Livestock event 2014: Strategy to tackle lameness in sheep

Sheep farmers are being warned not to foot trim cases of footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) to speed recovery and lower the risk of spreading infection.

Speaking at the Livestock Event, Laura Green, professor at Warwick University, said trimmings left on the ground could spread disease as could bacteria left on the trimmers.

Sheep are also forced to walk on the more sensitive tissue of the foot leaving them lame for longer, and they’re more likely to have misshapen feet in future if they’re trimmed, she added.

It’s vital farmers record every incidence of lameness, including which foot is affected and the treatment given, she said.

See also: Information on tackling lameness in sheep

Marking the leg at the shoulder with a dot of long lasting spray every time there is an infection makes it easy to spot repeat cases from a distance, she added.

“Any sheep with two or more cases a season should be marked for culling. Farmers worry they will lose 20% of the flock, but actually a very small number of sheep are persistently infected. However, if left, they are a big source of infection to the rest of the flock,” explained Prof Green.

Rapid Treatment

Research has shown that prompt diagnosis and treatment of lameness – within three days – reduced cases to less than 2%.

Ideally one third of the flock should be caught and checked every day so the entire flock is seen once every three days.

During inspection, check all feet and don’t assume they are all suffering from the same thing as the wrong treatment won’t work and delays recovery, said Prof Green.

“If the task of catching up the whole flock every three days is a bit onerous, farmers should be using quarantine and separation to prevent spread of infection,” she added.

Separating affected ewes at key times to prevent infection spreading, for example at housing and at lambing, means farmers soon find out those to target for culling.

A 28-day quarantine is advised for all new additions and those returning to the flock to avoid introducing CODD onto the farm. A footbath on arrival can be useful to reduce the infectious load on the feet and individuals showing signs of lameness should be treated.

Benefits

Trials on a lowland, commercial flock showed 400 ewes in a rapid treatment group increased lambing percentage to 175% – an extra 17 lambs for every 100 ewes put to the tup. This was due to a higher number being born and fewer dying.

A survey of about 1,200 farmers has also shown a 6% drop in lameness levels from 10% in 2004 to 4% in 2013.

The overall improvement in productivity as a result of reduced lameness is worth £10 a ewe, said Prof Green.

“More farmers are using rapid treatment and not trimming and this is clearly working, but less pushed is the quarantine and separation, which is something we want to focus more on.”