Strike early

The breed of sheep we keep, Wiltshire Horn, are generally regarded as much less prone to the risk of fly strike compared to other breeds because they have only a short coat of wool and are also self-shedding, dropping their wool naturally. This is probably true but these characteristics do not eliminate the risk of fly strike altogether.

Therefore, as with any sheep keeper, it pays to be constantly vigilant from at least May to September, the peak period when blow flies (green bottles and blues bottles) are out and about. This is the time when they potentially lay their eggs in the woollen coat of sheep, and when the maggots hatch they eat into the skin and flesh of the sheep. Death is a distinct possibility unless the infestation is spotted early enough and treated. The presence of maggots might not be obvious without close inspection, which means catching the sheep to examine them, which in turns means looking out for suspicious signs of fly strike being a possibility.

Unfortunately, one of our ewes got caught. A couple of afternoons ago I noticed she was hanging back from the rest of the flock. I could also see a dark patch on her side. This was enough to arouse suspicion. One excellent piece of advice I’ve picked up is that if you have a hunch something is not  well with a sheep, don’t leave it for tomorrow; deal with it right away. 

Photo taken from the WWW.  My hands were rather full at the 
time to take a photo of the ewe in question.

I managed to catch hold of the ewe and sure enough there was a cluster of writhing maggots on her side. I brushed these off and used hand shears to cut away the wool  including well into the unaffected surrounding areas. The rest of the ewe was also checked for any additional site of infestation. 

Fortunately the maggots had not broken through the skin which remained intact. If there had been any delay then this almost certainly would have been the case with the consequent likelihood of infection. I applied Crovect fly strike treatment and finally let her go again. She seems to be fine but I’ll continue to keep a close eye on her.