![]() We will bring together recommendations from key stakeholders in the sheep farming community to provide best practice guidance and a range of practical tips.Īdoption of the 5PP will maintain progress towards the industry target of achieving <2% lameness (as per FAWC 2011) in the national flock by 2021. Through July and into August, MSD Animal Health, together with Farmers Weekly, will be highlighting how the FAI Five-Point Plan (5PP) gives sheep farmers a clear framework for managing lameness effectively. Products must be disposed of according to the data sheet. It’s important you are aware of the health and safety risks of the chemical wear correct personal protective equipment and use the products in a well-ventilated space. There are acknowledged health and safety risks with formalin, with concerns about potential carcinogenic properties. The frequency of change will vary depending on the product, size of foot-bath and how many sheep are being treated. This can be very hard to operate, but if you don’t do this, you may be wasting the chemical on the pasture. This means leaving sheep’s feet to dry for at least 20 minutes on a hard, concrete standing before returning to grass. Most chemicals need to dry for them to be effective. Again, these may inactivate the chemical and undo its value. Some people use straw in the bottom of a foot-bath or a mat to encourage lambs to go through. To overcome this, you can use a freshwater foot-bath before the chemical foot-bath to get rid of any organic material. If you are soiling the foot-bath and rendering the chemical inactive, you are creating a “bacterial soup” and it may exacerbate things. Some products are inactivated when they meet organic material such as the mud on sheep’s feet. If it is too diluted it will not be effective, but if the solution is too concentrated it can cause painful burns, especially with formalin. If you are not sure how to do this, your animal health adviser, Suitably Qualified Person (SQP) or vet can help. Know the volume of your foot-bath so you can work out the correct dilution for the product you are using. Instead, it is better to target systemic antibiotics treatment in infected animals preventing treatment of healthy animals and mitigating any concerns of bath disposal. There is no point using a standing product as a walk-through, as you are simply wasting your money.Īntibiotic foot-baths should not be used. If you are unable to do this, then you would be better off using a product they can walk through, such as a 3% formalin solution. ![]() The most important thing is to choose a chemical you can use well.įor example, if you are using a 10% zinc sulphate solution to manage foot-rot, sheep need to stand in the product for up to 30 minutes for it to be effective. There is not a vast amount of evidence comparing different agents. Using formalin on ewes with CODD can be very painful due to exposed soft tissue. However, don’t gather sheep just to foot-bath them, as you are increasing their risk of infection.Įwes with clinical foot-rot or contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) need systemic treatment instead of foot-bathing. When you have a group of sheep in a confined area, you should run them through a foot-bath post-gathering. Gathering sheep creates an increased risk of infection, but sometimes it is unavoidable. See also: How to correctly diagnose and treat the main causes of sheep lameness However, it is not a cure and could potentially cause more harm than good if it is done badly.įoot-bathing should be thought of as a method of disinfection, especially when sheep have been gathered in a small area following shearing or scanning, for example. View foot-bathing as a method of disinfection and not as a lameness cureįoot-bathing has its place when trying to manage scald, especially in lambs and ewes with lambs at foot. How sheep farmer has reduced lameness to just 3%ġ.Advice for quarantining incoming sheep to prevent lameness.Should you trim sheep’s feet to control lameness?.Step-by-step guide to foot-bathing sheep.Advice on how to vaccinate sheep against foot-rot.How a sheep farmer has reduced lameness by 28%.4 ways to reduce sheep lameness to less than 2% by 2021.Sheep lameness: The successes and remaining challenges.
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