Our services for sheep farmers include a Flock Health Club, flock advisory work, laboratory work and ewe blood sampling schemes.
All the farm team are involved in 100% farm animal work so there is a great deal of sheep experience in the practice.
We look after a range of sheep flocks from the small scale pedigree flock to the larger commercial units. We have a number of vets with a specific interest in sheep and are able to offer either a small holder club or flock health scheme depending on your needs.
We also offer lambing courses for new sheep producers or for farmers who want to refresh their skills.
In addition we have a large in-house laboratory available, meaning that faecal samples can be rapidly analysed for worms, fluke and coccidia.
This includes control of flock problems, lameness, abortion, ill-thrift in lambs and much more.
These visits usually entail the sampling of several ewes to try to ascertain a ‘flock picture’ of the diseases circulating.
Such sampling visits can then form the basis of a flock health plan. Sheep with lambing difficulties may require a caesarean section which if carried out at an early stage has a good prognosis for both ewe and lamb.
Our Flock Health Plans can cover all aspects of sheep husbandry including breeding, lameness, nutrition, worming and vaccination and will be designed to increase production, improve welfare and be cost effective. Our close association with Nottingham University and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) allows us to also offer specialist advice and post-mortem examination.
This subsidised scheme has been set up to allow us to investigate disappointing lambing percentages.
It involves taking blood samples from 6-8 barren/aborted ewes shortly after lambing and allows us to test for the two major causes of abortion in sheep; Chlamydophila abortus (the cause of enzootic abortion in sheep) and Toxoplasma.
Selected mineral levels can be measured at the same time if required. With these results we can advise you on appropriate vaccination schemes and control measures with the aim of preventing similar losses the following year. The abortion test results should always be discussed in detail with the veterinary surgeon as there are human health implications to some infections while other blood results may indicate a historic infection rather than present status.
Download and complete the Flock Health Club application form.
Forms can be returned in 3 ways:
