Now Is Time For Seasonal Care Of Sheep On Bay Farms

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 97, 13 February 1950, Page 5

Now Is Time For Seasonal Care Of Sheep On Bay Farms

Weaning is an important time in the life of a lamb, and the Department of Agriculture suggests to Bay of Plenty farmers that special care at this time will be well repaid. Long-woolled lambs should be shorn and all others crutched. Weaning is the most important time for drenching against worms, and this is especially necessary in wet summers.

After lambs have been weaned the ewes should be gone through carefully to select those which require culling. Teeth, feet, and wool should be examined carefully, and special attention should be paid to udders and teats; ewes with defective udders or very large or damaged teats should b.e culled. Condition is a poor guide for culling, as ewes which -have not reared lambs are always m the best condition. Lice Eradication

Modern sheep dips are so effective that the eradication of lice and ticks should be quite feasible, but carelessness in dipping can cause disastrous losses. Deaths from blood poisoning can be prevented by vaccinating with blackley vaccine at least before dipping. Sheep that eat St. John's wort become' sensitive to sunlight, developing scabs on the ears, face, and back, and if such sheep are dipped _they take convulsions and may be drowned. If possible, sheep should be grazed on country free from St. John’s wort for several weeks before being dipped. If that is not possible they should be dipped only on dull days.

Campaigns for foot-rot eradication should be started as soon as lambs have been weaned. Once foot-rot has* been eradicated from a flock it does not recur unless it is reintroduced from outside.