Clik for small amount of sheep

k mac

Only have 4 hoggets and hoping to buy maybe 10 more. For that small amount buying clik seems to be a non runner or at least a huge expense. If you open clik does it last for a couple of years. Have i any other options, other treatments sold in smaller amounts. Any suggestions would be much appreciated for a newby starting out small.
See you can buy CLik in 0.8 litres in the north, that could be an option if it lasted once opened and sealed properly afterwards

Dinzee Conlee

Are they clean?
When do you shear?
Is flystrike an issue for you previously?

I have hoggets and they dont usually get clik - I shear start June.

Having said that, I normally shear in September as well. I didn't this year, so be interesting to see how we get on in May...

Edit - when we had ewes, they also didn't get Clik, and were shorn once a year, start June again

wrangler

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Are they clean?
When do you shear?
Is flystrike an issue for you previously?

I have hoggets and they dont usually get clik - I shear start June.

Having said that, I normally shear in September as well. I didn't this year, so be interesting to see how we get on in May...

Edit - when we had ewes, they also didn't get Clik, and were shorn once a year, start June again

It wouldn't be the way every where, It starts here the 1st june and shearing only protects for six weeks at the most.
We clik here the 20may, shear 20th august but we'd have maggots in about a month if we weren't dipped

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

It wouldn't be the way every where, It starts here the 1st june and shearing only protects for six weeks at the most.
We clik here the 20may, shear 20th august but we'd have maggots in about a month if we weren't dipped

It’s gas, we would never have left shearing since late as we would have had ewes going on their back with the heavy fleece...
Now, maybe it was our land or our breed of ewe that was the cause of that, I don’t know...

But shearing start June has always worked for us...

Lambs were a different story, they got clik/clikzan as early as needed but as late as you could get away with...

wrangler

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

It’s gas, we would never have left shearing since late as we would have had ewes going on their back with the heavy fleece...
Now, maybe it was our land or our breed of ewe that was the cause of that, I don’t know...

But shearing start June has always worked for us...

Lambs were a different story, they got clik/clikzan as early as needed but as late as you could get away with...

Using Lleyn they won't be going on their back even crossed with texel

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

Using Lleyn they won't be going on their back even crossed with texel

We had suffolk / suffolk-cross big strong 80-90kg sheep...

They were good sheep, had great lambs... We were always understocked so it wasn’t an issue they ate a lot maybe

Hard to manage though, turning them was always a struggle

wrangler

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

We had suffolk / suffolk-cross big strong 80-90kg sheep...

They were good sheep, had great lambs... We were always understocked so it wasn’t an issue they ate a lot maybe

Hard to manage though, turning them was always a struggle

Lleyns make for easier handling, 21 or 22 kg carcases is all you need any way.
When we had 5 - 600 ewes we could have 13 -- 1500 to get in for shearing if done before weaning so we changed to autumn shearing,
I'd phone the shearer if I had them dry and as long as he could get to me within 48hrs I'd put them in.
He'd rather them in as long as possible as well

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

Lleyns make for easier handling, 21 or 22 kg carcases is all you need any way.
When we had 5 - 600 ewes we could have 13 -- 1500 to get in for shearing if done before weaning so we changed to autumn shearing,
I'd phone the shearer if I had them dry and as long as he could get to me within 48hrs I'd put them in.
He'd rather them in as long as possible as well

Ah, we never had numbers like that...

The man before me was winding down, and I wasn’t too interested in doing much with sheep at the time...

wrangler

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Ah, we never had numbers like that...

The man before me was winding down, and I wasn’t too interested in doing much with sheep at the time...

I'm probably the age of the man before you so you can see why my land is leased. Stay not 'too interested' if you take my advice.
Great stuff out there for young people nowadays.

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

I'm probably the age of the man before you so you can see why my land is leased. Stay not 'too interested' if you take my advice.
Great stuff out there for young people nowadays.

Oh, I’d say you have close to another 30 years to go to make it to the age that man was when he passed...
No pressure now

I’m in the same boat as you wrangler - most of the farm let, only a few fields around the house for me to do my hobby farming...

It reminds me - one time I went to the mart, I had more sheep then, but I had a full time job too. I kinda still classed myself a bit of a hobby farmer...
I told one man I was only a hobby farmer, he asked how many ewes I had - I told him,..
He got the hump then, cos even as a hobby farmer I had more then him...

wrangler

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Oh, I’d say you have close to another 30 years to go to make it to the age that man was when he passed...
No pressure now

I’m in the same boat as you wrangler - most of the farm let, only a few fields around the house for me to do my hobby farming...

