Flock Health

1
Flock Health

• 3-8-12

2
Sheep Misnomers

• Sick sheep are dead sheep
• All sheep are born looking for a place to die

3
Sheep Factsnormal

• Body Temperature - 102
• Respiration rate - 20
• Heart beat - 75

4
Major Health Concerns

• Abortions
• Pneumonia
• Coccidiosis
• Digestive Disorders
• Internal Parasites
• Footrot

5
Healthy sheep

• Buy healthy sheep
• Minimize stress
• space
• nutrition
• air quality
• social

• Biosecurity
• new sheep
• visitors
• stock trailers
• scales
• shows

6
Abortions

• Toxoplasmosis
• Enzootic Abortion in Ewes
• (EAE or chlamydia)
• Campylobater Vibrio

7
Abortion Prevention

• Know what diseases you have
• Vaccinate
• Feed antibiotics ?????
• Feed coccidiostats, not approved
• Biosecurity
• Isolate aborting ewes
• Vet Client Patient Relationship

8
Coccidiosis

• Environmental problem
• Fecal oral
• Use feed additives
• Bovatec
• Deccox
• Water treatments
• Corrid
• Sulfa

9
Digestive Disorders

• Overeating
• Vaccination
• Use feed additives
• OTC or CTC
• Feedbunk management

10
Digestive Disorders

• Acidosis
• Gradual ration changes
• Feedbunk management
• Secure feed storage
• May lead to polio

11
Internal Parasites

• Strategic approach
• some de-worm every 21 days
• Key treatment times
• 1. Pre-turn out in spring
• 2. Pre-lambing
• Success depends on clean pastures

12
Internal Parasites

• Clean pasture
• No sheep for 6 months
• Jan-June or July- Dec
• Hay field re-growth
• Crop residue

13
Internal Parasites

• Effective dosing
• correctly administered
• route and amount
• good stockmanship
• Rotating de-wormers ????

14
Footrot Producer Attitudes

• 1. Accept footrot and limping sheep
• 2. Believe facilities are permanently
  contaminated
• 3. Too soft on trimming

15
Producer Attitudes

• 4. Do not regularly trim feet
• 5. Want a shot or feed additive to cure the
  problem

16
Footrot basics

• Dichelobacter nodosus
• Fusobacterium necrophorum
• (always present)

17
Transmission

• From infected to clean sheep
• Best environmental conditions
• 40-70 degrees
• wet soil or bedding
• hoof injury

18
Prevention

• Assume all flocks have footrot
• Quarantine new purchases
• Contaminated trailers
• Trust no one

19
Treatment

• Harsh trimming
• Foot soaks (60 minutes)
• 10 zinc sulfate with wetting agent
• Vaccination (Footvax availabilty?)

20
Treatment

• Separate clean from infected
• Can only live outside the foot for less than 2
  weeks
• Cull non-responders
• Dry pens
• Antibiotics (LA200 at 5mg/kg every other day)

21
Summary

• Never buy it
• Footrot free flocks do exist

22
Foot Scald

• Less hoof damage
• whitish, pasty material between the hooves
• Wet conditions
• Foot soaks very effective
• Antibiotics

23
Soremouth

• Zoonotic disease
• Long lived
• Timing is everything
• Mastitis is greatest problem
• youth flocks

24
Summary on Health

• You can not afford to treat for every possible
  problem
• Biosecurity and stress
• VPCR
• Prevention is cheaper than treatment
• Know your flocks health problems