Sheep Farm Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales

Hello, I'm Rory. I'm in Stirlingshire in Scotland

to meet Duncan, Floraidh and their lambs,

who are getting a very special visit from a farm vet.

And I'm Ferne. I'm at a zoo in Winchester

to find out what the vets do to look after some amazing animals.

# Ferne and Rory, telling you the story

# Of some poorly pets

# We will take them, show you how to make them

# Better at the vet's

# Vet Tales

# These are our Vet Tales

# Vet Tales

# Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #

Hello. My name is Duncan.

This is my little sister, Floraidh.

We live on a farm and have loads of sheep and lambs.

I really like their woolly fur and their sweet faces.

The lambs are so cute!

I really like stroking them.

I love living in a farm

and helping out with the lambs every day.

We put out fresh straw

to make it nice and cosy for them.

When I grow up, I want to be a sheep farmer.

-Hello, Rory.

-Hello, Duncan. Who else have we got? Floraidh. Hiya.

-Rebecca.

-Hi, there.

-And this must be Evan. Hi.

Do you want to come see our lambs?

-I would love to.

-Come on.

-OK.

-Let's go.

-This is where the lambs live.

-Oh, it's a big shed.

-Yes.

Oh, wow!

What cuties. Hello.

So, do these lambs have names?

This one's Cherry, this one's Fluffy,

and Sally, Bob, and this is Feather.

-How old are your lambs?

-Six weeks old.

Still quite young, aren't they? Yes.

-What's your favourite thing about the lambs?

-They're fluffy and also

-they're very cute.

-Oh, they are.

What do lambs normally drink?

-Milk.

-Absolutely right. Normally, lambs get milk from their mothers

but if the mum has too many babies,

she can't feed them all and we have to give them the bottle.

-It's time to feed them.

-Excellent.

Oh, look.

She is thirsty.

-She's guzzling it.

-Look at her go! RORY CHUCKLES

Oh, Sally is trying to get in on the action here.

Good work. That's it, Sally. Oh, she's so cute.

-The farm vet's coming to check the sheep and lambs.

-Cool!

I've never met a farm vet before. This is going to be exciting.

This is vet Alistair.

He's been a vet for five years.

He has looked after

red deer and stags in New Zealand,

and treated lots of alpacas.

-Hi, Alistair.

-Oh, hi, Rory. Hi, Duncan. Hi, Floraidh.

-How are you doing?

-Good.

-Excellent.

What are you checking the sheep for?

-I'm checking this ram for hoof problems.

-A ram is a male sheep,

-isn't it?

-That's correct.

-I'll come and give you hand.

-What are we looking at here?

-So, Rory, as you can see,

this hoof's overgrown around the edge.

It's a bit untidy. If we clip a bit of this away,

-it might make him feel a little bit better.

-There we go.

These are the tools I use, these clippers here,

-and I'll just take away a little bit of this loose stuff.

-OK.

That's like our nails, right?

-Yes. It's very similar to clipping the nails.

-Does it hurt the sheep?

No. It doesn't hurt any more than cutting your own nails.

If these bits got too overgrown,

there's a chance infection could build up inside it.

Hopefully if we take this away, he'll feel more comfortable.

-Infection's like nasty bugs and whatever?

-Exactly.

It'd look red, maybe swollen, if it was infected.

-If it got infected, wouldn't it be sore?

-Yes, it would be very sore.

-It'd be very painful for him.

-What's that you're chipping off? Dirt?

Exactly. This is mud. I want a good look inside to make sure

-there's no build-up.

-They're being cleaned. Dirt's off,

they're trimmed. Anything else to do?

A quick spray with medicine to make sure they're all right.

-I'll dry out the hoof.

-It's blue -

is that so you know where you sprayed?

-Exactly. It gets all over your fingers!

-Oh, great fun.

-How's the sheep done?

-Brilliant!

-Marvellous.

Now the ram's hooves are trimmed, Alistair has some lambs to look at.

Guys, come on in, let's go. Let's have a look at these lambs.

-What are you checking for here, Alistair?

-We'll look at the lambs,

cos sometimes if they're bottle-fed milk, they get upset stomachs.

-If you look at this one...

-Oh, wow!

-..it's got a bloated tummy.

"Bloated" is when the stomach sticks out, right?

Exactly. Sticking out bigger than normal.

When it's swollen, it's uncomfortable for the lamb.

We don't want that. Shall we get this one looked at?

-Yeah. We'll have a proper look.

-Let's have a closer look.

Some lambs need to be bottle-fed formula milk by the farmer.

The formula milk is very similar to ewes' milk,

but it can occasionally upset lambs' tummies.

This upset can cause a build-up of the wrong bacteria and gas

in their guts, which can make their tummies swell and can be very sore.

The lamb needs medicine from the vet to help them get better.

SHEEP BLEAT

-Hello. So who's this?

-Cherry.

-Cherry.

-Cherry. Hello, Cherry.

Normally, the tummy would be tight in here,

but if they drink too much milk, their tummies can become expanded -

-sometimes it's uncomfortable.

-Like us having a sore tummy?

-Exactly.

I imagine if we give him some medicine, he'll feel better.

There we go. Good boy. Well done.

Good boy.

-Will that medicine make his tummy better?

-Yes, Duncan. I hope so.

-Oh, fingers crossed, Cherry.

-Good boy. Good boy.

Cherry's sorted. What's next?

-We'll look at the rest, make sure they're OK.

-OK.

-Do you want to give me a hand, Duncan?

-Yeah.