It reminds me - one time I went to the mart, I had more sheep then, but I had a full time job too. I kinda still classed myself a bit of a hobby farmer...
I told one man I was only a hobby farmer, he asked how many ewes I had - I told him,..
He got the hump then, cos even as a hobby farmer I had more then him...

Keep it that way if you've a nice job,
I did something similar lately when I told someone I had eighty ewes, ''and you call that a hobby'' was the retort
Life is very short, don't be strangling yourself, enjoy your family

farawaygrass

Not very positive post from you there wrangler, or maybe just being realistic. Plenty of jobs out there come with pressure and compromise too. I might be dreaming but I’d hope to be able to give up the day job in a few years and farm majority sheep and some cattle. That might never materialise but something to aim for! Always days work around if needed to, with contractors, handy man etc

wrangler

farawaygrass wrote: »

Not very positive post from you there wrangler, or maybe just being realistic. Plenty of jobs out there come with pressure and compromise too. I might be dreaming but I’d hope to be able to give up the day job in a few years and farm majority sheep and some cattle. That might never materialise but something to aim for! Always days work around if needed to, with contractors, handy man etc

Hard to get time a way from it, we'd often have over 1200 sheep on the farm and all capable off something going wrong. Often left a number for the knackery with who ever was looking after the place when we'd be heading off..... it'd usually be grass tetany in the sucklers when we had them or mastitis in the ewes.
Any one with their father around is lucky they can head off anytime

k mac

k mac wrote: »

Only have 4 hoggets and hoping to buy maybe 10 more. For that small amount buying clik seems to be a non runner or at least a huge expense. If you open clik does it last for a couple of years. Have i any other options, other treatments sold in smaller amounts. Any suggestions would be much appreciated for a newby starting out small.
See you can buy CLik in 0.8 litres in the north, that could be an option if it lasted once opened and sealed properly afterwards

Your vet might dispense small amounts for cases like that, be worth asking anyway.

roosky

k mac wrote: »

Only have 4 hoggets and hoping to buy maybe 10 more. For that small amount buying clik seems to be a non runner or at least a huge expense. If you open clik does it last for a couple of years. Have i any other options, other treatments sold in smaller amounts. Any suggestions would be much appreciated for a newby starting out small.
See you can buy CLik in 0.8 litres in the north, that could be an option if it lasted once opened and sealed properly afterwards

Where are you based.....you might be close to some of the posters on here, if your within driving distance of me we can split a bottle!

k mac

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Are they clean?
When do you shear?
Is flystrike an issue for you previously?

I have hoggets and they dont usually get clik - I shear start June.

Having said that, I normally shear in September as well. I didn't this year, so be interesting to see how we get on in May...

Edit - when we had ewes, they also didn't get Clik, and were shorn once a year, start June again

Only getting into sheep so have not sheared before.
As above so no issue with flystrike before.
As i said only have 4 hoggets at the minute and about to buy 5 ewes with lambs at foot.

k mac

roosky wrote: »

Where are you based.....you might be close to some of the posters on here, if your within driving distance of me we can split a bottle!

Based in mayo...would be open to sharing.
If anyone knew how long it would last once opened i wouldn't mind buying the 0.8 l bottle

roosky

k mac wrote: »

Based in mayo...would be open to sharing.
If anyone knew how long it would last once opened i wouldn't mind buying the 0.8 l bottle

It has a shelf life of 1 year once opened, so you could buy enough to use over two years

Sami23

Anyone have any opinions on Ectofly or Vector as a cheaper alternative to Clik/Clikzin as want to get some in as no doubt it will be needed shortly

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Anyone have any opinions on Ectofly or Vector as a cheaper alternative to Clik/Clikzin as want to get some in as no doubt it will be needed shortly

Vector and ectofly don't last here, ectofly will kill maggots, Clik and Clikzin gives the coverage they claim..... here anyway

Sami23

wrangler wrote: »

Vector and ectofly don't last here, ectofly will kill maggots, Clik and Clikzin gives the coverage they claim..... here anyway

Thanks wrangler.
Did I see you mention before about watering down Clik/Clikzin to get more coverage out of them

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Thanks wrangler.
Did I see you mention before about watering down Clik/Clikzin to get more coverage out of them

Yea, if you mix Clik at 4 to 1 with water there's the same amount of active ingredient per litre as Clikzin.

Sami23

wrangler wrote: »

Yea, if you mix Clik at 4 to 1 with water there's the same amount of active ingredient per litre as Clikzin.

I'd say I'd be as well get the Clikzin for the lambs so rather than Ectofly or Vector. Was just tempted as you can get 5 Ltrs of Vector for €100 where as 2.2 Ltrs of Clikzin is €109.

