Wool and Flies

I thought a photo of wool would be more appealing than one of flies - in this case blowflies. As the weather has warmed up, attack from these fiendish creatures becomes ever more likely. They have a passion for laying their eggs in long lustrous wool, such as that worn by my Cotswolds, and they are especially attracted to a sheep with a dirty back-end. Unfortunately as the rich spring grass has had a dramatic laxative effect, this has meant hours today have been spent cleaning up numerous back-ends by trimming off soiled wool with sharp shears, and then spraying the sheep with a pour-on in this case Vetrazyne. I am now hoping the foul flies will stay away.

Most flies are annoying but pretty harmless - however the blowfly is a sheep's worst enemy as they lay their eggs deep in the wool, and when the eggs hatch (which can take only a few hours)the maggots excrete enzymes which turn living flesh to soup which they then drink. If undiscovered these maggots can work their way right inside the sheep, which will eventually die from blood poisoning, or other complications such as septic shock.

It is quite horrifying just how many maggots can infest a sheep in a very short time and how difficult they are to find. In all my time as a flock keeper this has only happened to me twice - in both cases the fly-strike was spotted early and the sheep survived. Now I always spend a short time each day just watching my flock. If any sheep is rubbing themselves excessively against a fence, twitching their tail, or generally stretching their legs and looking uncomfortable, or most tellingly, they appear to have a patch of wet fleece, then I catch it and examine it extremely carefully. If I still cannot see anything, which believe me is possible, and yet think that all is not well, then I spray the suspect area with Crovect (the only pour-on which acts as a treatment and a preventative) - I can safely say that if there are any maggots hiding deep in the sprayed area, they will soon be falling out of the wool.

The adult sheep will be shorn soon - probably halfway through May - and then they will be safe until their fleece regrows to about an inch long when I will treat them again with a pour-on. The lambs will be sprayed this week, and then again in eight weeks time - or sooner if we get a spell of very wet weather which may wash the pour-on out of their wool. So the message will, I hope, soon be out to any passing blowfly - You are not wanted here - PLEASE FLY ON PAST...!

Frozen beginnings

It seems hard now to remember just how snowbound we were before lambing this year. One problem we had was keeping the pregnant ewes with access to fresh water - the troughs were frozen and the river banks were too icy for them to negotiate their way to the water's edge. It was also hard to know how much to feed them to keep their nutrition levels correct in temperatures that fell one night to -18C. Careful feeding before lambing is vital - too much food means single lambs grow so big that they get stuck, too little food and a ewe with twin or triplet lambs can get twin lamb disease which can be fatal.

We managed to avoid any disease, but would the lambs be born healthy and strong after all that cold weather? It was a great relief when the first lambs arrived, twins, and they were just perfet. At least I thought they were - their mother disagreed and rejected the ewe lamb totally. She and I argued about this for a bit, but she was adamant that she would bring up one lamb only. With no other ewe lambing in the near future I couldn't get the the lamb adopted by anyone else, so the decision was made to hand rear her and Queenford Jade is now a very healthy, happy, large and very friendly new flock member.

Lambing is now over - no more midnight panics and sleepless nights - but the barn seems strangely quiet after the dramas of the last couple of months. However it all seems worthwhile when I find a group of healthy, happy and contented lambs dozing in the sun!