orf

micky mouse

was telling a lad that i was thinking of buying a few sheep,and he tells me don't buy sheep buy ewe lambs.he said he finds that bigger risk of orf from sheep as again the ewe lamb. Sheep can be "carriers" of orf. I take it,hes talking rubbish! Any thoughts

MayoAreMagic

Does he have ewe lambs for sale by any chance?

If it is in a flock then it will be in the whole lot of them. You are actually better with ones that have had it in my opinion. If you bought ones that never encountered it, and it was in your area, you would have a much tougher time of it than with ewes that had it in the past. It is a bit like chickenpox is suppose!

Green farmer

In my flock this years lambs had a touch of it around their mouths. It cleared up as quick as it came. Ewes appeared to be unaffected by it.

MayoAreMagic

So to me, greenfarmer, that would say that your ewes have encountered it and have built up a level of immunity. Mine are the same. You will get small breakouts like that every other year but generally it clears up on its own.

Green farmer

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

So to me, greenfarmer, that would say that your ewes have encountered it and have built up a level of immunity. Mine are the same. You will get small breakouts like that every other year but generally it clears up on its own.

I think so. I also noticed that they only had it whilst in a rough grazing field with lots of nettles. In the better field they might not get it at all.

MayoAreMagic

Yes I have seen something similar also. If there are whin bushes near them they will get it. Some lads in my area think it is in the whin bushes, but it is more to do with the little scratch they get off the whin allowing the virus in, I believe. Probably something similar with the nettles.

jmrc

We have bought in sheep a bit in the last couple of years and found a few different strains of it appearing. its a scurge. we had ewes with in their eyes the other year and had to bin a few good ewes as they ended up completely blind.....!