Sheep Lameness Diagnosis, Treatment and Control

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Sheep Lameness - Diagnosis, Treatment and Control
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HOW MUCH IS LAMENESS COSTING THE UK SHEEP
INDUSTRY?
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The Cost of Lameness

• Financial losses
• Compromised welfare
• A poor image

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The Cost

• With an estimated 3 million sheep lame each year
  the industry is losing at least
• 20,000,000 a year

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How does lameness affect your profits?

• Poorer performance
• lower lambing percentage
• lower growth rates
• Increased labour
• Increased vet and medicine bills

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For a typical 600 ewe flock

• With a 10 incidence of lameness - losses would
  be around 7 per ewe or 4200 per year

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Lameness in lambs

• Severe scald can stop lambs growing
• Twin lambs growing at 350 g/day reach 40 kg in
  about 14 weeks
• Scald could slow finishing by 3 or more weeks -
  on a falling market this could mean 5.00 per
  lamb or more

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The Main Causes of Lameness

• Scald
• Foot rot
• White line disease
• Fibromas and granulomas
• Strawberry foot rot (orf)
• Laminitis

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Other Causes of Lameness

• Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD)
• Post-dipping lameness
• Injury - e.g. soil balling, foreign bodies
• Arthritis old age, joint ill
• Tick pyaemia
• Foot and Mouth Disease

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Causes of lameness
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• Foot and Mouth Disease

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White Line Disease
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Injuries - Puncture Wounds
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Injuries - Soil Balling
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Strawberry Foot Rot
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Toe Fibroma
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Contagious Ovine Digital Dermatitis
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80 of lameness is due to Foot rot and Scald
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Scald

• Caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum

• Occurs in wet,warm lush grazing conditions
• Causes a dermatitis between the claws
• Non-invasive
• Sporadic outbreaks
• Foot bathing controls

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Foot Rot

• Caused by
• F. necrophorum AND Dichelobacter nodosus

• 10 strains of D.nodosus
• 7 Benign strains
• 3 Virulent strains
• Does not live on pasture for more than 10 days

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Foot Rot

• Clinical signs depend on
• Strain of D. nodosus
• Genetic predisposition
• Environment / Season

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Foot Rot
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Treatments for Foot Rot

• Paring
• Foot bathing
• Antibiotics
• Vaccination

All treatments work best in non-transmission
periods
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Foot Paring

• Inspect all feet
• Only trim if necessary
• Never draw blood!
• Use minimum cuts
• Use clean sharp tools
• Disinfect between feet
• Destroy clippings
• Isolate infected sheep

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Foot trimming
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Foot Bathing
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Foot bathing

• Only worth doing if under the right conditions
  and according to recommendations
• Zinc sulphate (10 solution)
• Formalin (3 solution) - 3 pints in 12 gallons
  of water
• Proprietary products

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Effective foot bathing

• Choose a dry day
• Run sheep through water bath to clean feet
• Follow manufacturers recommendations
• Let sheep stand on dry clean surface for up to an
  hour
• Turn out to fresh, dry pasture

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Foot bathing
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Cost of foot bathing

• 3 formalin - 86 litre bath - 1.30
• 10 zinc sulphate - 310 litre bath - 24

But Zinc sulphate is 1) more effective and 2)
re-usable
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Formalin
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Zinc sulphate
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Antibiotics

• Infectious disease
• Use in severe cases
• Use correct dose
• Treat before trimming
• Check 1 week later
• Trim foot
• Cull non-responders

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Vaccination

• Promotes improved foot health
• Must continue with routine foot care
• Timing important
• Short-term protection
• Warning - local reactions

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Other Control Measures

• Attend to lameness cases promptly - a serious
  welfare issue
• Diagnosis essential(CODD), consult veterinary
  surgeon if necessary
• Cull persistently lame sheep
• Breeding - select replacements from resistant
  families
• Seek veterinary advice for the best approach
• Consider eradication in closed flocks

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Foot Rot Eradication
Highly contagious - A flock problem

• BUT
• D.nodosus does not live on pasture for more than
  10 days
• THEREFORE
• Pasture not grazed by sheep for 10 days is foot
  rot free

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Foot Rot Eradication

• Day 0 Examine all of the flock.
• Footbath all sound sheep and turn out onto clean
  pasture
• Treat all lame sheep and segregate from main flock

• Day 5 Re-examine infected group and re-treat

Day10 Re-examine all of the flock and footbath.

• Day 15 Re-examine infected group and re-treat

• Day 25 Re-examine all of the flock and
  footbath.
• Cull all chronically lame sheep in the infected
  group

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Flock Disease Security

• Try to source foot rot free stock
• Isolate all oncoming animals for 4 weeks
• Examine every foot of every sheep
• Treat foot rot cases and keep isolated
• Mix with resident flock only when completely free
  of disease

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Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Sheep

• A written health and welfare programme should be
  prepared for each flock
• Developed with appropriate veterinary and
  technical advice
• Should include foot care
• Review and update annually