What ewe bolus to use pre-tupping?

I farm near Rathkenny in Co Antrim and run a pedigree Suffolk and Texel flock. I also have 400 commercial Suffock-Cheviot and Mules.
Paddy DonnellyPaddy Donnelly
Paddy Donnelly

I strongly believe that trace element supplementation contributes to the overall results of good farm management.

I have been using boluses for over 10 years on my flock and there are plenty of options out on the market.

Last Autumn I decided to trial the new Mayo Healthcare All Guard Ewe bolus on part of my flock to see how it would compare to the bolus I was currently using.

Initially, what attracted me to the bolus was that it is the strongest ewe bolus I could find on the market.

I am a strong believer in the importance of cobalt, and the Mayo Healthcare Bolus has nearly double the cobalt of its nearest competitor. It is really easy to administer. The bolus has an extreme high density and therefore is a lot smaller than the previous pre-tupping boluses I used.

RESULTS

I was delighted with the comparison. The ewes with the Mayo Healthcare bolus scanned at 1.96 per ewe. They seemed to go in lamb more easily.

The lambs were livelier and thrived a lot better when born.

I noticed hoof health was a lot better, which could have been down to the addition of Zinc.

I used the “All Guard Ewe 5 in 1” which had 4g of copper, and on the Texels I used the “All Guard Ewe 4 in 1” which has no copper.

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