Local Farming: A Footbath and a Prayer!
Inishowen Independent columnist James Strain is a beef farmer in Burnfoot. He is a specialist advisor with Inishowen Co-Op where he produces a regular newsletter, and is an occasional contributor to the Farmers' Journal
The last 30 dairy heifers had to come off the fields last week, on the very day the storm arrived.
There was still a fair bit of grass on the farm, but unfortunately the ground had just got far too wet.
There was almost as much grass being trampled into the ground as there was being eaten, so I decided it was time to call an end to the 2026 cattle grazing season.
The lambs will now get the job of cleaning up whatever grass is left. At least they won't be quite as hard on the ground.
All the lambs have now been purchased, with the last few being gathered up at the mart last Saturday. As usual, there is plenty of preparation to be done when they arrive on the farm.
They get a fluke drench that covers all three stages of fluke, an injection to cover worms and external parasites, a mineral drench and a footbath.
The idea is to give them the best possible start and, hopefully, prevent some of the problems that tend to follow them onto the farm.
The footbathing, in particular, is something I put a fair bit of faith in. Unfortunately, it never seems to work quite as well as I would like!
There always seems to be some lambs lame on the second day after they arrive.
In fact, I was joking with a few of the lads in the mart as I collected the last batch. There were a couple of lambs looking particularly tender on their feet as they made their way onto the trailer.
I remarked that they usually didn't go lame until they had been with me for a day, but I could see that a few of these had decided to get a head start!
I know sheep like nothing more than finding an excuse to go lame, but it is definitely a constant battle on this farm.
You can take every precaution, footbath them as soon as they arrive and try to get on top of any problems early, but there always seems to be a few that manage to find a way around your best efforts.
I am not a fan of overusing antibiotics, and I would much rather avoid having to use them if possible. However, when it comes to some of the more chronic cases, I have yet to find anything that works as effectively.
One thing is certain, there is never a shortage of challenges when it comes to keeping sheep, and I suspect the battle with lame feet will continue for as long as I keep buying them.