Lurgan Sheep Vet

15/05/2026

𝐖𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬 … 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐬?

Over the last week or so, we’ve done several FEC (faecal egg count) samples from ewes that have shown higher worm burdens than we would normally expect to see at marking time.

In a more “typical” year, we wouldn’t usually expect ewes to need much attention for worms around now. However, this season has been a bit different. The very wet winter followed by a cold spring seems to have made things harder on many ewes going into lambing, which may have knocked their immunity a wee bit.
Around lambing time, ewes are already under a lot of pressure physically, and with grass growth being slower and poorer than usual this year, nutrition may not be quite where we’d like it to be. Ewes are also grazing much closer to the ground, which can mean picking up more worm larvae from the pasture.

Because of this, we would encourage people to keep an eye on their ewes around marking time and consider doing some FEC sampling before deciding whether a worm drench is needed.
We wouldn’t recommend routine worming of ewes as a standard approach, but this year may be one where checking first with a FEC could be particularly worthwhile. For lambs, we still recommend keeping an eye on the Nematodirus forecast in the next few weeks.

As always, if you’d like to chat things through or arrange some samples, just get in touch 😊

01/05/2026

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

With marking just around the corner (and plenty still lambing), it’s a good time to start thinking ahead, especially while the weather’s been kind ☀️🐑

There’s been a lot of discussion recently around castration and tail docking. While legislation hasn’t changed, some of you might be curious about the newer options like Numnuts or ClipFitter systems. We’ve tried both systems ourselves and have Numnuts and ClipFitter applicators available to borrow for free if you’d like to try them out before committing. We can show you how to use them and you can try them on your own flock.

A wee reminder to keep an eye on the SCOPS website for the Nematodirus forecast ( https://www.scops.org.uk/forecasts/nematodirus-forecast/ ). We’re starting to see it creep up slightly, but depending on altitude and local weather, the peak may still be a while before it’s here. It’s well worth planning your marking around the forecast. Last year caught a fair few out when the peak came late, after marking, leading to avoidable losses. If you’re unsure about timing, feel free to get in touch, we’re always happy to chat it through.

And finally, marking time is often when trace element supplementation for the lambs is considered, particularly on farms low in cobalt and selenium. If you’re thinking about what might suit your system best, whether that’s long-acting injectables, drenches, or boluses, we’re always happy to have a chat and help you weigh up the options.

As always, give us a shout if you need anything, we’re here to help!

16/03/2026

Thanks to everyone who came along to the farmer meeting last week. A really good turnout and plenty of useful discussion. Always good to get folk together to talk through some useful sheep stuff 🙂
Thank you very much to Caroline from SRUC and the whole Lurgan team: Becky, Gillian and Gert for making this happen! 😊

Last week, Veterinary Investigation Officer Caroline joined forces with Ann from Lurgan Sheep Vet and the team at Huvepharma to deliver an informative session for around 35 hill farmers from Aberfeldy and the surrounding areas.

Caroline, Ann and Lynn shared practical guidance on biosecurity, infectious disease risks, and how to safely carry out post‑mortem examinations on carcases in remote locations—especially when accessing a vet quickly isn’t possible. Their aim was to help farmers take proactive steps in understanding livestock losses and act swiftly to prevent disease spread.

On‑farm post-mortems play a crucial role in rapid, cost-effective diagnosis. They enable immediate decision‑making, help prevent further losses, support better flock and herd management, and can highlight emerging disease threats.
Ideally carried out within 24 hours, these examinations provide valuable insights for improving long-term farm health planning.

However, it’s essential that farmers only perform on‑farm post-mortems if they have been properly trained and advised on how to do so safely.

Our VIO team is always delighted to support farmer meetings and demonstrations—sharing their expertise to help strengthen livestock health, welfare and disease prevention across our communities.

05/03/2026

Farmers Meeting 🐑🫁🧠

Before we all disappear into lambing mode, we’re having one last farmers’ meet-up.

📍 Lurgan Farm, Camserney
🕖 Monday 9th March, 7pm

This one will focus on sheep post-mortems. We’ll open up a few sheep and have a proper look at different organs, what normal looks like, what abnormal looks like, and go through a few of the common reasons sheep die.

Nothing too formal, just a chance to learn a bit and have a look at things we don’t always get to see.

There’ll be soup and steak pies before.

If you’d like to come along, please book a place by sending us a message or email.

