Hypomagnesaemia is the term used to describe grass staggers, a metabolic disease associated with the deficiency of dietary magnesium in cattle and sheep. It occurs when the level of magnesium in the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, as well as in the blood, drops below a critical level. The clinical signs seen in… Read more »
1. Body Condition Score: For lowland crossbred ewes increasing BCS from 2.5 to 3.5 can increase scanning percent by 20-40%. For a hill ewe a BCS of around 2.5 is more realistic. 2. Housing: House and feed according to scanning results. Lambing pens should be dry, draught-free and well-ventilated providing adequate space per ewe. 3…. Read more »
The number of lambs reared per ewe is an important factor affecting the productivity of a sheep flock. Results from the Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) lambing survey, conducted on 70 flocks in Wales during the 2010/2011 breeding season demonstrated that 49% of total lamb losses occurred at lambing (0-48 hours), 11 % at 2-14 days… Read more »
The annual incidence of grass staggers in the UK is estimated to be 1%. However, there will be a much larger percentage of animals with sub-clinical symptoms which may affect overall animal performance. Grass staggers or hypomagnesaemia is defined as a deficiency of available dietary magnesium. Clinical signs of deficiency will occur rapidly and can… Read more »
The 2022 Spring calving season is fast approaching, with cattle being brought indoors for the winter months, now is the right time to be planning ahead for the 2022 calving season to ensure a smooth and successful transition. The dry period is important to prepare the udder and to allow mammary cell development and repair,… Read more »
TAKE BACK CONTROL With input costs on farm at an all-time high this winter, it’s more important than ever to be thinking about reducing losses and maximising lambing success on the approach to lambing. However, you may feel that many variables, such as the weather, forage quality, disease and ewe body condition score are out… Read more »
Nematodirus Nematodirus is very easy to spot in a faecal test as the eggs are much larger than other worms that could be present. The life cycle of Nematodirus is different to other worms as it reproduces once a year and can take 8-9 months from eggs to hatching. The hatching is dependent on weather… Read more »