Ireland: Time to get lowland flocks sheared as Blowfly strikes
Lamb
Meat
Ireland
Published Jun 2, 2023
Tridge summary
The warm conditions over the past two weeks have seen cases of Blowfly strike noted in lowland sheep flocks across Ireland.
Original content
Blowflies are an external parasite that commonly appear over the summer months, however, depending on the weather, cases as early as April and as late as November can also occur. With the rise in temperatures, fly populations have increased and with this, the risk of Blowfly strike has also increased. Risk from Blowfly strike Sheep that have a soiled fleece are at the highest risk of flystrike. Where shearing will not take place in the coming weeks and farmers are concerned about flystrike, dagging/crutching dirty sheep will help to reduce the risk of blowfly strike in the short-term. The most common area for a sheep’s fleece to be soiled is around the tail or rump region. However, they can also become infected on the shoulder, along the back or where a cut has occurred on the skin. Advertisement Blowfly strike occurs when flies are attracted to a foul-smelling, soiled fleece. The flies land and deposit eggs onto the affected sheep. These eggs hatch into larvae or maggots and ...
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