Live Stock, Dead Stock

It is one of the harsh realities of farming that, as an old saying goes, ‘when you have livestock, you will have dead stock’. Having said that I will never take it with a casual mind when an animal dies. Obviously we breed stock to kill, but until then they have a right to the best quality of life possible.

This month I lost a pedigree rare ewe. She was up and about at 8am, then down at 12 o’clock. I half suspected a nutritional deficiency, but her body condition was good. Becky from Gracelane Vets came for a look, suspecting Twin Lamb disease. The ewe was trying to eat which is always a good sign, but she was blind. This pointed toward poor nutrition conversion again.

It is always reassuring to watch a professional at work; Becky prepared the drugs she would administer, and then quickly shaved a small portion of fleece away from the neck. All three fluids where then injected into the vein of the sheep. It would be nice if the animal jumped up and was immediately cured, however she was moved by Landrover to an outbuilding to rest. I especially dislike that, when we keep our stock outside year round.

I was left with a special drench (oral medicine) that had to be administered daily. But administered how? ‘An old wine bottle is best because of the smooth lip’ Becky said. This could be tricky… The recycle collection had been that week. The only other bottle was in the fridge. Oh well, Nicola always says the health of the stock comes first.

The medicine bottle was promptly cleaned and the drugs heartily swallowed. Another good sign. Twin Lamb disease does as the name suggests apply to pregnant ewes, but they are not carrying twins as a rule. A big single lamb can have the same effect if the sheep isn’t eating well enough. In this case I was blindsided as the mild weather has helped the sheep, with the grass growing underneath them. The flock has access to minerals and hay but the vet confirmed her initial diagnosis. All the more galling really as they were a day away from starting on oats, part of their pre-lambing diet. After giving two drenches the ewe died a couple of days later. 

The big take away for me is to be better informed. So, more soil and grass tests to make sure the goodness that looks to be in the grass is there. Plus, I will conduct more regular condition scoring and weight checking too.

On a lighter note both of our pregnant sows farrowed. The picture shows a group of Saddleback’s from a litter of 11. 

Originally written for and published in the Esk Valley News, May 2014 issue.

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/