sheep Be Aware of Scab Risk and Manage Appropriately, Leading Vets Warn Farmers bringing any sheep onto their farm this autumn and winter with an unknown sheep scab status should assume they have scab and manage appropriately; two leading vets are warning. Advanced Veterinary Practitioner Joe Henry, of Black Sheep Farm Health, says sheep scab is a very real threat, especially at this time of the year with the volume of sheep movements taking place. “There are a lot of sheep arriving on farms at this time of the year from sales and summer grazing. Any new arrivals should be viewed as a potential source of infection.” Diagnostics Where possible, farmers should look to use blood diagnostics to see whether sheep are suffering from an active infection, advises Recognised Sheep Specialist Vet Emily Gascoigne from Synergy Farm Health. She said: “Because of COVID-19 and evidence of an increasing number of sales moving online with sales direct from the holding, there is an opportunity to conduct blood serology tests (ELISA test) pre-purchase. Blood serology will give you an idea if sheep have been infected and can reduce the need for treatment. “It is important you don’t share trailers with flocks of an unknown status and also ensure transport is thoroughly disinfected to avoid the scab mite being transmitted onroute,” she added. Ms Gascoigne also encourages farmers to conduct blood serology on their own flock. “Knowing your flock’s own scab status can help you manage the situation. Where there may have been contact with another flock at a boundary, or shared equipment, this may be as much of a risk as newly purchased animals,” she said. “Testing can also be particularly useful in organic flocks pre-purchase where the use
of Organophosphate Dips (OP) are not permitted,” she added. Management Where blood serology cannot be conducted pre-movement, then ideally, any stock moving onto farm should be quarantined for at least three weeks. Blood testing can be conducted 2 weeks into quarantine to identify any active infection. However, where that is not possible, sheep should be treated. Mr Henry said: “Practically very few farms can maintain biosecurity for that number of weeks at this time of the year. The problem is the scab mite can live in the environment off sheep for 17 days, so you need to be managing as soon as they arrive on the farm.” Where quarantine is not possible, he suggests: • Using an organophosphate (OP) plunge dip (not showering). This is a method of control with no resistance issues. However, this is not always possible, especially where only small batches of sheep are arriving on the farm and possibly at different times. • Using a macrocyclic lactone (ML) injection such as CYDECTIN 2% LA. There is some evidence of scab resistance to all the injectables, so it is important to take this into consideration. These products are also wormers, so it is important to consider the impact they may have on wormer resistance. Ideally, sheep should be unloaded and treated straight away in cattle pens not sheep pens to prevent any scab mites remaining in the environment. Sheep infected with the scab mite may not show symptoms for at least 40-50 days or longer post-infection depending on how many scab mites the naïve sheep was infected with. In this time the disease could have spread rapidly within a flock and to neighbouring flocks, which is why blood testing is important as well as telling your neighbours.
Swallows in the summer? By Maime Paterson Upper Auchenlay, Dunblane Well, who’d have thought just six months ago that the sheep sector could, or would, surpass all expectations and so spectacularly? Late August and September is usually when the price of lamb starts its annual slide, accompanied by producer protests about NZ lamb imports and complaints about supermarket disloyalty. This year - silence! The lamb price has held up, imports are at a low level and prime lamb producers are wondering what’s going on. Similarly, the store lamb trade has been in the stratosphere, and as for breeding stock, there is much sympathy for any brave soul taking on a new farm with a bound ewe stock where the in-going valuation will be eye-watering. The cancellation of the Kelso tup sale presented many tup breeders with a challenge, but most have risen to it by using social media to advertise their tups and attract buyers to purchase directly off-farm. Auctioneers have also faced challenges and have adapted quickly to the restrictions which severely
limit the number of buyers permitted to be present in the marts. The major auction firms have installed online bidding systems which enable buyers to bid from their laptops at home, or from their phones where there is a signal. Online bidding has proved its worth in these difficult times with bidding battle for several top-priced animals taking place online instead of at the ringside. However, as the saying goes, ‘one swallow doesn’t make a summer’. Sheep farmers are not so naïve as to believe that this sudden, welcome upturn in their fortunes is permanent, although according to another saying, ‘Hope springs eternal’ and farmers are optimists by nature. “Wot’s ‘appenin’?” the regular TV soap opera question is now a regular question in sheep farming circles. Don’t bother looking for answers - just make the most of the good times while they last. For further information and help contact NSA Activities and Campaigns Officer Chris Adamson on 07930225150 or chris@nationalsheep.org.uk
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