Flock health groups – a vet-facilitated sheep farmer business group that allows members access to cost effective veterinary advice and the latest technical information – are finding favour amongst Scottish sheep producers.

The groups, which are proving engaging for farmers who find joining the club with like-minded flockmasters, reaps positive benefits, with participants often commenting on how much they get from comparing their basic flock data with industry standards and other sheep producers in the group.

Apart from the valuable veterinary input received, an improved relationship between vet and farmer, the collaborative process invariably ends up highlighting a number of areas where business improvements can be made.

One such flock health club example is the group based in Angus and east Perthshire, which is facilitated by vet Ed Hill from the Thrums Vet Group with branches in Kirriemuir and Blairgowrie.

“We started the group 12 months ago, using it as a tool to try and encourage farmers to see the value of proactive flock health planning to improve sheep unit productivity, rather than simply calling on our services as ‘fire-fighters’,” Mr Hill says.

“To that end it has worked really well. Everyone who comes to the meetings takes a keen interest in sheep health, enjoys participating and we are all learning from the experience.

"As a result, I feel I now have a much deeper understanding of my clients’ businesses and am therefore better placed to give them tailored and farm-specific advice. For me this is the ultimate in job satisfaction.”

The Thrums Flock Health Club now boasts nearly 20 members and is growing. Farmers pay a membership subscription, which covers free flock health planning time and attendance at three sheep health meetings a year focusing on seasonally-relevant flock management topics.

The group also anonymously benchmarks key performance indicators, such as ewe barren rate and lamb deaths, and is entitled to discounts on certain services to encourage proactive disease monitoring and medicines.

“The benchmarking exercise gives the group an opportunity to compare how they are doing against their peers and also industry targets. For example, in the spring, we benchmarked barren rate and it varied between 2% and 6%.

"It was clear that many of the better performing flocks had vaccinated against toxoplasmosis, but were also carrying out other sound management practices, such as ram fertility testing and implementing an active health plan,” Mr Hill says.

Over the summer the group also looked at lamb mortality. “This ranged between 5% and more than 20%. We found toxoplasmosis in a flock that had had 12% lamb mortality and enzootic abortion was implicated on a sheep unit that had in excess of 17% mortality.

“Typically, we have found infectious abortion, in particular, to be a key disease issue. Indeed, veterinary scientists now think up to 90% of sheep flocks in Scotland are now exposed to the parasite (Toxoplasma gondii) that causes this drain on ewe productivity.

“Sheep are vulnerable to picking up the parasite from the environment, so normal biosecurity measures are not enough to control the disease. Infected cats shed toxoplasma eggs in their faeces and sheep become infected when they ingest these eggs from contaminated pasture, feed and water,” Mr Hill says.

He adds that its effects are often underestimated. “Toxoplasmosis is now sufficiently widespread that the industry focus should be on preventing infection in breeding ewes – and the best way to do that is to vaccinate ewes before they go to the tup for the first time.”

As a result, the Thrums-facilitated group now appreciates and understands the value of vaccination programmes against infectious disease threats. Members have also picked up important tips about managing ewe body condition for better health.

“We have also looked at ram fertility, pre-lambing ewe nutrition and sustainable wormer use, so members gain a lot of information from attendance at flock health club meetings and learn a fair amount from other farmers in the group,” Mr Hill says.

One member who enjoys active participation is tenant farmer Niall Blair, who runs 400 ewes at Easter Cammock Farm, Glen Isla.

“We took on the farm tenancy four years ago, starting with 160 ewes – including some pedigree Lleyns, but ewe numbers are now 400-strong; mostly off Cheviots or Cheviot Mules put to Blue-faced Leicester or Texel tups.

“It’s good to meet other sheep farmers in an informal environment and to be able to discuss flock management issues openly. I enjoy the meetings on farm particularly,” says Mr Blair.

“I have picked up a lot of great information in the last year, including the value more and more farmers are increasingly attaching to vaccination to better manage certain disease issues.

“We already work closely with Ed on proactive flock health planning and vaccinate against both toxoplamosis and enzootic abortion pre-tupping. Not vaccinating breeding ewes against these costly diseases leaves your flock totally vulnerable to infection. And there’s no doubt in my mind that the lambs saved significantly outweighs the cost of vaccination,” he says.

