The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) has said that its sheep post-mortem evening will focus on worm control.
The sheep post-mortem event will take place from 6:00p.m-9:00p.m on Tuesday (April 30) at Sedgemoor Auction Centre, North Petherton, Bridgwater, Somerset.
Vet Ben Strugnell will conduct the sheep post-mortems with the aim of allowing attendees to see the impact of parasites on sheep first hand.
The focus of the event will be on best practice for controlling worms and the why, when and how of post-mortems.
Strugnell, of Farm Post Mortems Ltd, will discuss the benefits of post-mortems and what sheep organs look like.
He will also discuss the common causes of death in lambs and how worms can affect a flock.
The event aims to provide attendees with best practice advice on effective worm control and is being hosted by Mole Valley Farmers, AHDB Beef & Lamb and Elanco.
Booking is essential for catering purposes, AHDB said.
Ewe lambs
A greater proportion of ewe lambs are expected to be slaughtered rather than being kept for further breeding next season in the UK, according to (AHDB).
AHDB recently updated its predictions for 2024.
The female breeding flock has fallen from a previous AHDB estimate, as the number of ewe replacements coming through has reduced.
The size of the female breeding flock in the UK in December 2023 totalled 13.8 million head.
This is a decline of 4.3% (615,000 head) from the same time in 2022 and represents the lowest breeding flock since current records began in 1996.
The breeding flock consists of ewes intended for further breeding and slaughter, and ewes intended for first time breeding (ewe lambs).
