Welcome to the Farmsense article collection, your source for the latest in nutritional news.
Here you’ll find articles, news and information that will help you to make informed decisions on how best to support your herd or flock. We’ll give you advice from what makes a good drench to why colostrum is so important for new born lambs or calves.
Keep checking back as we’ll be updating this section with new articles regularly. To stay up to date with our latest offers, why not join our mailing list here.
The articles on this website are written by a variety of authors. The opinions expressed in these articles are the views of the author and not necessarily the views of Farmsense, however, Farmsense retains copyright for the content within the articles.
Date: August 2022
In situations like we are currently experiencing, mineral supply needs to be considered. Whether finishing lambs or pre-tupping the for the ewes (and tups!), and a drench is a good option for ensuring your animals have a balanced and adequate intake, sufficient for their growing needs.
Hay has a much lower vitamin E content compared to grass, so farmers who substitute grass with hay could see vitamin E deficiencies start to creep in. Due to the relationship between selenium and vitamin E, this potential vitamin E deficiency is also likely to cause an increased selenium requirement in grazing animals. Selenium deficiency can lead to white muscle disease, infertility, ill-thrift, abortion and low growth rates.
The farming industry is making a conscious effort to reduce antibiotic usage – especially surrounding lambing. As a Nation, since 2014 the UK have successfully reduced antibiotic usage by 50% [1] This is fantastic news, however we must not rest on our laurels, but continue to work hard to follow latest guidelines and advice to ensure we continue tackling the issue.
During the summer drenching of cattle and lambs across the UK is a common site on many UK farms. As grass quality and quantity decrease throughout the summer months it is essential to add supplementary minerals and vitamins in order to maximise animal performance throughout these challenging months.
Farmers Weekly reports that this extremely wet year has had a detrimental effect on UK livestock. Heavy rain has flushed trace elements from our British soil, leaving forage lacking in important minerals such as zinc, cobalt, iodine, copper and iron in many areas of the UK.
Farmsense was founded in 1991 to supply British farmers with nutritional alternatives to traditional antibiotics. The wellknown and often over used term “prevention is better than cure” has never rung more true than today.
It isn't just the financial costs that need to be considered, Johne's disease also imposes welfare issues on infected sheep and there are growing concerns over implications to public health.
When a ewe becomes pregnant, the developing foetus inside her also requires energy, increasing the ewe’s total energy demand. The development of the foetus increases exponentially during the length of the pregnancy, with up to 60% of development occurring in the last month.
