The month of August is nearly behind us and pedigree sheep sales have commenced with good trade seen for quality, well-bred stock. Preparations for 2020 lambing season are certainly in full swing with the acquisition of sought after bloodlines for both pedigree and commercial breeders. With planning ongoing on the breeding side, consideration should be given to the animal health planning now prior to breeding, with results carrying through to lambing time. Vitamin and mineral status of breeding ewes, and do not forget rams, will impact on scanning rates and lambing spread. Therefore application of a quality vitamin and mineral like ProVitaMin Sheep drench will boost these parameters.
William Tait breeds pedigree Suffolk sheep near the Gortin Glen, Co. Tyrone under the flock prefix of Burnview. William breeds a select batch of approximately 60 ewes every year with the view to selling 50 rams and 50 females each year. His aim is to take a pen to Kelso and Stirling sales, locally at Ballymena export sale and some of his very best across to the National Suffolk show in Shrewsbury each year. William is a definitely a seasoned participant in Suffolk shows and sales, taking multiple prizes at Balmoral Show 2019. He was extremely pleased to be placed Reserved Champion at the National Show this past July, which later went for 6,600gns when the hammer fell. This ram lamb was 6th place at the Balmoral Show 2019 and is a full brother of the 10,000gns Burnview Bombay Sapphire sold at Stirling in 2018.
This small extract evidences the quality of sheep kept by William. To take full advantage of these bloodlines, a good portion of the Burnview ewes will be bred by AI and others flushed for embryos to transfer to recipients. William was keen to point out, “this type of breeding practice is fairly expensive and time-consuming, so to maximise the success rates and get the best returns we consciously drench ewes with ProVitaMin Sheep drench before AI, flushing and embryo transfer. Since using the drench the results have been excellent and we contribute a lot of the success to the healthy vitamin/mineral status of our sheep with ProVitaMin use.” William continued, “ProVitaMin Sheep drench is also used on all lambs before weaning and thereafter to boost weight gain and overall condition so they are in the best shape for shows and sales. It is a versatile drench and with the small volume application a bottle goes a long way.”
ProVitaMin Sheep drench is manufactured in Provita’s feed approved facility in Omagh, only a small number of miles from the Burnview flock. ProVitaMin Sheep Drench contains 24 vitamins and minerals in a concentrated mixture (10ml maximum feed per ewe) for ease-of-use and value for money. Each vitamin and mineral is carefully sourced so they are of the highest quality and, importantly available in a form that will be readily absorbed by the animal for maximum effects.
Users of ProVitaMin continue to see fantastic results which is well received by George Shaw, Technical Adviser. “It is very pleasing to see local farmers like William Tait reaping the benefits of Provita’s vitamin/mineral drenches. William and everyone involved at Burnview flock put a lot of effort into the breeding, preparation and showing of their sheep and from these results it is paying dividends. Using ProVitaMin Sheep drench is a small part of that management but it is having big results. It would be fair to say that if you put quality stock and quality products together, you will get a winning result!”
Written by George Shaw, MPharm MPSNI, Technical Adviser, george.shaw@provita.co.uk, 07841 926219.
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