Do you know if the Ectofly applicator I have will work for Clikzin also - presume it will ?

Green farmer

Sami23 wrote: »

I'd say I'd be as well get the Clikzin for the lambs so rather than Ectofly or Vector. Was just tempted as you can get 5 Ltrs of Vector for €100 where as 2.2 Ltrs of Clikzin is €109.

Do you know if the Ectofly applicator I have will work for Clikzin also - presume it will ?

Never used it, but is the vector a different product to ectofly ? Found the ectofly to be the worst product I ever used here. Had sheep struck a week or two after it being applied. Nasty stuff if you inhale the mist off it as well.

Floody Boreland

At such times non fly strike breeds come into their own.

Sami23

Anyone beat €109 for 2.2ltr of Clikzin as gonna buy this weekend ?

k mac

Floody Boreland wrote: »

At such times non fly strike breeds come into their own.

Easycare?? or are there others

k mac

Sami23 wrote: »

Anyone beat €109 for 2.2ltr of Clikzin as gonna buy this weekend ?

Same on Agridirect i think

arctictree

Can only say what we do here. Shear in early June and spray with Ectofly a few weeks later. A few years ago I didn't do it until a few weeks later and lost a few lambs to it.

Sami23

arctictree wrote: »

Can only say what we do here. Shear in early June and spray with Ectofly a few weeks later. A few years ago I didn't do it until a few weeks later and lost a few lambs to it.

How did you lose a few lambs - would you not have seen them when herding and treated them with dip etc. ?

wrangler

arctictree wrote: »

Can only say what we do here. Shear in early June and spray with Ectofly a few weeks later. A few years ago I didn't do it until a few weeks later and lost a few lambs to it.

We do the ewes mid may with Clik and find the lambs are protected as well. The Clik treated ewes seems to keep the flies away.
We shear in August

arctictree

Sami23 wrote: »

How did you lose a few lambs - would you not have seen them when herding and treated them with dip etc. ?

A combination of lots of factors. Didn't notice them until they were well struck. Can happen very fast. Delay in delivery of the spray too.

mrfitz

I have a few sheep this year too. Was looking into Clik and other options.
The Clik protection period is 16 weeks, but is very expensive.
I've looked at Ectofly; it contains a different active ingredient, but seems to cover everything that Clik does (open to correction on that)
The protection period of Ectofly is 6 - 8 weeks which would mean doing them 2 or 3 times during the Summer - not a big job when they're in for a footbath or FEC anyway.

It is a lot less expensive than Clik though.

Sami23

mrfitz wrote: »

I have a few sheep this year too. Was looking into Clik and other options.
The Clik protection period is 16 weeks, but is very expensive.
I've looked at Ectofly; it contains a different active ingredient, but seems to cover everything that Clik does (open to correction on that)
The protection period of Ectofly is 6 - 8 weeks which would mean doing them 2 or 3 times during the Summer - not a big job when they're in for a footbath or FEC anyway.

It is a lot less expensive than Clik though.

Vector has same ingredient as Ectofly and is even cheaper

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Vector has same ingredient as Ectofly and is even cheaper

Ectofly didn't last here, also you have to spread it properly on the sheep whereas Clik travels through the fleece. Ectofly only protects where you put it

J.O. Farmer

Clik is only expensive the day you pay for it.
1 lamb not being struck would cover a fair bit of it not to mention the value of peace of mind.

razor8

wrangler wrote: »

Ectofly didn't last here, also you have to spread it properly on the sheep whereas Clik travels through the fleece. Ectofly only protects where you put it

Used ectofly in the past & definitely doesn’t cover anything near 6-8 weeks. More like 6-8 days.

Unless they dramatically improved the product I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone

MayoAreMagic

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

Clik is only expensive the day you pay for it.
1 lamb not being struck would cover a fair bit of it not to mention the value of peace of mind.

Agreed. You could have a lamb fit to go that gets struck and he will be a thin store by the end of it, if alive at all. One of them covers the price of it for the year for me, as I only do the lambs (which tends to cover the ewes also). Add in your time treating for maggots and chasing after ones with dirty backends for fear of them, and clik becomes the cheap option.

I see a lad near me going down the ectofly route, out of meaness truth be told - he is doing them and gathering them off the hill again, doing them and getting an odd few struck anyway. 'Ah but that clik is awful dear, this does the job for me, and sure nothing is as good as the plunge dipping for maggots anyway'

k mac

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

Agreed. You could have a lamb fit to go that gets struck and he will be a thin store by the end of it, if alive at all. One of them covers the price of it for the year for me, as I only do the lambs (which tends to cover the ewes also). Add in your time treating for maggots and chasing after ones with dirty backends for fear of them, and clik becomes the cheap option.

