Jakoti Hand Shears Review

There are certain bits of farming I love and certain bits I hate. Dagging sheep is firmly in the "hate" camp but it's also a fairly essential job to do when it's needed! 

Dagging is the job of trimming around the sheep's bum to remove the muck that accumulates there. 

For years I've struggled with this job, using traditional "Double Bow" type shears. They never cut much, blunt too easily, hurt my hands (and my hands are fairly tough) and won't get through dried muck so you end up pulling that off first. Trouble is until you see something else you carry on with the way you were taught.

There must be an easier way...

Sheep MOT

Sorry for not posting all week, both my wife, my eldest and I have been poorly this week. It's been a bit rubbish really but we're all better now and I'm playing catch up with all my jobs.

The first thing I wanted to do this weekend was to get the sheep in as a big new flock for the first time. I had seen that one sheep was scouring (got the runs) and with how warm it's been I was worried about fly strike. 

Luckily I caught it just in time (sometimes they can infest an animal in as little as a day) and the maggots had only just go to the skin and hadn't drawn blood, by tomorrow I would have to have spent a lot more time picking them off her. As it was I trimmed her wool, trimmed all the muck off and treated her locally for fly strike to stop them coming back (once a sheep has had some they do seem to come back tot he same sheep again and again)

I decided that as they were all to be moved to fresh pasture I was going to worm all the ewes, penned up tight it doesn't take long, but it easier if you have someone marking them for you when you're drenching (I didn't, won;t be long until the girls are old enough). 

I also inspected a few feet and had a look at the lambs. I'm really pleased with this years batch, all the lambs seem healthy and happy, nearly all are a good size and in good condition. 

The last sheep lambed yesterday in fact, keeping me guessing as by my dates the last one should have been no later than the 5th of May! 

I always feel better when I'm up to date on my jobs with the stock, I feel that other jobs can wait but their welfare is the most important. Normally I won't have breakfast until I've been round them in the morning. Even when I was ill in the week I still got up and checked them all as well as feeding them each night, with a runny tummy this isn't as easy as it sounds! 

I'll give some garden updates next, it's growing like crazy at the moment! 

Wow - What A Morning!

Today was the first day back at school after the Easter holidays. That means that my wife is back at work and I'm back looking after the children, whilst I've still got some ewes to lamb. 

So Sunday night I went out to check the sheep that weer still to lamb just before bed time. There was a ewe struggling to lamb so I managed, after much running around, to catch her and get her into a pen I'd made in the field. 

This ewe was not easy to lamb, it was a single and the size of a small Labrador, I really struggle to get him out but managed in the end (the difficulty lies in pulling the lamb out and hold the ewe down on your own). I then moved her off to the shed to a bonding pen and went to bed around 11.30.

My younger daughter then woke me up at 2.30 and I decided that whilst I was awake I might as well go and check them (I had considered not checking them that night as I have so few left to lamb). When I went out there one ewe had had a triple (no one want triples) and the lambs had wondered away from her as she was going a little crazy not being able to find them. I gathered them up and put them in the shed as well, then back to bed.

I had my alarm set for six but with three young children there is little need for an alarm in our house! I got up quickly (for me), I wanted to check on the lambs born the night before and do my other jobs. 

When I went to check on the expectant ewes there was one lambing - damn I thought (or maybe something stronger). I could do without that during the school run. I managed to pen her up (again with much running around) and I had a "bit of an inspection" unfortunately she wasn't far enough on with her lambing and her cervix hadn't opened up fully. So I then sorted out the sheep in the shed, did the green houses, uncovered certain garden crops, fed the chickens and then went inside to see my wife off and sort the kids out, make their lunch boxes, get forest school kit ready etc, give them breakfast, clean teeth and get them dress.

I managed all that done by eight o'clock (we normally leave by 8.30 to get there with plenty of time to spare) so I got the kids to get their wellies on and marched them all down the field. 

The girls were told to look after the boy and make sure he didn't wonder off whilst I set about lambing this ewe. 

The kids were utterly transfixed as I put my hand inside her and after much effort managed to pull out two live lambs in front of their very eyes, my younger daughter told me there and then that she wanted to be a farmer (and a carpenter)!

