Maintaining ewe fertility for 3rd consecutive year

I farm in partnership with my father just outside Cookstown. We run a flock of 300 Blackface ewes.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Sep 2020, 11:19 BST
Eoin LoughranEoin Loughran
Eoin Loughran

I switched over to the Mayo Health Care All Guard Ewe 5in1 bolus in Autumn 2018 on an experimental basis.

Before the MHC bolus, for a Mountain Blackface ewe I was satisfied with averaging out at 1.5-1.6 lambs per ewe.

For the last three years, I have only changed one thing in how I manage my flock; The All Guard Ewe bolus. I have managed to bring my scanning percentage up to 1.8 Lambs/Ewe.

Fertility is the main reason I am using the bolus for the third consecutive year.

The previous bolus I used, had what I thought was a good enough spec. However, I think the benefit with the Mayo Healthcare bolus was having nearly double the cobalt and higher levels of iodine compared to my previous bolus. Teagasc (The Agricultural and Food Development Authority in the Republic of Ireland) recommends giving 2mg of cobalt a day for a deficiency. And this was the only bolus that was anywhere near that spec.

The iodine gives a great strong heat, and the cobalt just helps flush the system with energy.

I got the All Guard Ewe Bolus through Allister Erskine in Homeland Omagh. I’m also going to give the All Guard Ewe bolus about a month prior to lambing as well. Apart from fertility, I mainly noticed:

- A great bloom nearly immediately after giving the ewes the bolus.

- The bolus had a high density and thus was small in size making it really easy to administer to the ewe.

- Good Healthy Vigorous lambs coming out, that are up and sucking quickly.

- A tighter lambing period.”

Allister Erskine, from Homeland Omagh added: “Since, the All Guard Ewe Bolus was introduced just over three years ago it has proven itself from the feedback my customers have given me. It is our most popular selling ewe bolus, and it is the first bolus brand we recommend to our customers.

“Our team in Homeland Omagh are happy to share the great results and feedback our customers have given. Feel free to pop into our store in Omagh or give me a call on 078 72009587.”