BETTER Farm Hill flock update

Dr Frank Campion joins Ciaran Lynch on the latest episode of OviCast with an update on the hill sheep flocks in the Teagasc BETTER farm sheep programme. Frank discusses the farms involved and those that have recently finished up in the programme and with many of the flocks just finished pregnancy scanning, he discusses the results they achieved this year including fertility issues encountered in one of the flock along with the possible causes and follow up actions. He moves on to litter size, management of twins and the possibility that some flocks may be pushing litter size too high to suit the system. They also discuss the need to look at the overall system and targeting the levels of output to best suit the farm. Finally, Frank highlights how the farmers are managing ewe body condition at this point of the year. For more episodes from OviCast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast/