12 Apr 2022
With warmer temperatures already seen in some areas this year, overwintered larval stages are already hatching as adult flies.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Vets are being encouraged to ensure sheep farmers apply blowfly strike protection early in the season to prevent strike and stop the blowflies’ first breeding wave.
Blowfly strike is weather dependent, with blowfly activity often seen soon after soil temperatures rise above 9°C.
Matt Colston, ruminant technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health, said: “We’ve already seen some warm temperatures this year, causing overwintered larval stages to hatch out as adult flies in some regions.”
Mr Colston added: “By the time strike symptoms become visible, it’s typically too late to protect your sheep. It’s also easy to miss cases in the early stages – especially if it’s just one or two sheep affected.”
He said protecting flocks early in the season was strongly recommended, as health, welfare and financial implications could be significant even with a single case of blowfly strike.
Mr Colston said: “On top of preventing blowfly strike in treated animals, early treatment also helps stop the first wave of flies from breeding, which significantly reduces blowfly numbers and, therefore, the risk of strike later in the season.”
He added that farmers hit by blowfly strike should also be encouraged to report it to the national Blowfly Tracker.