I see a lad near me going down the ectofly route, out of meaness truth be told - he is doing them and gathering them off the hill again, doing them and getting an odd few struck anyway. 'Ah but that clik is awful dear, this does the job for me, and sure nothing is as good as the plunge dipping for maggots anyway'

When you say you only do the lambs and it protects the ewes how does that work. I have only 9 ewes for doing and was advised to get them sheared now and do the lot with clik later but the reason being if I do them with clik now the shearer won't do them. As it is I am struggling to get a Shearer for such small numbers, so if I could get away with just using clik on the lambs who don't need shearing and that meant the ewes were protected it would be ideal

Dinzee Conlee

k mac wrote: »

When you say you only do the lambs and it protects the ewes how does that work. I have only 9 ewes for doing and was advised to get them sheared now and do the lot with clik later but the reason being if I do them with clik now the shearer won't do them. As it is I am struggling to get a Shearer for such small numbers, so if I could get away with just using clik on the lambs who don't need shearing and that meant the ewes were protected it would be ideal

Where are you based K-Mac? 9 is a handy number in a way that you load into the trailer and take them to some other lads place...

MayoAreMagic

k mac wrote: »

When you say you only do the lambs and it protects the ewes how does that work. I have only 9 ewes for doing and was advised to get them sheared now and do the lot with clik later but the reason being if I do them with clik now the shearer won't do them. As it is I am struggling to get a Shearer for such small numbers, so if I could get away with just using clik on the lambs who don't need shearing and that meant the ewes were protected it would be ideal

The lambs go back to their mothers after treatment and the close contact between the two be it sucking or lying cloee together, seems to keep maggots at bay for their mothers also. That is horned ewes though, which are less prone to maggots, but it has definitely made a difference here.

k mac

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Where are you based K-Mac? 9 is a handy number in a way that you load into the trailer and take them to some other lads place...

Based in mayo but nobody with sheep around my immediate area.

wrangler

k mac wrote: »

Based in mayo but nobody with sheep around my immediate area.

Unless you get in with another farmer you'll be left until the end of the season. Shearers would be flat out now

wrangler

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

The lambs go back to their mothers after treatment and the close contact between the two be it sucking or lying cloee together, seems to keep maggots at bay for their mothers also. That is horned ewes though, which are less prone to maggots, but it has definitely made a difference here.

Usually we wouldn't do the lambs until they're weaned as the ewes would be done and that protected them, however we Clik'd everything yesterday along with bolusing the lambs and second Heptavac

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

Unless you get in with another farmer you'll be left until the end of the season. Shearers would be flat out now

Would have to agree...

K Mac - do you know any sheep farmers even if they were a bit of a spin away?
Failing that, would you jump in the car and head in the direction of a known sheep area and just call into a farmer and tell him your story and ask could you bring your sheep?
2 lads with a few sheep used to do it here, we’d leave them till last to shear... usually the lad bringing them would give you a bit of a hand with our own few...

Best of luck...

Mad about baa baas

Would 9 sheep be manageable with a hand shears or am I a glutton for punishment?

Dinzee Conlee

Mad about baa baas wrote: »

Would 9 sheep be manageable with a hand shears or am I a glutton for punishment?

Sure you’d hardly have the sheep if you weren’t

wrangler

Mad about baa baas wrote: »

Would 9 sheep be manageable with a hand shears or am I a glutton for punishment?

My father used to do sixty, he'd do a few after tea every evening.
The dog would pen them in a corner while he was doing a few

Dinzee Conlee

wrangler wrote: »

My father used to do sixty, he'd do a few after tea every evening.
The dog would pen them in a corner while he was doing a few

I remember the grandfather did about 30 here for us when I was small...
He would have been in his early 70s at the time. Did half one day, and finished the next...
The fleece was properly cleaned and rolled up after each one, and that weird twist put in it to hold it...
Hardy man, even at that age...

Green farmer

wrangler wrote: »

My father used to do sixty, he'd do a few after tea every evening.
The dog would pen them in a corner while he was doing a few

Did about that number here with a jakoti last year. Same thing, a few here and there. Did some others with an electric hand held shears also, but preferred the jakoti. Want to be careful of your fingers though.

wrangler

Green farmer wrote: »

Did about that number here with a jakoti last year. Same thing, a few here and there. Did some others with an electric hand held shears also, but preferred the jakoti. Want to be careful of your fingers though.

You'd do a lot in a small flock while you'd be waiting for a shearer