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Topsy Farms News
Foster Lambing - 3rd Installment - Topsy Farms - By Sally Bowen
Foster Lambs at Topsy Farms - by Sally Bowen
Lambing at Topsy Farms - by Sally Bowen
Boys and Carrots - By Sally Bowen October 26, 2009
Lambing - By Sally Bowen June 02, 2009
Lamb Marketing - By Sally Bowen December 16, 2009
Foster Lambs - by Sally Bowen - May 28, 2008
Blog - by Ian Murray (April 30, 2008 - May 19, 2008)
Foster Lambs - by Sally Bowen (May 18, 2008)
Blog - by Ian Murray (May 12, 2007)
Blog - by Ian Murray (February 28, 2007)
Blog - by Ian Murray (February 26, 2007)
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| Blog - by Ian Murray (April 30, 2008 - May 19, 2008) |
April 30, 2008
Sue, my daughter-in-law and our web master, tells me that the web site should be back up sometime in May. She strongly suggested that I should start writing about the farm again. So here’s an update.
It was pretty dry last summer - about what we expect on this island where we often watch the rain on the mainland and the clouds heading south to water Watertown, NY. What we didn’t expect was a very dry fall which meant that we had to feed the sheep hay and grain a lot earlier than we’d hoped. The coyotes got more sheep than they should have. It was a difficult fall but we’ve had worse and every enterprise has its ups and downs. Over the years, we’ve considered ourselves pretty lucky: sheep farming is interesting if not very profitable; it’s good to be able to work outdoors; and, we live and work in a great place geographically and socially.
Then we found out how much more down they could get when we went from a breeding flock of 1000 mature ewes and over 400 replacements down to half that number.
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Winter 2007/08
The 2 worst health problems in the farm’s history occurred in this period.
We bought 7 new pure bred rams in the fall. One or more of these rams was quietly carrying an eye infection called “pink eye”. By quiet, I mean there were no symptoms showing during their several weeks quarantine. We didn’t realize that a sheep can carry the infective bacteria and not show symptoms - weeping eye and eventual blindness.
Some time after the new rams joined their more senior colleagues, pink eye started turning up in the rams. This was certainly helped along by the rams pushing at each other when they got their grain.
The rams were treated with antibiotics and we were sure that the problem was over; just another little challenge. Our mistake - in the glaring light of hindsight - was in not researching the condition and realizing that it could still be contagious when there were no symptoms.
The rams joined the ewes in mid-December. A week or so later it became apparent that some of the ewes had pink eye. And then a lot had pink eye. Our veterinarian advised 10cc of long-acting antibiotic for each sheep every 4 days until the symptoms went away. This we did. It was a shock to realize that each day’s treatment used more anti-biotic than we’d used in total since 1974.
It was a struggle - blind sheep tend to panic and run into things (including humans) - but the pink eye eventually disappeared.
The second problem was far more severe.
For several years, we had noticed a slowly increasing number of sheep aging prematurely - becoming thin and generally failing to thrive when their sisters and cousins were doing just fine. Several times we sent some of these thin sheep up to be tested at Kemptville College. Nothing significant was ever found.
Then on January 15th we got a phone call from CFIA’s (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) District Veterinarian. He stated that the sheep that we had sent to Kemptville had tested positive for Scrapie. He informed us that the farm was now under quarantine: no sheep, dead or alive, could leave our farm without CFIA’s permission.
Scrapie is a serious disease in sheep and goats and the Canadian government is determined to eradicate it.
The next day the CFIA representative presented us with 2 choices.
Option A: all our sheep would be euthanized and we would be compensated at fair market value.
Option B: all our sheep would be DNA tested for susceptibility to Scrapie. There are 4 levels of susceptibility and the most susceptible cohort would be euthanized and tested for Scrapie. If any sheep in this group tested positive the next cohort would be euthanized and tested. If any tested positive then the process would be repeated.
It was not an easy choice but we had a lot of ourselves invested in the flock so we picked Option B.
This is the letter that we sent to all our neighbours:
January 17, 2008
To our Amherst Island neighbours,
Recently, one of our sheep tested positive for Scrapie. This is a naturally occurring disease of sheep and goats that has been known to exist for at least 250 years.
It has no known effects on human health, and can not be transferred to other species of animals.
Scrapie is a reportable disease in Canada because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is in the process of trying to eradicate it. The main reason for this eradication is to permit the export of breeding stock to the United States. Scrapie is only transmittable from a ewe to her lambs and other ewes during the birthing process.
In Britain, it is likely present in 30% of all sheep flocks.
Scrapie is rare in Canada, and takes a long time to show up in a flock. It is unclear where the initial infection originated, as animals can carry this disease for several years without displaying clinical symptoms.
