Sheep
Sheep Shearing
We can run one or two shearing trailers with between one and three shearers operating from each trailer. We also carry sheep hurdles which include a shedding gate and a penning gate to add to your handling facilities if required. If you require assistance with gathering and/or penning sheep prior to/during shearing then this may be possible if pre-arranged. The amount of sheep which can be sheared in a day will depend on the number of shearers present. It is possible to shear approx. 1000 sheep in a single day with three shearers in operation. We do also shear alpacas!
If required we can provide a wool wrapping and packing service. We will provide the wool bag frames which are manufactured by ourselves (see Products page) and bag sewing needle, all you need to provide are the wool bags and string which you can obtain from the British Wool Marketing Board. Care is taken to remove any muck, foliage etc from the fleeces prior to wrapping to ensure that you receive the best possible price for your wool. Bags are uniformly and well packed so that we fill fewer bags and therefore reduce your wool bag haulage costs.
Belly Clipping
We have carried out all the belly clipping of lambs prior to slaughter at Dunbia (Preston) since 2008. No mean feat given that the abattoir has the capacity to process 22,000 lambs in a week week in addition to cattle. Between one and three staff will belly clip at Dunbia depending on the number of lambs present. The team has received Dunbia's in-house animal welfare training to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare during the clipping procedure.
This is the removal of wool from around the tail and between the rear legs of a sheep. After centuries of artificial selection, domestic sheep have denser and longer wool than their wild forebears, which may require human intervention to maintain. Sheep with heavy fleeces of wool often develop stains or dags on their rear ends from faeces. In ewes, urine can also stain the wool. To avoid discomfort to the sheep and damage to the fleece, it is advisable to remove the wool (and any dags) from the sheep. Urine and watery faeces can also lead to fly strike (Myiasis). Crutching is an effective way to help prevent this. As with shearing and belly clipping we can provide one or two shearing trailers and up to 6 staff to carry out this procedure for you. Faecal Egg Counting (FEC)
Good parasite management starts with good flock management. Internal parasites are affected by factors such as climate, location and seasonal patterns. Faecal egg counting (FEC) is a simple diagnostic technique which calculates the number of internal parasite eggs per gram of faeces. FEC information is critical to making informed parasite management and treatment timing decisions. FEC monitoring will help you build knowledge of the unique roundworm status of your farm. This information, in conjunction with good understanding of parasites lifecycles and the correct advice and strategies will help you limit the production losses due to worms on your property. Ross Anthony Livestock Services Ltd uses FECPAK to provide you with FEC's for your flock. We can either come to you and collect samples or you may post or drop them off with us if this is more convenient. We will then provide you with a prompt FEC and advise on a suitable strategy. Regular monitoring will allow you to develop unique management strategies and enable you to spend less time and money on worm control without compromising on production. For further information on FECPAK and our FEC service please look on our News page.
Management Services Ross Anthony Livestock Services Ltd also offers:
Offered particularly but not exclusively for small holders who may not have the experience, facilities and/or staff necessary to carry out all management duties. We can either carry these duties out for you and/or we can give you guidance so that you may be able to carry them out for yourself in the future.
For friendly and professional service please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your requirements, we look forward to continuing to work with our existing clients and also meeting new ones. May we take this opportunity to thank all existing clients for their business.
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We provide an experienced and qualified team of between one and six shearers and can shear from one to over a thousand sheep depending on your needs. If you do not have readily accessible power points available then we will provide generators. 
Wool Wrapping 
A belly clipping service is provided by Ross Anthony Livestock Services Ltd for both farmers and abattoirs. On farm this is often done during the winter months prior to sale at market or prior to lambing in spring. Buyers that require belly clipped lambs for slaughter may subsequently pay higher prices at market. Ewe lambs being presented to the ram may also be belly clipped so that the udder is more readily accessible at lambing time.
Tailing/Crutching
Internal parasites cause loss of performance and growth. There is now recorded resistance to all three drench families in the UK and according to a recent Moredun survey this so called "Triple Resistance" is more widespread than initially thought with some evidence found in 1 in 3 flocks surveyed. 