-This one?

-Yeah.

-Ah, that's good. Good spot.

Looks like this one's got a sore eye.

-Let's have a look.

-Well, Duncan rightly pointed out to me

that this one here has a bit of a gunky eye.

If you look at them, they're sticky around it.

-Oh, yeah. Poor thing.

-Will you make it better?

I have medicine in my bag,

some cream I can put on the eyes. Hopefully it'll help.

-Rory, you hold it.

-Will that hurt?

-No, Floraidh, it won't hurt.

It's a bit messy, Rory, but as long as we get some in the eye,

it'll help make it better.

Great. Good work there.

Got to move it around, make sure the whole eye's covered.

Oh, what a brave lamb.

It looks weird now.

It looks weird now, but that'll make it feel better.

Fantastic.

Let's see who else Alistair the farm vet has been checking up on today.

There was a lot for vet Alistair to do on the farm today.

He gave some other lambs a check-up,

including listening to their breathing for signs of infection

and checking their teeth.

Alistair checked the sheep's legs and knees

to check they were working OK.

And there were other farm animals, too.

In the shed, Alistair visited the cows

to make sure they were all in good health.

COWS MOO

Well, Duncan and Floraidh, thank you for having me here at your farm,

-and for introducing me to your sheep and lambs.

-You're welcome.

I'd love to come back and visit to see how they get on. Is that cool?

Yes, please.

Awesome. Let's see what Ferne's been up to today.

Today, I've come to this zoo with lots of animals.

They are looked after by keepers and a team of special vets.

Justine is the head vet here,

and Amy is one of the zookeepers for these beautiful creatures.

-So who have we got?

-Kiri and Sula over here.

Kiri and Sula are white rhinos from southern Africa.

They are herbivores, which means they only eat plants.

They use their lovely, big, wide mouths

to graze a lot of different grasses.

What are the girls being checked for?

We're going to look at their eyes and ears.

They've had issues with runny eyes, a bit like an allergy,

like we get allergies, and also look at their ears,

as the flies have really been bothering their ears in the hot sun.

Our first patient is Kiri.

-Are they used to coming in here?

-Yes, they come in here quite often,

and they get their favourite food, lucerne, while they're here.

What do we need to check first with Kiri?

We'll start with checking her eyes. We want to make sure they're clean.

At the moment, they look really good,

but I'll clean them with a swab and clean water

to make sure we wipe away any problems, any discharge.

This is because they've got allergies

-and their eyes can get a bit sore?

-Exactly.

-Like us and hay fever.

Very similar - it tends to happen just in the summer,

just for a few weeks when it's really hot.

We give them eye drops once a day,

which makes their eyes nice and healthy.

While we're here, we can look at her ears.

They've had trouble with flies, so we want to clean their ears,

then put some spray on, which stops the flies biting.

They have big ears, as you can see, and really thick skin.

They've got a big mud wallow outside,

where they can bathe in the mud to cool them down,

and protect their skin as well,

but sometimes we like to give them a bit of extra help, too.

They actually don't like the way it feels

to have the spray go straight on their ear,

so we tend to spray it on a paintbrush, then paint their ears.

It has silver in it, which is why it's this colour.

It helps prevent any infection and nourish the skin,

and it stops the flies biting.

She should feel more comfortable on that side.

Now we have to do the same on the other side.

That should help keep Kiri's eyes and ears nice and clean.

Good girl.

And now it's Sula's turn.

Come on, Sula. Hello. Good girl.

-Is she getting the same check-up as Kiri?

-Exactly.

We're going to check her eyes.

There's irritation and it's a bit sore round there,

so we're going to give that a good clean

and then give her the same drops.

-And that's the drops in there.

-Now her ears?

-Ears, the same again.

So, if I hold her ear, if you want to paint it on,

-that would be fantastic.

-Almost done.

-I don't think any flies will get in there.

-That's brilliant. Thank you.

Thank you so much for letting me join you

to see how you look after these incredible animals.

Recently, I met Duncan and Floraidh at their farm.

I'm back to find out how their lambs have got on

since their visit from the farm vet. Come on.

There you go.

Right.

-Hey, guys, good to see you.

-Hello.

-Hey, Rory.

Look at the size of your lambs. They're massive!

They're so much bigger than last time. Where are you taking them?

As they're older, we're taking them to the field.

-Awesome. Can I come?

-Of course.

-Right, let's open the gate. Come on.

Here comes Mum.

Right, you guys go in. I'll close the gate.

-This is the lambs' new home?

-Yes.

-What will they like about the field?

-Grass.

-Of course! It will be their first taste of grass.

-Let's get them out.

-Perfect.

Right, down, down, down, down. Go in and shoo them out.

Come on, lambs. The grass is here.

Look at that.

Wow.

-I think they like their new home.

-They really do, don't they?

-Are the lambs better since the farm vet came to see them?

-Yes.

-That one's tummy's better and that one's eye's better.

-Oh, brilliant.

-Looking great and very happy out here.

-I know.

I have had a brilliant time at your farm,

meeting your amazing sheep and lambs.

-Thank you, Rory.

-You are welcome.

I hope you've enjoyed finding out about farm vets

and seeing the sheep and lambs, too.

See you next time for more Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales.

-ALL:

-Bye!

SHEEP BLEAT

# Ferne and Rory, telling you the story

# Of some poorly pets

# We will take them, show you how to make them

# Better at the vet's

# Vet Tales

# These are our Vet Tales

# Vet Tales

# Ferne and Rory's Vet Tales. #