Vaccinations
Some people vaccinate their sheep, with for example Hepta Vac P, some people vaccinate all sheep, a lot of people just vaccinate ewes prior to lambing to ensure better lamb survival rates. These vaccines are expensive for treating a large number and I know a lot of people who don’t bother with them. These vaccines state you need to give a booster every year, there is research to suggest a lot of vaccine boosters yearly in animals are unnecessary as once resistance is there in the body it doesn’t just go away after a year. I think its a personal choice and I think it depends on where you live, how often you bring in new animals, really how necessary it is for your sheep. We no longer vaccinate our sheep, we never did from the beginning, but we then bought into it a few years ago, vaccinated them one year, it was a logistical nightmare and it made a few of the lambs very sick for a few days, I was worried we may loose a couple. I don’t know if this reaction has anything to do with the breeds being primitive or small (Soay for example) or if that is just something you would expect, but since that year we haven’t vaccinated them again. We haven’t had a sick sheep (-touch wood) for a good few years. In the past several years ago we have had a couple of sheep with pneumonia/pasturella which is covered by Heptavac P, we treated those sheep with antibiotics and care and they pulled through ok. A lot of these diseases like with parasites affect young animals and lambs. Perhaps we are chancing it by not vaccinating but really we don’t seem to of had a need to do it in over 10 years of keeping sheep. As such any lambs bought from us will not of been vaccinated, logistically it is near impossible to do it, even if you requested it as they cannot be vaccinated before a certain age. But if you do buy sheep or lambs from us you can get them vaccinated once you get them home, you will need to follow the instructions on the particular vaccine you are using and usually give them 2 doses, 4-6 weeks apart, always best to consult your local vet if you are new to sheep, if you are unsure and for advice.