Tups in

Spent the morning bringing in the ewes and taking off the tups now that tupping is finished. I dosed all the ewes with a flukicide to combat liver fluke which is a constant problem here. I used to only do the sheep twice in the winter but after testing their faeces I discovered that this was not enough. I dosed and sorted all 102 ewes in an hour, the handling system is designed to work well with only one person without running around like an idiot trying to get sheep where you want them. In the middle are the old or thin ewes plus tups and the far away pen has all the ewes fit enough to winter out the hill. To the left are the ones I still need to treat and shed. Shedding uses a swinging gate to put the sheep in one pen or the other. The ewes are used to the system and like to run into the "dosing" race to get treated just so they can be let out. The old and thin will live on the in-bye and be fed more during the winter.

 

All in all a successful morning and I avoided the worst of the showers when I was working in the shed. The tups will now stay in the shed for winter getting fed plenty. They have worked hard and look in need of some tlc. The afternoon I spent updating all the sheep records to keep everything in order.