Daryl Brown farms 500 acres of beef and sheep ground near New Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway. Just over 500 commercial ewes, a mix of Texel mules and Scotch mules, with a growing pedigree Dutch Spotted flock alongside them. Half the holding is tidal salt marsh — fantastic grazing when conditions allow, and the basis for a unique salt marsh lamb product. But lambing that many ewes indoors, in a shed under pressure, brings its own challenges. Watery mouth has always been near the top of the list.
Now in his fifth year of lambing on the farm, Daryl’s 2023 season was the best yet — thanks in large part to two products from Natural Stockcare.
Aqua Lamb: Prevention Over Cure
Good hygiene — mucking out, lime — has always been part of the routine. But with the numbers coming through the shed, particularly in a wet year, it was never quite enough.
“We’ve always tried to manage the sheep with good hygiene in mind, mucking out and using lime. But because of the sheer numbers coming through the shed — and it’s been a really wet year — we would normally have a problem with watery mouth.”
Like many farmers, Daryl had previously relied on antibiotic products to manage watery mouth. With those options now off the market, he turned to Aqua Lamb from Natural Stockcare.
Aqua Lamb is not an antibiotic. What it offers is a preventative approach — supporting the newborn lamb from the outset rather than treating watery mouth once it appears. Prevention over cure.
On Daryl’s farm, the shift was immediate.
“We’ve had, hand on heart, no cases of watery mouth at all this year. That’s remarkable for us, and we’ve definitely saved lambs because of it.”
Zero cases. On a farm where watery mouth had been an annual problem, that is a significant result — and it came in one of the more challenging lambing seasons in recent years.
Keto Energy: Getting Ewes Back on Their Feet
Twin lamb disease had also been costing Daryl ewes each year. His previous protocol — subcutaneous calcium and propylene glycol — was rarely effective. A ewe that goes down and doesn’t respond quickly is usually a ewe that doesn’t come back.
This year he introduced Keto Energy.
“Two doses, 24 hours apart, and they’re back on their feet and eating — which is the most important thing. We had six ewes go down with it this year and I managed to get five back on their feet. They’ve got out, they’ve got onto lamb, and they’ve got lambs at foot.”
Five out of six. For a product replacing a protocol that “very rarely worked,” that is a step change.
Why It Matters
Sheep farming margins don’t leave much room for losses. Every ewe lost to twin lamb disease and every lamb lost to watery mouth is money that doesn’t come back. For Daryl, the two products together have had a direct impact — not by increasing output, but by reducing the losses that quietly erode profitability year after year.
“Margins are really tight and we want to try and minimise our losses both on the ewe side and on the lamb side. Using the two products — Keto Energy and Aqua Lamb — we’ve definitely saved ewes and lambs this year. That’s fantastic for our margins and it’s great for the farm.”
Both products will be back in the lambing shed next year.
“I’d highly recommend both of them, and we’ll definitely be using them next year and for years to come.”
If you’d like to find out more about Aqua Lamb or Keto Energy for your own flock, get in touch with our team or visit the full Natural Stockcare product range.