Then with time against me I managed to get the sheep and lambs up to the shed (as it was raining), round up the children, get them in the car, change out of my overalls (and then clothes when I realised it had soaked through) and drive them to school. The road was then blocked so we had to turn round and go a longer way to school. 

We got there just as the gate was closing, but to be honest in my mind what they saw and experienced in that hour this morning would be far better than what they'd see or do at school, so if they were late I wouldn't have been very bothered! 

With the eldest dropped at school, the middle one then got dropped off at preschool and the youngest and me then went to the community church in the village where I volunteer at a playgroup to get set up for the mornings session! 

In all it was quiet a full on morning! 

It's funny I've always said I want to give my children a similar childhood to my own and I think I was doing just that this morning! 

Are Sheep Worth It?

The sheep are causing me trouble again this year. I seem to be having a run of bad luck with them lately, but this week has been particularly bad. 

One for the sheep managed to get into the lamb creep, where I've been feeding the lambs a mix of rolled oats, barley and beans. This feed is great for the lambs as it reduces their dependence on their mothers whilst still allowing them to fatten quickly.

Unfortunatly when this ewe got in there it didn't know when enough was enough and ate more than it's fill. It then got out and drank loads of water, this made all that grain in it's stomach expand and ferment.

When I found her she was pretty unresponsive, couldn't get up and was bloated. I tried everything to get the food and gas out, even giving her a drench with bicarb, oil and water which is meant to help get rid of the gas. I also made her swallow a plastic tube which is meant to do the same thing. Unfortunately, although I tried my best she still died. Apparently the stomach keeps expanding and crushes the major organs.

This hasn't set me in a great mood for the week.

Sorry for the selfie, this was taken at nine on Friday night after I discovered orf on some of the lambs.
Happy face

Then when checking the sheep the following morning there's a lamb looking sorry for itself, it's sick with something and to make matters worse there's the early signs of orf; a scab in the corner of his mouth. 

Orf is a perpetual pain with sheep as it'as easily spread around the flock. That meant that Friday night I had to get them all in and go through the lambs to make sure not too many had it. Not how everyone wants to spend their Friday night I'm sure! 

The lamb is now on a course of treatment and looking a little better, but it'll probably still die! 

I also had to do the second course of vaccinations for the lambs this weekend. 

With so much work and so little return I do frequently questions if they're worth it. That said I do enjoy having the land and when I'm not working full time and my work load is lower the jobs won't seem s quite so bad. 

What do you think? Would you keep sheep if you had the chance?

Sheep Shearing - Last Week

It's been a busy week so I've got a bit of catching up to do. 

On Monday I spoke to my neighbour, Ken, about getting the sheep sheared, as it was getting warmer and like every Shepard I was getting worried about fly strike and my animals over heating. 

He phoned back within a few minutes, the guys we used last year were busy but his friend was getting back into after 18 years as he had a young lad to train. 

I came back from work (I was only working in the village luckily) and set to getting set up.

It wasn't long until we had the sheep penned up and everything in the right place. 

I had the easy job of keeping the smaller feeder pen full of sheep to make it easier for the shearer to pull the next sheep out for shearing. 

The lad he was training was keen to learn the skill and really cared about the animals, he felt really guilty if he cut one but as I kept saying to him it's inevitable as they move about so much. They have a tough skin and even the pros cut sheep from time to time, we make sure that we treat any cuts straight away so they heal fast. I'm just glad there are some new people learning to shear sheep as it's the last thing I want to learn or do! 

The kids thought that shearing was great full. Alistair didn't really know what to make of it all, but I liked getting him in the pen with me - gotta start them young with stock! 

The girls liked it as well. There was a little pen right next to the sheep so they could safely get close to the action and see what was going on. 

So at the end of the evening and a few beers shared round to cool down from a hot and close June day, I had a flock of bald and happy sheep. You could see that they were so much happier now they could keep a little cooler. 

Anyone else who keeps sheep had theirs sheared yet?

Now who want to buy some wool?

Vaccinating Lambs and Tailing Sheep

 Last Sunday I had a fair few working here. My dad and brother had come to give me a hand with all the drainage/clearance work we were doing in preparation for the extension.
Nick, A young lad who sometimes works on my fathers farm, also came to help. He really keen on helping with anything sheep, and has some of his own, so I seized the opportunity and got him to help me vaccinate the lambs as they're at the age where they should have their first stage of injections.

