Abortion Vaccines:

If you’re using vaccines against toxoplasma and enzootic abortion, these need to be given 1 month before the rams go in. Please order toxovax in plenty of time as it is only manufactured after orders have been placed and therefore takes longer to come in than most.

Worming:

Fit ewes should not need worming pre-tupping but thin ewes should be done. Fluke treatment may be a good idea depending on risk – given the wet weather currently this year is likely to be quite high risk, remember you are mostly targeting immature fluke in late summer/autumn.

Flushing:

Putting ewes onto a better plane of nutrition pre-tupping increases the ovulation rate, which means you should get more twins and triplets but doesn't increase the number of ewes in lamb. It’s therefore worth considering how many of last years triplets you managed to rear and how much benefit you get from doing this. In addition work has shown that if ewes are already in good body condition flushing has little effect.

If you would like to chat this through with a vet, please call 01363 772860 (and select Option 2).

In the meantime, please click the link to read more about Preparation for Rams