At this time, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is in charge of eradicating this disease in our flock, and we are cooperating fully with them. We wanted to let you know about this as you may be seeing CFIA vehicles and people around the farm.
All Topsy Farms products, both lamb and wool, are entirely safe.
Scrapie is a disease affecting sheep and goats; NOT people.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or check out scrapie on the CFIA web site – www.inspection.gc.ca
Here is the second letter that we sent to our neighbours:
April 30, 2008
To our Amherst Island neighbours:
This letter is to update you regarding the Scrapie situation at Topsy Farms. As mentioned in our letter of January 17, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been working with us to eradicate Scrapie from our farm.
The first stage of this process was the identification of all of our sheep. This required the reading of existing ear tags, the installation of special tags, and the recording of all the tags on each sheep.
The next stage involved taking a blood sample from each of the over 1400 breeding sheep – rams and ewes. The blood was then DNA tested and categorized for level of susceptibility to Scrapie. There are 4 levels of susceptibility. Sheep from the 2 highest levels of susceptibility -744- were then euthanized by CFIA veterinarians. Their brains were tested for Scrapie and, fortunately, those sheep in the second level of susceptibility were all free of the disease. We were therefore able to keep the remaining 700-odd breeding sheep.
The next challenge for us is to clean and sterilize our lambing barn and barnyard.
This involves composting all the past year’s manure and then disposing of it. We have opted to put this manure onto one field where sheep cannot have access for 5 years. The hay from this field can, however, be used.
We also have to remove about 2” of soil from the barn and barnyard and either bury it or have it placed somewhere that sheep and goats will never graze.
All wood that may have been in contact with birthing sheep must be either burned or pressure washed to remove all organic material and then soaked with a chlorine solution for at least one hour.
The lambing barn is unavailable so all sheep will lamb outside starting on May 1st.
Please remember that Scrapie is a disease that affects only sheep and goats – not humans. Our meat and lamb products continue to be safe to eat or wear.
For more information check out the CFIA web site at www.inspection.gc.ca. Or, contact us at info@topsyfarms.com or (613) 389-3444.
We will be compensated for the euthanized sheep and for some out-of-pocket expenses – eventually.
This has been a difficult time for all of us associated with Topsy Farms.
The CFIA staff members that we have been involved with have been courteous and professional.
We very much appreciate the concern and good wishes expressed by many of our neighbours.
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May 10, 2008
We are now in the process of sterilizing our barn to the satisfaction of the CFIA.
We have bought a 3600 psi pressure washer to help with this job.
A considerable amount of wooden equipment has been burnt already as it was not suitable for sterilizing.
[DT photo]
*****
May 15, 2008
A direct consequence of not being able to use our barn for lambing until it has been sterilized is that the sheep are all lambing on pasture.
We have been blessed - our luck is changing I think (knock-on-wood) - with weather that is close to perfect for lamb survival. The 10 day stretch of fantastic weather in mid-April has produced the best early growth of pasture that we’ve seen in our 36 years of farming here.
Christopher is finding that pasture lambing has a lot to recommend it. We may never go back to using a barn for lambing.
Yesterday, I started to disc up some land that we first started to rent last year. We haven’t worked land in a while as all the rest of the farm is in permanent forage. One of our friends says that this is a form of permaculture as it is sustainable indefinitely. Our mostly shallow and poorly drained soil on our drought-prone island is not suitable for grain growing.
*****
May18, 2008
The 4 fields have now been prepared for seeding. We hired some of our neighbours with bigger land working equipment to help us get the land worked properly. The first field was sown this afternoon but rain prevented more work being done.
Fitting land - as it is called - is really like preparing a lawn or garden but on a large scale. Ploughing is akin to spade work. Disking is akin to hoeing or rototilling. Cultivating is akin to raking. A cultipacker or roller is used after the seeding to compact the soil around the seed.
This is a very expensive process and we avoid it as much as possible. There is, however, a real feeling of accomplishment when one looks at a well worked and planted field. Once a field is planted there is the waiting to see if there will be enough moisture for good seed germination followed by enough sunlight and rain for growth but not too much of either.
*****
May 19, 2008
Yesterday’s rain came with a cold wind that has the ewes seeking sheltered places for themselves and their young lambs. Newborn lambs are having a tough time but once they are up and get their first drink of colostrum they are all right.
As with human babies, not all lambs survive. There are birthing difficulties - feet the wrong way and 2 lambs trying to come out at the same time. In addition, there are genetic problems.
We have worked diligently since we got our first sheep in 1974 to select for sheep that are able to birth 2 or 3 healthy lambs without help. We estimate that only about 1% of birthing ewes will need help from us.
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