This includes internal parasite management, flystrike prevention and control of lice and ticks.
Not to mention that little gem, facial eczema, that a light drizzle of rain may bring.
If this all sounds way too complicated just go and have a chat with one of the super friendly vets that Waipukurau has to offer. And don't forget to shear your sheep!
Just because stock in your care may not be your sole source of income is no excuse to turn your back on them when feed gets tight.
Too often one encounters scruffy, underfed, uncared for stock on small acreages around the countryside. If you are not going to commit to their care then get rid of them!
Now is the time to make some executive, management-type decisions.
If you are no longer able to comfortably feed the animals in your care you have to decide whether you are going to supply them with supplemental feed stuffs (which will cost money), or reduce your stock numbers.
If your stock are healthy and in good condition, then you can probably sell surplus to the rest of the green parts of NZ, or put them in the freezer and enjoy a tasty meal.
When prioritising your feed then the "women and children come first".
Lactating female stock and young stock, yearlings included, must be well looked after.
Older stock can be draughted off to different corners of your property and encouraged to look a "little harder" for something to eat. Be particularly careful to prevent stock from accessing poisonous plants (garden clippings such as buxus, daphne, oleander and rhododendron are particularly appealing when feed supplies are short and can prove to be quite toxic.
When choosing a supplemental feed, factors such as price and practicability require consideration, along with "bang for your buck".
Your primary reasons for supplementing are to boost energy intake and raise available protein levels in the diet. Protein ranks right up there as a critical requisite for priority stock.
Grains such as barley and maize (therefore meal and pellets manufactured from them) have protein levels up to approximately 100gm per kg of Dry Matter, as does meadow hay (stalky dry grass minus its seed head has little to offer by way of nutrients).
By comparison, the commercially-produced 22kg and 25kg bales of fermented fresh Lucerne Fibre sold at local stock firms have protein levels that double this amount, at approximately 200gm of protein per kg of Dry Matter.
The energy levels of these particular feeds also rival that of grains, such as barley (on a dry matter basis).
The most important aspect of these feeds is that, unlike grains, they are readily accepted and tolerated by stock, not acid forming in the gut and therefore very safe to feed.
Importantly, in such a dry summer these fermented feeds are very hydrating, adding much needed moisture to an already stressed intestinal system.
Horses, and all ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats and deer), are designed intestinally to have unrestricted grazing access of high quality forages.
This is not going to happen in our parched pastures this summer, but by providing smaller quantities of high nutrition fibres (forages) we can safely meet animal's nutritional needs and then happily leave them to fill their bellies on stalky pastures and sweet smelling (cheaper) meadow hay.
Even if we get some rainfall in the near future it will be some time before pastures recover sufficiently to return stock condition and feed banks to good fettle for the coming winter.
If you begin looking after your stock sooner rather than later you will keep them going forward and cost yourself less financially while reaping more benefit from your supplementary inputs.
And if you feel you are out of your depth, then ask one of the many knowledge people in this special area of Hawke's Bay.
- Kirsten Popplewell is Fibre Fresh Area Consultant for Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa
