treating the lambs

We hardly seem to have finished lambing, when it’s time to get the lambs in for their first round of treatments. It’s been a difficult spring for the sheep, the long cold dry spell meant that the grass was slow to start growing and although the ewes were fed extra pellets, they didn’t produce as much milk as normal, which in turn causes the lambs to nibble at the grass earlier than they usually would. So the first treatment round in the second week of May included a worm dose for the lambs, together with a second dose for another internal parasite, coccidiosis, and a vaccination against pasteurella, the disease that is the biggest killer of sheep.

With over 900 lambs to treat it’s a big job, completed over four days. The noise from the sheep pens is enormous as every ewe calls to it’s lambs and every lamb responds. Once back in the fields it take several hours for the ewes and lambs to mother up again and peace and quiet.

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