Clostridial vaccine: There have been some queries of late regarding administering a clostridial disease vaccine. The first of these concerned lambs born to unvaccinated ewes and questioned how early the vaccine can be administered. Treatment is not recommended at less than three weeks of age as it can interfere with passive immunity derived through colostrum.

Another question related to lambs born to vaccinated ewes but which may not have received sufficient colostrum. It queried whether lambs should be vaccinated earlier and in particular ahead of lambs being weaned and turned outdoors.

The threat of clostridial disease hitting varies significantly between farms with some producers getting away fine without vaccinating while others encounter significant losses in the absence of vaccination.

Passive protection is influenced greatly by colostrum management and is dependent on animals receiving adequate colostrum from their dam in the first 12 hours of their life. It can last anywhere from two weeks to 12 weeks depending on the level of challenge on the farm. It is generally considered that protection will last 10 to 12 weeks.

If this was an issue then vaccinating lambs earlier should be considered. It is particularly beneficial where lambs will undergo a marked change in management or diet. It is worth remembering clostridial disease vaccines generally provide a level of cover following vaccination but full protection does not kick in until two weeks after a primary course consisting of two doses are administered about four weeks apart is given.

Yearling hoggets: The success of breeding from yearling hoggets is highly influenced by management during lactation. Where hoggets are under excessive nutritional strain then they will find it challenging to reach weight targets at breeding as two-tooth hoggets (85% of mature weight) which in turn is likely to negatively affect subsequent performance and output.

Yearling hoggets should be treated similarly to mature ewes rearing triplet lambs. They should only be asked to suckle two lambs where they are well-grown, in good body condition and show signs of having a sufficient milk yield. Where any of these are limiting, then removing one lamb should be considered. It is also advisable to offer concentrate supplementation (approx. 0.5kg per head) for the first five weeks of lactation to aid performance and to offer lambs access to creep feed. Single-suckling hoggets that are also falling behind target will benefit from similar management.

Water supply: This week’s sheep feature on page 30 discusses grassland management including splitting paddocks to improve grass utilisation. A barrier often raised against utilising temporary divisions is a lack of a water source. A low-cost option to get around this is to run some piping along the top of the ground and connect to a temporary water trough.

This can be easily moved between divisions if required and remove the need for installing a permanent water source or transporting water by hand. Investing in a water trough with a draining valve at the bottom will allow troughs to be emptied quickly while it is also an advantage to fit a stop valve at the connection point to allow piping to be connected and disconnected quickly as well. This will also allow the water flow to be turned off in advance of moving and utilise water by letting sheep empty the drinker before moving.