- Ends -

Reference:

1. Hutchinson J P et al, (2011): Survey to demonstrate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in British sheep flocks. Veterinary Record 169:582

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Quite apart from the valuable veterinary input received and fostering an improved relationship between vet and farmer, participants often comment positively on how much they get from comparing their basic flock data with industry standards and other sheep producers in the group. The collaborative process invariably ends up highlighting a number of areas where business improvements can be made.

One such flock health club example is the group based in Angus and east Perthshire, which is facilitated by vet Ed Hill from the Thrums Vet Group with branches in Kirriemuir and Blairgowrie.

“We started the group 12 months ago, using it as a tool to try and encourage farmers to see the value of proactive flock health planning to improve sheep unit productivity, rather than simply calling on our services as ‘fire-fighters’,” Mr Hill says.

“To that end it has worked really well. Everyone who comes to the meetings takes a keen interest in sheep health, enjoys participating and we are all learning from the experience. As a result, I feel I now have a much deeper understanding of my clients’ businesses and am therefore better placed to give them tailored and farm-specific advice. For me this is the ultimate in job satisfaction.”

The Thrums Flock Health Club now boasts nearly 20 members and is growing. Farmers pay a membership subscription, which covers free flock health planning time and attendance at three sheep health meetings a year focusing on seasonally-relevant flock management topics. The group also anonymously benchmarks key performance indicators, such as ewe barren rate and lamb deaths, and is entitled to discounts on certain services to encourage proactive disease monitoring and medicines.

“The benchmarking exercise gives the group an opportunity to compare how they are doing against their peers and also industry targets. For example, in the spring, we benchmarked barren rate and it varied between 2% and 6%. It was clear that many of the better performing flocks had vaccinated against toxoplasmosis, but were also carrying out other sound management practices, such as ram fertility testing and implementing an active health plan,” Mr Hill says.

Over the summer the group also looked at lamb mortality. “This ranged between 5% and more than 20%. We found toxoplasmosis in a flock that had had 12% lamb mortality and enzootic abortion was implicated on a sheep unit that had in excess of 17% mortality.”

“Typically, we have found infectious abortion, in particular, to be a key disease issue. Indeed, veterinary scientists now think up to 90% of sheep flocks in Scotland are now exposed to the parasite (Toxoplasma gondii) that causes this drain on ewe productivity1.

“Sheep are vulnerable to picking up the parasite from the environment, so normal biosecurity measures are not enough to control the disease. Infected cats shed toxoplasma eggs in their faeces and sheep become infected when they ingest these eggs from contaminated pasture, feed and water,” Mr Hill says.

He adds that its effects are often underestimated. “Toxoplasmosis is now sufficiently widespread that the industry focus should be on preventing infection in breeding ewes – and the best way to do that is to vaccinate ewes before they go to the tup for the first time.”

As a result, the Thrums-facilitated group now appreciates and understands the value of vaccination programmes against infectious disease threats. Members have also picked up important tips about managing ewe body condition for better health. “We have also looked at ram fertility, pre-lambing ewe nutrition and sustainable wormer use, so members gain a lot of information from attendance at flock health club meetings and learn a fair amount from other farmers in the group,” Mr Hill says.

One member who enjoys active participation is tenant farmer Niall Blair, who runs 400 ewes at Easter Cammock Farm, Glen Isla.

“We took on the farm tenancy four years ago, starting with 160 ewes – including some pedigree Lleyns, but ewe numbers are now 400-strong; mostly off Cheviots or Cheviot Mules put to Blue-faced Leicester or Texel tups.

“It’s good to meet other sheep farmers in an informal environment and to be able to discuss flock management issues openly. I enjoy the meetings on farm particularly,” says Mr Blair.

“I have picked up a lot of great information in the last year, including the value more and more farmers are increasingly attaching to vaccination to better manage certain disease issues.

“We already work closely with Ed on proactive flock health planning and vaccinate against both toxoplamosis and enzootic abortion pre-tupping. Not vaccinating breeding ewes against these costly diseases leaves your flock totally vulnerable to infection. And there’s no doubt in my mind that the lambs saved significantly outweighs the cost of vaccination,” he says.

- Ends -

Reference:

1. Hutchinson J P et al, (2011): Survey to demonstrate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in British sheep flocks. Veterinary Record 169:582