Nick and me - stupid hat optional.

These injections are nuder the skin, I bought a special syringe for the job that automatically fills after each injection and has a cap on the top so it sterilises each time as well, clever stuff but it did take me a little while to figure out! 

Treating feet for scald due to the long grass

Whilst we were doing that we also checked every lambs foot for scald and treated them locally rather than treating every animal en mass. 

 I also took the decision to tail all the sheep. This is a job that Nick was dead keen to do, so I caught and held the ewe whilst he used his battery trimmers to dagg them. 

It's around the time of year when fly strike will become a problem, so rather than chemically treat them with a fly repellent (which I will have to once they've been sheared next month), dagging them removes all the muck they've built up over winter, which in turn removes where the flys will lay their eggs. I like to think it's a fairly proactive approach that reduces my need of chemicals, although I'll still have to keep a careful watch for maggots.

Lambs waiting for their mummies. 

The lambs are looking pretty healthy and they've started to eat their creep feed as well. Hopefully these lambs will finish faster this year than last.

Anyone else been tailing sheep or vaccinating lambs?

Ready for the Sheep - Well Kind Of...

Well the field is ready for the sheep. I've fenced off the daffodils and a strip at the bottom of the field to leave a bit of fresh grass for once they've lambed.  

First fence in to protect the daffodils 

 I've not got much grass anywhere so it's going to be a bit of a juggling act until the grass starts growing again. I've been lucky to over winter them at my fathers, otherwise I'd be in real trouble about now! 

Second line of fence to leave a good patch of grass so that the new lambs have somewhere to go.

 We've been feeding them a mix of oats, barley and a little wheat to keep their condition and get them ready for lambing. They seem pretty keen to come to the bucket - I'll post a video of some hungry sheep another time! 

Sheep HQ 

My base of operations for the next few weeks will be the back of a stock box I've borrowed off my dad. Inside it I've got the corn for feed, some hay and straw and I'll add my "sheep bucket" later (the sheep bucket contains all my bits to look after the animals like dagging shears and things like that). I've also got the use of the small barn, in the rented field, for any problem animals or new borns when it comes to it, other than that most things will be happening outside.

Sheep Bagging Up

I've found the last few days really interesting on the blog and I've deliberately not replied to comments as I think all that needs to be said has been said. But I really appreciate everyone's input, be it positive or negative, and I thank you all for that. 

But back to normal service.

The sheep are due to lamb quite soon. Only one I have seen looks like she is starting to "bag up" where their udders and teats start to grow in size as they come on to milk, a sure sight that a lamb is not too far away.

On there way to the trove to be feed

Currently they're still over wintering on some grass my father rents but they'll be back here in a couple of weeks, which means somehow I've got to figure out where we're going to lamb. It's looking like outside and in a 16ft by 12ft lean-to at the moment, but I'm sure I'll manage.

We've been feeding them a couple of buckets of oats per day and they've really gained condition, hopefully it won't have made the lambs too fat (as it makes them harder to come out) but only time will see on that one. 

Has anyone else ever lambed outside? 

Routine Work With Sheep - Drench

There's a lot of repeat work with animals although no two jobs are ever the same. 

At the weekend I drenched the lambs and then yesterday I drench the ewes. This flushes the worms out of their stomach and keeps them growing well

Marking a lamb I've just drenched

 It's a job I've always found easy to do but I suppose that's because I was shown the right way and I've been doing it so long I can't remember when I started drenching them instead of dad (when I lived on the farm).

I simple try to get them where they can't run away (a tight pen for something like this is important otherwise you'll be chasing sheep all day), then I pull their heads back, push the nossel in their mouth and give them the drench. I mark each one as I do it so there are no repeat dosages. I try to keep the mark as small as possible as dad always hated to see sheep with lots of marks on them so I was nagged not to paint the sheep when I was younger! 

This is a job where I started out just being in the pen with dad when I was a child and when I was big enough I used to mark the ewes for him (which makes the job a lot faster), then as I became a larger teenager we used to interchange who did it.

Yummy

And then encase this job didn't take enough time you have to go fill in the medicine book and right down who had what. I love that bit...