Good stockmanship is the secret

By Roelof Bezuidenhout

Whether you’re farming in the semi-desert or on planted pasture, you can’t beat a practiced eye.

With today’s emphasis on technology – from computer models to feed mixtures – the phrase “good stockman” seems to have gone out of use. Good stockmanship combines attributes, such as alertness and dedication with common sense and a love for farming.

While most good stockmen are probably born with a special feel for animals, enthusiastic farmers can pick up some stockman’s tricks and, through experience, become good stockmen themselves. (Unfortunately, the one skill good stockmen can’t easily pass on to others is their uncanny ability to identify good breeding stock.)

Put another way, beginners who feel overwhelmed by technical farming jargon should understand that profit remains locked up in aspects that can be easily monitored and rectified by regular, old-fashioned visual herd/flock inspections. There’s much truth in the saying the eye of the master fattens the cattle (or sheep/goats).

Your goal should be to limit situations that could undermine the health of your animals by spotting any problems before they lead to major losses. Even if you dip, dose and inoculate timely, an unexpected event is sure to come your way. That makes it doubly important to keep your finger on the farm’s pulse.

Tell-tale signs

Learn the tell-tale signs of unwell animals. Experienced farmers don’t have to always bring in the animals for this – a drive or walk through a land looking for signs of possible problems in individual animals is often enough.

Even if there’s no obvious problem, it’s still necessary to collect and count every animal on the farm at least once every two weeks or so. Naturally, some herds/flocks need special attention, but it sometimes does more harm than good to disturb animals unnecessarily. For example, mothers could lose their lambs, or long fleeces could get stained if sheep or goats are brought in especially during moist conditions.

From a distance

The best time for inspecting a herd/flock from a distance is early in the morning or late afternoon when all the animals should be out grazing; not lying bunched up in the shade.

Standing on the back of your bakkie or walking in the veld, do a slow, sweeping glance over the whole camp with your binoculars. Is there still enough grazing? Does the dung/droppings on the ground look normal? Where are most of the animals? Does it look as if most are still in the camp? If not, some might have crept out through a damaged fence, or might even have been stolen.
If too many animals are gathered around a water point and look a bit thin, check the water supply. A ball-valve might be blocked or a reservoir might have run dry. This requires emergency action as you don’t want your animals going without drinking water on a hot day.
Next, try to get an idea of the general appearance of the animals. With sheep, are the ewes grazing peacefully with their lambs? Moving too quickly or scratching or biting into their wool could be the start of a lice or tick infestation, which should be attended too soonest.
There might be signs of internal parasites, evident from dirty tails or nose discharge (nasal worm). If the lambs looking a bit scraggy, they could have tapeworm or are not getting enough milk from their mothers due to a creeping drought and poorer veld. Swellings under the throats could be a sign of wireworm infection or bluetongue. After rains some animals could suffer blindness from insect-born eye disease.
All of these conditions will lead to losses, not only in wool production, but also in fertility, growth rate and body condition – all critical factors for the profit line.
Now look for signs of obvious distress in individual animals, such as a cripple leg or blowfly strike, or animals lying down while the rest graze.
Before driving to the next camp, try to find the rams/bulls and have a good look at them. It’s no good having sires if there’s something wrong with them (such as an injury) that goes unnoticed.

If everything seems to be in order there’s usually nothing to worry about, but if you’re unhappy with any part of the inspection, bring in the whole camp as soon as possible so that you can scrutinise individual animals more closely – and treat any malady to prevent it from spreading.

Good nutrition

A final thought. In livestock farming, probably the most important money-making factor is the body condition of individual animals. This means nutrition is even more important than the quality of the animal. You can buy the most beautiful show-type cattle, sheep or goats, but if you don’t give them enough food and keep them healthy, their good breeding will mean nothing. On the other hand, even a poorly bred animal will do reasonably well if it receives enough feed, cool clean water and shelter, and is kept free of ticks, lice and worms.