Preventing disease and adopting treatment strategies based on data has helped one Lancashire hill farm to boost scanning rates and improve flock health.

For sheep farmer, Mick Handley, signing up to Dalehead Veterinary Group’s Flock Health Club proved the turning point for adopting a new mindset to flock health, supported by vet Karen Swindlehurst and fellow shepherds.

“The biggest benefit to us joining the flock health club has been working in order to prevent issues where possible, rather than just to treat them,” says Mick, of Croasdale House Farm, Slaidburn, Lancashire. “Working closer with the vets has given us a better understanding of animal health and diseases, and a better working relationship.” He runs 900 ewes including 450 Swaledales, half of which are kept pure and half crossed with a Lleyn to produce replacements.

Improvements in flock health have focused around the following five areas, which have been highlighted through Flock Health Planning:

Fluke control

High rainfall means fluke infection is a big risk for farmers across the area and was highlighted as one of the main areas for immediate attention through the Flock Health Club. Mick and his father, Malcolm, had always treated sheep for fluke four times in the winter – pre-tupping, when ewes went to the fell post-tupping, at scanning and at lambing. However, they were suspicious that treatment wasn’t working.

“We had a couple of rough winters and ewes in poor condition with scanning results around 115 per cent for the hill ewes,” says Mick.

Through testing, Karen identified that the flock had resistance to triclabendazole, which was being used in the flock. Karen also began using the farm as a sentinel unit to identify when fluke was emerging in a season and allow more effective, targeted treatment. Now, six lambs are blood tested every four weeks from around September. Mick says it’s highlighted how much fluke emergence varies every year. In fact, in some years he often doesn’t need to treat the flock until mid-January.

“With testing we have managed to reduce this (fluke treatment) to as low as two doses this past winter and seen an increase of 15-20 per cent in scanning results since starting the testing.”

Karen says: “If we dose at the right time, it makes a big difference to body condition, fertility and scanning rates. And we’re not blanket treating when we don’t need to.”

The type of flukicide used is also varied through the season depending on the age of fluke identified to achieve the best outcome using vet advice.

Better understanding of worms

Rather than routinely worming every six to eight weeks through the summer, the Handleys now make treatment decisions based on faecal egg counting (FEC), which is carried out through the Flock Health Club. Testing has also identified resistance to white drench.

“Worm resistance is a worry for the industry and targeted dosing is becoming increasingly important,” Mick says. “The Flock Club keeps us up to date on the best protocol for dosing lambs effectively to minimise doses with the aim of reducing resistance.”

Creating an effective worm control strategy is ongoing on the farm, and an area Mick wants to improve on. However, he believes FEC and resistance testing has been a good start.

Mineral status

Having identified cobalt deficiency through blood testing, all lambs now receive a vitamin B12 injection in June. Ewes also receive a cobalt bolus and a copper bolus pre-tupping.

Cobalt is involved in metabolic pathways and energy usage in the sheep. The animal doesn’t use the cobalt itself, but converts it to vitamin B12, which is the usable form.

Mick says improved mineral status has been reflected in improved lamb thriftiness. “We think lambs are continuing to thrive better, grow better and there are not as many poor doers,” he says, adding that they’re probably also getting more lambs to a saleable weight, and quicker.

Vaccinating

As part of the disease prevention strategy, the flock is vaccinated against a number of key diseases. All in-bye ewes, which lamb indoors and are subject to higher stocking rate pressures, are vaccinated against enzootic abortion.

All new breeding females are enrolled on a Heptavac P Plus vaccination programme and receive two doses four to six weeks apart, followed by an annual booster. This is a combined seven in one clostridial plus pasteurella vaccine and immunises ewes as an aid in the control of a number of diseases including lamb dysentery, pulpy kidney and blackleg. Lambs are also vaccinated against key clostridial diseases and pasteurella using Ovivac P Plus.

Reducing lameness

Adopting the FAI Farms Five Point Plan for controlling sheep lameness (cull repeat offenders; quarantine; treat lame sheep promptly; avoid spread of infection at handling, gathering and in the field; and vaccinate) has enabled Mick to reduce lameness to manageable levels, with work ongoing.

Following veterinary guidance, lame sheep are now identified and treated promptly either with a topical spray or an appropriate injectable antibiotic, depending on the degree of lameness. They will then be managed in a separate field until lameness is resolved.

“Before we would have left them running with the flock and foot bathed and sprayed them, but it would have taken them longer to improve, and some might not have come right,” says Mick.

Treatments are recorded using EID and any animals that are treated two to three times will be culled. The fixed handling system will also be washed and disinfected between mobs, and lime mixed with the sawdust used in the handling pens to reduce infection spread.

All in-bye ewes and wintering hoggs are vaccinated against footrot using Footvax once a year, although Mick is considering moving to six monthly vaccinations on Karen’s advice. The four to five stock tups bought in annually will be quarantined for a minimum of three weeks and vaccinated.