If you have sheep, you need to think about flystrike. Flystrike is the condition when flies lay their eggs in wool and the maggots that hatch begin to eat the sheep’s flesh. This sounds terrible- and it is terrible! Flystrike is a very painful condition and a welfare concern. All care should be made to prepare for, and prevent, flystrike… rather than deal with it once you have it.

Flystrike in New Zealand is mainly caused by four species of blowflies. The Australian green blowfly does not need dags or a wound to invade; they will lay eggs on a completely clean-fleeced sheep. So how do we prevent it?
Ensure that your sheep are regularly shorn, and are not going into summer with excessive wool. Long wool allows the skin underneath to remain damp- an ideal place for flies to lay eggs. Long wool also makes it harder to see flystrike until it gets really bad. There are also products that you can use to prevent flystrike, such as Cyrex. Talk to your local Anexa vet about what’s right for you!