[andywalt]

Hi chaps

Ive noticed a lamb this morning with the start of fly strike, I have shot up to my local shepard/ supplier to borrow/buy his crovect to re treat my 10 store lambs and he mentioned that I am not really allowed to adminster myself I should do a course to obtain a licence is this correct? all views and experiance is very much appreciated as I know I will get a balanced responce

cheers

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

As long as you are "Competent" have a holding number and a flock number then you can administer crovect without any problem.

Just make sure that you accurately dose the animal in line with the instructions, using the correct drench gun and of course record the whole thing in your Animal Medicines book.

Thanks

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

Thinking about it, he probably said that to put you off borrowing his - at about £26 for 0.8 Litre its not the sort of thing you lend out !

Thanks

[andywalt]

I actually think he said it to keep control on what im doing (competition) do you stock the 2.5ltr and sell the gun? if so would you like to send me some?

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

Sorry we dont sell crovect, but we do have the guns :

https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/drench-guns-c-33_36.html also about to introduce an "economy Version"

Also we do Blow-fly repel : https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/blowfly-repel-500ml-p-827.html

Thanks

[waterhouse]

Medicines Book - this is the first I've heard of this.

What do I need to have, what goes in it and what about the any stuff the Vet uses?

I use Clik but the official squirter costs £49, against £40 for 2.2L of Clik so a non starter.  I've squirted the stuff on with a syringe - what does anyone else use.  Also I thought pour-ons were a preventative not a treatment. 

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

You should record all medicines given to animals in a medicine record book - including those given by the vet.

The type of data is batch No. obtained from, no of animals treated, dosage given, withdrawl period etc.

more info here : https://www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk/animal-medicine-record-book-p-214.html or you can make your own as long as you record the right data and can show it to an inpector if requested.

You will hear people recommending all sorts of items to apply crovect / click I even read of someone once using a washing up bottle!

The thing to remember is that these are quite strong medicinal products so the correct dose applied and even the spray pattern it is applied in is importantl.

Crovect and Blowfly repel are more than preventatives, they actually cause the maggots to be expelled very quickly from a struck sheep. I cant comment on Click as I have never used it, but I think that it may not be as good at expelling maggots - Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong.

Thanks

[plumseverywhere]

very interesting post. I remember once going to countrywide in a hurry for some crovect for a lamb absolutely riddled poor thing - owner was away and we were 'fostering' them on our land - needed smelling salts when told the price. but useful to know countrywide sell it.

[Bright Raven]

We have had fly strike this week too. Ugggggh. Nasty.
We paid the money for the Crovect and applicator and the cost was a bit of a shock. Typical first time around mistake I made was to spray without looking at the weather. It rained in buckets about an hour later so I had to re-apply the next day as it was completely washed out. Keep your weather eye open!! It needs at least 3 hours of good weather according to the leaflet.

I can understand why people recommend other methods of application having used the gun now. I was not very impressed with its application method. It's a lot of money for something that could probably be substituted for a hand held plant mister with an adjustable nozzle and a small measuring tube like the sort you used in chemistry as school to get the right measurement for the dose.

We also brought some terramycin antibiotic from the vet and a needle and administered the injection ourselves. Another learning curve experience!

[andywalt]

yes was the first time ive seen it close up, at first I saw a tuft of wool and looking and feeling wet, then when i parted the wool there were strange small clumps of white stuff, not sure what that is, then when i went and looked deeper I saw a small red patch of bald skin with little small white things, suppose they were the maggotts altho I have to say I could not see them moving, or was that the eggs from the fly?, was that what you had seen too?

Then applied the crovect after cutting away the wool around the patch and made sure when i sprayed some went into the bald patch as Im told it will kill all the maggotts, anyone think that ive missed something or could have done something else please let me know.

cheers

[supplies for smallholders]

Sounds like you did it just right, and caught it early.

If it was an established strike you would know - about 1 min after applying the crovect you would have seen maggots wriggling out of the wool and dropping to the ground.

Expect the sheep to go a little bald in the area of the strike - but don't worry it grows back

Thanks

[andywalt]

thanks for all your replys its a great help

[Fleecewife]

It's so good on here to see people who care about their sheep and are prepared to spend the money to care for them properly 

Fly strike is so horrible and painful for the sheep.  I know of some bigscale breeders who will not spend the money and see losses (by which I mean a slow and painful death) from fly strike as part of farming.  So cruel 

I hate the applicator supplied with Crovect as I find that half the dose runs off the sheep.  We use a sprayer but have worked out how many skooshes give the required dose (a bit as Bright Raven has descibed) and we find this far more effective and accurate.

Hope your lamb is OK Andy.  Those tiny maggots you saw would soon grow into big fat greedy rustling things.  Sometimes you will see small clusters of tiny yellowish strands - these are the eggs before they hatch.  They may still be laid by the flies even on treated sheep but they will not develop.

[andywalt]

thanks fleecewife

yes im pleased you said about the tiny yellow strands, thats exactly how I would describe them too, i will be keeping a close eye on them but after all the comments from you and the others im confident ive done everything right.

ill keep you posted

cheers

[supplies for smallholders]

.
.

I hate the applicator supplied with Crovect as I find that half the dose runs off the sheep.

I didn't think crovect came with an applicator