Update from the Regional Veterinary Lab

Maresa Sheehan from the Dept. of Agriculture’s Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Kilkenny joins Ciarán Lynch on this week’s OviCast with an update on some of the issues she and her colleagues are encountering at the moment. The relatively mild winter and spring has helped many farms but it has also posed a risk for various parasite challenges from fluke to Nematodirus and Coccidia which are discussed in more detail. Maresa highlights how April tends to be a high risk period for clostridia issues as the maternally derived immunity in lambs wanes leading to sudden deaths in lambs arriving in the lab. She then discusses some of the chronic diseases affecting ewes and on this theme, Maresa discuss a new project that will get underway this year which will hopefully shed some light on those thin, pining ewes in flocks. Finally, Maresa encourages farmers to investigate health issues in their flock as it is the first step to addressing the issue. For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast