A question about Sheep

How do farmers, who have hundreds of sheep on their farms or up on the fells, manage troublesome flies/maggots? 

Ello Margaret :) I dont feel hugely qualified to answer the question but what I would imagine is the farms who have millions of sheep will dip their sheep regularly and it is the dipping process that basically kills / washes out the eggs / maggots and other nasties in the sheep :) We havent dipped our sheep for a while at the farm, but I do remmeber one time we did ages ago :)

Thanks Dan.  I forgot about the dipping of the sheep!    

Hi Margaret.... what Dan says is basically what happens on farms with large numbers of sheep..... they are dipped every year but it is inevitable that some sheep will be affected by flies/maggots. The only really effective way to control infestation is to check the flock daily and look for the signs.... a very dirty bottom, scratching themselves constantly against trees, fences, etc and sometimes rolling around on the ground , trying to itch themselves. The fleeces also become slightly discoloured and it is something that has to be watched for every summer. There are also fly repellents which can be used ( we use it) but of course this will be a long job for farmers with large flocks. Hope this helps answer your question....

Good morning Lynda,

Thank you for answering my question so comprehensively especially when you must be so busy.

It's most appreciated. 

just to carry on with this topic... if a sheep gets maggoted,  we shear it immediately and then cover its whole body with dilute savlon.... maggots hate this solution and come screaming out from under the skin !! Its disgusting but effective !!

I remember vividly the day I came home from work / school (obviously xan't remember it that vividly!) when we had to demaggot the tup. The little so-and-sos fell out like rain and the hens absolutely loved it! LOL

Poor tup though, i bet the process of demaggoting it was nectar for it though, being scratched and cleaned.

I would find that process fascinating!  Watching the maggots escaping the dilute savlon!  A satisfying event all round..  ..  except for the maggots!  lol

Thanks Dan for your memory of that happening... plus the suitable smiley... ... What a grand day it is! 

What is a tup?

Mary, a tup is a ram (a male sheep)

Thank You Margaret for the info.

I'm going to have fun with this new word. lol

I can hardly wait to tell someone driving one of those big Doge Ram trucks "Hey...I like your tup truck." lol

  Mary B

And then there are the "yows".  Try using "yow" in a sentence!  "Yow" is a Yorkshire dialect word meaning "ewe", or female sheep.  

Thanks Helen for explaining the "yow" word. Wasn't sure if you were really spelling it wrongly or not. Always thought it was "ewe".Whenever I see the letters "yow" it reminds me of the airline code for Ottawa.

Well, SImon, I wonder if that says something about the state of politics in our nation's (Ottawa's) capital - a city full of sheep?  A parliament full of yows?  A few "tups" to keep things in line.  Interesting images come to mind in this election time.