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... I would’ve asked specifically for Welshfarmer but paging threads not allowed
Anyways... How many sheep do you lose (as in they die) over a month/quarter? Is there a expected % loss? I ask as a farm near the estate where I work has about 50 head of and occasionally I see a dead sheep in the field (reported 2 to him today). I know sheep die for the fun of it, just wondering if the numbers I see are par for the course
OK, a while since I worked on the family farm (mixed beef and sheep low fell farm in the Lakes) so ...
It depends! It's not so much per month as per season, winter will see most deaths probably followed by spring which is also stressful to stock. It will also vary from year to year depending on the weather and from farm to farm, there was one year in the 1980s when some of the fell farms lost nearly 50% due to heavy snow hitting at just the wrong time. It also depends on the breed - some are better suited to bad weather than others. Then you've worrying by dogs which is completely random.
Back then you were permitted to bury dead stock on your land providing it was away from water courses. So I'd bury somewhere around four or five ewes a year. We'd 420 ewes so that's just over 1%. I'm sure we had some worse years and I'm just a bit young to remember the winter of 1962/3 but my dad didn't mention if it was particularly bad.
If the farmer near you only has 50 head then each death is 2%
Two dead at the same time out of fifty is a possible indication of something wrong. But sheep just live to die in the most unexpected and incalculable ways. Could be lots of things but fly strike and pneumonia would be pretty high up my list for deaths at this time of year. But of course it could be anything. They're sheep after all.
At this time of year heat stress, fly strike and if it's been very dry there is a worm that causes sudden death without the usual signs (common in and vaccinated for in hotter countries).
2 in a flock of 50 through the year is high but that is not a large flock so even just 1 is a high %.
2 deaths at the same time is suspicious and would suggest an underlying problem - worm or possibly not treated for flystike etc. Unless there is obvious different reasons - e.g. one drowning itself.
We have 53 sheep. We did have 54 but lost one to it being allowed to get into the pig feed store while we were away (bloat + copper poisoning). We also nearly lost a lamb to fly strike (again after being away and having someone else "check" them that time). Last year we lost an adult ewe to the worm mentioned above in the height of summer. Losing 1 at any point during the year is upsetting and makes me feel like we have let them down, losing 2 or more and I would be very unhappy with ourselves or we have been unlucky if they are different causes.