• FEB / MAR 2021
lamb growth rates . Why spend hours a day bottle-feeding when you could be prioritising your time elsewhere during a hectic lambing period ?
6 . Stock up with the equipment and supplies you ’ ll need . Lambing is always hectic and once the season starts you won ’ t have the time to keeping dashing out for essential kit . You need to be focused on the job too , so get prepared . This means ordering well in advance materials such as disinfectant for lambing pens , iodine for navels , castration rings , feeding tubes , marker sprays , sterilisation equipment , milk replacer , colostrum replacer and any other lambing essentials .
www . lazertags . co . uk
REPLACEMENT CATTLE TAGS
£ 2.75
Collected . Available while you wait at our Thirsk Auction Mart site !
EID SLAUGHTER SHEEP TAGS
65p
- 500 + tags FREE tagger for new users !
MANAGEMENT TAGS
Large Male / Button Female Printed
67p
7 . Set targets for reducing lamb losses . Good records are essential to benchmark performance and to help you identify any potential problem areas . Your recording system doesn ’ t have to be sophisticated or complicated – the important thing is to do it well and if you don ’ t record already , lambing time is a great time to start ! You should be aiming for less than 15 % lamb losses , but top performing flocks are achieving closer to 10 %.
Targets for reducing lamb losses :
• Less than 5 % from scanning to lambing
• Less than 5 % during lambing and the first week of life
• Less than 2 % from the first week after birth until weaning
• Less than 2 % from weaning until sale or retention
Ask your vet for advice if :
• Ewe losses are more than 3 %
• Lamb losses are more than 15 %
• More than 2 % of your ewes are barren at scanning
8 . Feed your surplus lambs enough milk . To grow effectively and finish profitably – just as well as lambs reared on the ewe – each one of your surplus lambs will need 9-11 litres of correctly mixed Lamlac ewe milk replacer from birth until weaning .
LASER PRINTED CATTLE & SHEEP TAGS
Having experienced poor service , long delays and incorrect orders from our tag suppliers in the past we decided to invest in our own Laser Machine and print cattle and sheep tags ourselves in store at Green ’ s Farm Supplies Ltd Offering our customers , a great service and quality products direct !
HOW TO ORDER
01845 522611
Email orders @ lazertags . co . uk
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Head Office : Thirsk Rural Business Centre , Blakey Lane , Thirsk YO7 3AB
PLUS , new runs of both cattle & sheep tags are available within hours not days !
Sheep Health and Welfare Conference identifies key disease challenges
REPRODUCTIVE failure and neonatal lamb disease / mortality have the biggest impact on sheep farmers ’ productivity , according to a poll at this week ’ s SHAWG conference . But thin ewe syndrome and conditions in late pregnancy have the greatest impact on animal welfare , meaning farmers have to prioritise improving different aspects of their flock .
Nigel Miller , chair of the new Ruminant Health & Welfare ( RH & W ) group - which succeeds the Sheep Health and Welfare Group ( SHAWG ) - said the responses will help to identify priority areas for the industry .
“ Trying to target too many different areas can be overwhelming , so it ’ s important to focus in . SHAWG has changed the disease landscape in the sheep world , and placed health and welfare at the centre of the political agenda , which is a good springboard for us to launch from ,” he said . “ At the start of our RH & W journey we need to be a catalyst for change .”
As part of this new approach , RH & W has launched an industry-wide survey * to identify the most common health and welfare issues affecting farmers , and will then work with industry partners to tackle them . “ We ’ ve got to be more self-critical about what we do , and look at areas in which we can make gains ,” said Mr Miller .
By collating farm data , the wider industry can make informed decisions on priority diseases , while individual producers can take steps to address specific issues on their farm . “ We all capture data almost without effort : Scanning results , lambs sold , replacement rates and so on . These numbers can build a profile of production and we need to take the time to use them . Step by step we can jack up performance , and individual benchmarking makes a lot of sense .”
However , it ’ s important to share that data with the farm vet or adviser , and work together to draw up a proactive flock health plan , he added . “ Good advisers can be real game-changers for the industry , and sharing key performance indicators ( KPIs ) is the foundation of proactive health planning . Without them , it ’ s difficult to focus advice . For
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many people health planning has been a tick-box process for farm assurance , but it can deliver so much more .”
Mr Miller suggested looking at syndromes affecting different stages of the production cycle , rather than individual diseases , as it ’ s then possible to put in place a package of measures which will have a greater payback .
However , measuring the impact of welfare is more difficult , and it would be good to develop common indicators to score flocks across the country , he added . “ It would be really helpful to have a consensus across the industry : What are the welfare strengths and challenges in our sectors ?”
Phil Stocker , chief executive at the National Sheep Association , said it was also important to get the consumer ’ s perspective on animal health and welfare – something on which AHDB is currently working . “ We have to view our industry through the public ’ s eyes as well – it ’ s an area we can ’ t afford to ignore .”
Having healthy , high welfare stock yields numerous benefits , both for individual producers and the wider industry , explained Mr Stocker . These include higher productivity , improved environmental footprint , greater pride and more positive public perception – as well helping with policy support and trade development . “ We are the third largest exporter of sheep meat in the world . We are very good at sheep farming , we have the infrastructure , and we can get the balance right between being a successful industry alongside delivering a whole range of public goods .”