Tuesday 2nd May 2017
Smashed eggs, lost ducklings and Nematodirus
The day began with a load of smashed eggs, ended with the news that we have the dreaded nematodirus worm in our sheep and goats and in between times, we lost a duckling, permanently this time. Such is the world of smallholding..
The smashed eggs was our fault: last night, as part of a mass clean out of the top 3-acre double field shelter, Jack ‘moved’ the nest of the broody currently residing in one the hay racks. The move was just 40cms or so, but enough to put the broody at the end of the rack, NOT in the middle and so give space for the rack to be filled with fresh hay (for the goats). We are not entirely sure what happened but eight of the ten eggs ended up on the floor of the shelter and smashed. The other two fell but remained intact but by the time of their discovery this morning, were pretty cold. In an effort to be optimistic, we put these two back under Queenie who has two of the original 12. The guilt is huge but we will just have to keep our fingers crossed...
The missing duckling is a mystery. The day before yesterday, all three had hidden under the pig arc, much to both our and Banana’s consternation but everyone was reunited and things have been fine since. Banana, as the photo shows, enjoyed a fabulous wash this afternoon whilst the ducklings looked on in bemusement and with access to food both inside and out, she and they have had a couple of very happy free-range days. At the end of today though we were down to two and with no signs of any predators: rats, corvids etc, we did have the horrible thought that it might be the geese: surely not???
The nematodirus worm is annoying to have but not at all unsurprising. We live in a very high-risk area, we have just had a period of wet followed by warmth (ideal hatching conditions) plus our fields probably carry a fair few eggs due to them having sheep and lambs on them this time last year (before we moved!). Unlike most of the other intestinal worms that sheep and lambs carry, nematodirus worms are infective at the larvel stage and as such when eggs are consumed by the lambs and then go on to hatch out, they can make the lambs VERY poorly. We are now at prime hatching time, hence us doing a faecal egg sample to check both them and the goats. Animals can die from a high worm burden so it is important to check stock and then treat as appropriate.
The good news is that there were no other significant populations of other eggs and as such this means our pasture, at the moment, is relatively clean, We will need to check both sheep and lambs again mind you, as worm eggs will continue to hatch over the rest of the spring and summer. Our vets also found coccidiosis in Ness’ lamb. We could see she was a tad off-colour and her poo was a little soft so we had suspected the worst. Coccidiosis describes coccidia (parasitic single-cell protozoa) that invade the wall of the gut and can do serious damage. As with other intestinal worms, it gets into the lamb through being eaten at the eggs/larva stage as the lamb grazes. And as with nematodirus, severe cases can result in death.
So, tomorrow’s job is a mass worming…
The missing duckling is a mystery. The day before yesterday, all three had hidden under the pig arc, much to both our and Banana’s consternation but everyone was reunited and things have been fine since. Banana, as the photo shows, enjoyed a fabulous wash this afternoon whilst the ducklings looked on in bemusement and with access to food both inside and out, she and they have had a couple of very happy free-range days. At the end of today though we were down to two and with no signs of any predators: rats, corvids etc, we did have the horrible thought that it might be the geese: surely not???
The nematodirus worm is annoying to have but not at all unsurprising. We live in a very high-risk area, we have just had a period of wet followed by warmth (ideal hatching conditions) plus our fields probably carry a fair few eggs due to them having sheep and lambs on them this time last year (before we moved!). Unlike most of the other intestinal worms that sheep and lambs carry, nematodirus worms are infective at the larvel stage and as such when eggs are consumed by the lambs and then go on to hatch out, they can make the lambs VERY poorly. We are now at prime hatching time, hence us doing a faecal egg sample to check both them and the goats. Animals can die from a high worm burden so it is important to check stock and then treat as appropriate.
The good news is that there were no other significant populations of other eggs and as such this means our pasture, at the moment, is relatively clean, We will need to check both sheep and lambs again mind you, as worm eggs will continue to hatch over the rest of the spring and summer. Our vets also found coccidiosis in Ness’ lamb. We could see she was a tad off-colour and her poo was a little soft so we had suspected the worst. Coccidiosis describes coccidia (parasitic single-cell protozoa) that invade the wall of the gut and can do serious damage. As with other intestinal worms, it gets into the lamb through being eaten at the eggs/larva stage as the lamb grazes. And as with nematodirus, severe cases can result in death.
So, tomorrow’s job is a mass worming…