This is a post I meant to post last week as I treated the ewes last Sunday for fly strike.
I decided with the hot sticky weather that was forecast to treat the ewes for a fly strike preventative, I'd already done the lambs a few weeks previous, but the ewes didn't have enough wool at the time so they had to wait until their coats came back a little bit. So instead of going back inside when I came back from work on Sunday (at 6.30) I went and got the sheep in straight away, sometimes if I stop I find it hard to get going again - so best not to stop!
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| The treatment is stained blue so I know where I've done - it only stays like this for a day. |
It didn't take long to do once I got set up. When doing anything like this it's best to push the sheep up into a smaller pen so they can't run away as much. I donned my waterproof trousers (which made the job very warm to say the least) and sprayed the ewes down the back and across the bum.
The treatment is meant to keep the flies away for 6-8 weeks, and although I'll still be checking for it, it's one less thing to worry about when it's hot and humid, which it certainly was last week!
Doing this job is much easier and safer than the old sheep dips that we used to use, no animal wanted to go in it so you ended up chucking every one in and get covered yourself! Luckily I was only young at the time when we used to do that so I used to be stationed well back from the dip!
Who else can remember dipping sheep and is there anyone that still does it?
I hadn't realised this was instead of dipping, I should have of course, you just don't hear of dipping these days do you!
ReplyDeleteI know the feeling of having to carry on, once you get your bum sat down it's hard to be motivated enough to get up again.
Yeah the days of dipping are over thankfully! Dad still has got a dip he was going to fit up the field somewhere!
DeleteI think most sheep farmers inject instead of dipping these days Kev.
ReplyDeleteI thought so to but I was just seeing if there was any from around the world that still did.
DeleteI've always heard that sheep are a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteYour not wrong! Constant work at the moment!
DeleteThats how our local farmers do it, I saw fly strike last year up close on a couple of sheep it was horibble, better to take precautions :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's horrible when it happens. a patch of wool will often go darker and they'll itch all the time.
Deletethey look like reverse donkey/ass. nearly with a cross on them... you get what I mean. even if I cant articulate it myself....
ReplyDeleteI think the blue suite them!
DeleteWe always just give an Ivermec shot.
ReplyDeleteYeah tat's an alternative. We always id this type of treatment so just doing what I know although I might do something different next year
DeleteYes, remember that well, Throwing them in one end, ducking the heads under with a crook then making sure they scrambled out OK.
ReplyDeleteSuch fun.
Scrambling out and kicking it all back at you! I think most people I know who did it have fallen in it at some point.
DeleteAt what age is it best to start preventive treatment for flystrike?
ReplyDeleteIt's more the time of year than the age of sheep. hot humid weather makes the flies worse. The medication you buy for it will tell you the youngest you can apply it to. I did the lambs a few weeks ago now.
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