Best practice when tagging

Tagging is hitting the headlines this week following Minister Creed’s announcement of the delay in implementation of mandatory electronic tagging across all sheep until 1 June 2019, along with a number of other changes. The coming weeks will see a spike in the number of animals being tagged with store lamb trading increasing in intensity while factory throughput is likely to hit its peak weekly throughput for the Eid al-Adha festival.

Retention rates in ear tags can be improved by applying tags at the optimum site on the animal’s ear; applying tags at the correct site will also cut down on the risk of infection. The optimum position is generally one third of the way out from the animal’s head as it is the strongest part of the ear and holds a reduced chance of getting caught. This may be further out in breeds with thicker ears as it is important not to apply tags where movement and airflow around the tag will be totally curtailed. The tag should be applied midway in height but take care to feel where the two main veins are and avoid these. This will require animals to be restrained adequately and care should always be taken to apply tags in hygienic conditions.

Sheep welfare scheme

Some hill farmers have asked for the requirements for the measure of creep-feeding lambs pre-weaning to be repeated. The recommended concentrate supplementation level detailed for the scheme follows a rising scale starting at 75g per head daily in week one, increasing to 125g in week two, 175g in week three and 250g in week four. This gives a minimum input per lamb of 4.4kg over a four-week period. All lambs in the flock must be meal-fed for the four weeks but feeding dates can be split where there is an age gap between lambs and more than one weaning date.

Feed receipts must be maintained for inspection and inspectors can also investigate feeding points for evidence of feeding. Feed purchase receipts can also be cross-referenced to dispatch documents to ensure feeding was continued for the required period. Farmers should also take this opportunity to ensure other measures selected are up-to-date and recorded in the scheme booklet, including the lameness measure, parasite control (including carrying out a faecal egg count or counts) and prevention of blowfly strike.

Quarantine procedure

Breeding sales are taking place in greater intensity while trading of store lambs has also stepped up a notch. The risk of bringing disease into a flock will be determined by the known health status of the flock from which the animals are coming and the quarantine procedure that is put in place. There are several important aspects that should be in a good quarantine procedure. Anthelmintic resistance is a growing concern with resistance identified to white, yellow and clear drenches. The latest advice is to treat animals with a moxidectin-based product and the recently released wormer Zolvix. Sheep should be treated on arrival and kept off pasture for 24 to 48 hours to prevent eggs passing on to pasture. Animals should also be checked for any signs of lameness and foot-bathed while other issues to take into account are external parasites and the presence of liver fluke. A vaccination protocol should also be implemented.