Vets and sheep farmers from across Wales are invited to join an informative webinar on how to manage thin sheep and when to investigate and treat iceberg diseases in flocks.
Held on Monday 17 February, the webinar - titled ‘The tip of the iceberg – what is contributing to thin sheep in flocks?’ – will feature vet and sheep consultant Kate Hovers who will explain how Welsh sheep farmers can benefit from early detection of these diseases.
There are many factors that can contribute to thin and poorly performing sheep and finding the root cause - which may be as simple as inadequate feeding, or more serious like a debilitating iceberg disease - will benefit the bottom line
Iceberg diseases is a term used to describe diseases which are often slow to develop. As the name suggests, the severity of the disease is often underestimated and more animals within the flock are harbouring disease than those showing signs. They include Caseous Lymphasenitis (CLA), Ovine Johne’s Disease (OJD) and Maedi Visna (MV).
Lowri Thomas, Producer and Processor Senior Officer at Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) will be chairing the event. She said: “Iceberg diseases often remain undetected in flocks but can be responsible for poor performance through chronic wasting, low fertility and reduced growth rates. The sheep showing signs may just be the tip of the iceberg but affected flocks will have lower production rates, which has a detrimental effect on the profitability of the business.
“We are looking forward to an interesting and useful session, which will include expert advice and practical tips from Kate Hovers. We are also pleased to work with the Wales Veterinary Science Centre (WVSC) and National Sheep Association Wales (NSA) to highlight the benefits of a new, innovative testing kit called Enferplex.”
The Enferplex antibody test is offered by the WVSC and supported by NSA Wales.
Anyone with an interest is welcome to join the webinar, using the following registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8QGc2qxGQBKxJCtd2gOLpA
