than working. Last year we had two flocks that had no lambs at all because the rams they were using were infertile.

Fertility Checks

It is possible to have a ram’s fertility checked, but you can do a lot yourself be feeling the testicles before they go in with the ewes. They should feel firm but not hard and both sides should be of a similar size and shape. Also feel the end of the sheath to make sure that there are no swellings or discomfort. Any ram can become infertile young ones will often not jump so you might get suspicions that something is wrong and find a replacement. It is the older ram that has become infertile that is the most dangerous as he will mount the ewes with enthusiasm but produce no result. Many smaller flocks are not scanned for pregnancy so if the ram had  been working on his own you might not realize that anything was amiss until you get right up to lambing time. The ewes will have been fed, they will get bigger and bigger but a whole year will have been wasted.

Out of Season Milk Fever

For some reason the blood of even normal cows contains very little calcium. Their metabolic system is finely tuned even though there are massive amounts of the mineral moving from the gut to their bones and from their bones to their udder, and possibly uterus, all of the time. Essentially this balance is under the control of hormones. You will be aware that sometimes this mechanism is overwhelmed at the start of each new lactation and just occasionally it goes wrong at other times.

Essentially when the calcium levels in the blood drop too low muscles do not work properly and gut movement slows and soon the cow is unable to stand. Sometimes it happens when cows have been bulling or after stormy weather when an animal has been stressed. Symptoms develop only slowly the cow will seem dull, be slow to eat and may be bloated. Often it is difficult to determine if the animal has low phosphorus levels as well without analysing a blood sample at the surgery. If you have a cow like this that does not have mastitis or a temperature you can do no harm by giving two bottles of calcium under the skin. These cases seem to respond well to treatment as the calcium gets the gut working again so that they are able to cope once more.

Multiple Birth

Last Sunday lunchtime I was called to a  suckler cow that was having difficulty calving. This was not the biggest cow you have ever seen and she had lost condition as the pregnancy progressed. As soon as we put the halter on the cow she decided that she would go down. There was not much room inside because only the tail of the first calf was presented. When this happens it is impossible to straighten the back legs so it had to be pushed back in to get the second calf to come past. When the first calf was born there was just about room to straighten the back legs of his companion and get him to come out.

Imagine my surprise when I found that there was a further calf to get out of the cow. This one put up a real struggle as it was difficult to get the head straight. It is not very often that cows have live triplets somehow just one will not be enough from now on.

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