28/02/2026

Worth listening to this on Monday. I will be one of the speakers at this event 🐑 🍒

Upcoming webinar! 🐑

As Defra undertakes its long‑awaited review of castration and tail docking methods in lambs, NSA is urging sheep farmers to engage with this important consultation.

This free webinar will help farmers understand what the proposals mean in practice and how to respond effectively.

* Please note that the webinar is not a guide on how to tail or castrate lambs, nor is it NSA advising on what individual farmers should say in the consultation. There is currently a Defra consultation to which sheep farmers are encouraged to respond that is proposing changes to the current legislation on these procedures. In this webinar, NSA will explain what the proposed changes might be and will give some guidance on how the consultation will need to be completed to those who are unsure of the process. We hope it is helpful. *

11/02/2026

Looking forward to speaking at this later this month 🐑

🐑 𝐄𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐃! 🐑

We would love to invite you along for the launch of our 𝐍𝐄𝐖 - 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 + lamb colostrum.

We will be joined by 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐝 (Rumenco) , 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞 (Nettex) and 𝐀𝐧𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐞𝐭𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐭 - The Lurgan Sheep Vet - who will be on hand to answer any questions you may have.

⏱️ 6:30pm prompt - Teas , coffee and supper will be server before the event starts

🩺 RSABI will be there with their pop up health hut

⭐️Please RSVP no later than 20th February to allow us to gauge numbers. Please email [email protected]

Rumenco
Nettex Agri
Lurgan Sheep Vet
RSABI
Red House Hotel


🔵🟡

02/02/2026

New advances in sheep scab diagnosis can detect infection early. This leads to more targeted and effective treatment which can avoid unnecessary treatment. Protect your flock: https://www.gov.scot/publications/sheep-scab/

09/12/2025

Thank you to everyone who made it along to the farmers meeting tonight, even with Storm Bram throwing rain and wind at us!
Great chat and a really useful discussion all round.

A big thanks to Matt and Billy from Elanco for coming all this way, giving a great presentation, and kindly sponsoring the food. Plenty of take-home points, and great to open up the conversation around tick and scab management, something we could all do with talking about more!

Lots of useful information tonight, and I think we all headed home with a few new ideas to try on our own farms.

06/12/2025

Interested in getting on top of ectoparasites next season?
We're running a farmers meeting covering:
- How to reduce pressure from ticks, scab, lice & blowlies.
- When and how to use different products.
- What to do when treatments don't seem to work.
- How to build resilience instead of only relying on products.

📍 Camserney Hall, PH15 2JF
🗓 Tuesday 9th December - 7pm
🥣 Soup & pies to keep us going

If you haven't already said you're coming, just ping me a message.

17/10/2025

Very much looking forward to this 🐑🐄🐖🐓

ALL WELCOME: Thriving Stock, Thriving Farm: Adding Value to Your Animal Health Plan.

Join us as the Lurgan Sheep Vet , Ann van Eetvelt, delivers an in-depth training module on vet and med health planning. Focused on beef cattle and sheep, you’ll learn:

🩺 The importance of bespoke animal health plans
🩺 Adaptive strategies for parasite control
🩺 Promotion of animal welfare through environmental enrichment
🩺 Minimising the need for mutilations
🩺 Understanding mineral and micro-nutrient status
🩺 Promotion of responsible antimicrobial usage
🩺 Importance of strict biosecurity measures

Friday 14th November, 12-4pm
Lantra Scotland, Auld Bond Road, Perth, PH1 3FX
£65 non-members | £45 members

Link in bio

25/09/2025

SVS Conference 2025 in Wales 🐑✨
What an amazing few days. Caught up with amazing friends (including some “Instagram friends” now real-life ones), learned heaps from practical talks and inspiring research, and came home with fresh ideas on nutrition, parasites (ticks, haemonchus & fluke were featured big time!🥳) and lots of other new developments in sheep health.

Great food, beautiful views, some very fine-looking sheep, inspiring (hill) farmers, and brilliant conversations with very knowledgeable people. I’m so glad to be part of this community and excited to join the Sheep Veterinary Society committee for the next 3 years 😃

Most excitingly: on the way home I picked up 13 guinea fowls, the best natural tick-control predators, so they say!. They’ll soon have the run of the farm and I’m very much hoping they eat as much ticks as they say 🤷🏼‍♀️ I might just try and see if I can keep them in one lambing field next season and compare tick numbers on lambs at marking from the field with guinea fowls with the ones from the other fields to find out if they are doing their job 😅

A conference like this is such a motivator! Even more excited now to dive into sheep research and to start my (part-time) PhD with Edinburgh University next week 📚🐑