Postmortem tips:At last week’s Teagasc National Hill Sheep Conference, Shane McGettrick from the Sligo Regional Veterinary Laboratory said that when it comes to diagnosing the cause of abortion in sheep most diagnostic tests work best on the placenta.

This is linked to the fact that it is typically placental insufficiency which cuts off feed supply to the foetus and is the trigger for abortion.

While toxoplasmosis and chlamydia (enzootic) are the two main causes of abortion, Shane says it is also common for lambs to be aborted for reasons not linked to non-infectious agents such as nutritional stress in ewes caused by twin lamb disease, heavy infestation of liver fluke, etc.

Shane outlined some tips which he says can help in dealing with ovine abortion.

He said aborting ewes should be isolated immediately until lambing is complete. Bedding should be removed for destruction and lambing pens disinfected between ewes, along with disinfecting where ewes are lambed in group pens.

He says veterinary advice should be sought as soon as possible, and ideally a blood sample should be submitted along with the placenta or foetus if submitting diagnostic material to a laboratory.

Farmers that plan on retaining ewes are advised to only foster male lambs on to ewes which have aborted.

Shane warned abortion due to infectious agents often manifests itself as a few cases in the first year followed by an outbreak the next year. He says it is important to investigate any suspect cases and to put a vaccination programme in place.

Dosing injuries:Shane McGettrick said deaths related to dosing injuries are much more common than farmers may think. He said the palate tissue at the back of the throat is easily damaged, citing an example of 30 sheep being lost recently by boluses being administered with too much force and puncturing the tissue.

Eye problems:A feature in this week’s animal health focus discusses eye-related issues, which Teagasc adviser Seamus Campbell says are increasing in frequency. Donegal veterinary practitioner Gerald Roarty, who co-wrote the paper, advises sheep farmers to ask their vet to train them in administering subconjunctival injections and lower eyelid injections for entropion so that they can use those techniques on farm.

With some practice Gerald says the injections are no more difficult to master than administering an intramuscular injection.

NISP webinar:An NI Sheep Programme virtual farm walk on Tynan Abbey Estate run by Kate Kingan and Peter Mant takes place on 3 March at 8pm. The farm has developed from a standing start to over 500 ewes and an 80-cow suckler-to-beef herd on 222ha (550ac) of grassland in Co Armagh.

Topics will include how the farm has grown to its current position including the challenges faced, the future direction in light of escalating costs and how programme farmers are planning to deal with the sharp increase in fertiliser, feed and other input costs in 2022. There will also be a session on health planning with a focus on the management of newborn lambs in light of the delisting of Spectam Scour Halt from production and tighter restrictions on the use of antibiotics.

The event is free to watch and pre-registration is necessary at https://bit.ly/3h7a1tl.