A programme to remind the farmer of what needs to be done, and when, is extremely useful. It should be drawn up with the help of the local vet or animal health technician. You can use a four-week, 12-month table (even though it adds up to 48 weeks a year instead of 52).
The programme should show what needs to be done in the first, second, third and fourth weeks of every month. This gives the farmer flexibility and is easy to adapt to unexpected events. Don’t try to set up the programme on an exact daily calendar because this is very inflexible. Always start with the lambing or kidding season and plan it for when available food is at its best for two to three months. This season should not last beyond six weeks. Calculate back five months (20 weeks) to get the approximate mating period, which also should last no longer than six weeks. Now you can identify the key periods for the best feeding – before and after kidding/lambing, and before mating. Plan supplementary feeding if necessary.
Once breeding and feeding are properly planned, you can add weighing, condition scoring, dosing, dipping, and shearing programmes. Remember that today we don’t advocate fixed dosing times but recommend flexible examination times and then the treatment of animals according to their needs (as advised by the FAMACHA system).
Finally, put in vaccination times, injections, foot treatments and other actions This is the plan, but just like the financial budget, it isn’t exactly what will happen. Record physical events daily in an annual diary – something that every farmer should have. Alternatively, write the date of each activity on the programme. Finally, remember to revise the action plan (annual programme) every year and be ready to modify it if circumstances change.
