Housing ewes: The unsettled weather continues to force earlier housing. Where ewes can be housed dry, it allows ewes to settle quicker into their new environment and for those carrying out winter shearing makes this task much more straightforward. Teagasc research shows significant production advantages from winter shearing. It has the potential to increase lamb birth weight in mid-season lambing ewes by 0.6kg without increasing lambing difficulty, increase weaning weight by 1.9kg and subsequently reduce the age of lambs to slaughter by about two weeks.

This needs to be balanced, however, by the cost of shearing, lower value of wool and fact that ewes will eat more. The decision for many comes down to management benefits with winter shearing, allowing about 15% more ewes to be housed in a given space (take care to ensure there is sufficient feeding space). It will also allow condition to be monitored easier and keep ewes cleaner pre- and post-lambing.

Ewes should only be shorn where there is the potential for at least eight weeks of wool regrowth and ewes are being turned outdoors from March onwards.

Lice treatment: Dipping contractors and merchants report weather also reducing the level of sheep dipping carried out. Some farmers are turning to pour-on or injectable products to treat scratching sheep. The first port of call is identifying the parasite as outside of dipping there is no single product that treats lice and scab.

It is possible to identify the cause if you know what you are looking for. The lice parasites are easier seen by the naked eye and move through the wool. They can be seen moving when wool is parted. Lice parasites are long, shaped similar to a wasp, with a yellow or pale brown colour.

Sheep scab mites are brown, round and are tiny. They are barely visible to the naked eye and are harder to distinguish. They feed on flesh and are generally found on the skin where scabby lesions and wool loss are characteristic of scab.

If in doubt your vet will be able to diagnose by examining using magnification or taking a sample for examination under a microscope. It should also be noted that both sheep scab and lice may be present together.

Products including active ingredients such as ivermectin, moxidectin or doramectin will treat sheep scab. Most products require re-treatment seven to 14 days later. The exception to this is products such as Dectomax or Cydectin 2% LA, which have been recently relaunched on the market and marketed as a single-treatment product.

Pour-on products are the main route for lice treatment. It is advisable to study product characteristics closely to assess if biting and sucking lice are targeted. All sheep in a batch must be treated on the same day

Clean livestock policy: Where the bellies of lambs likely to fall foul of the clean livestock policy are being shorn before presenting for slaughter, the advice is to shear two blows of the shears down the midline of the animal from under its neck to its tail head. For horned or crossbred lambs with long wool that will fall back over cut lines, there may be no option but to fully shear lambs with a dirty fleece.