Treatment of footrot
Separate
- Separate sheep with footrot and scald whenever practical to reduce spread in the flock.
Treat
- Inject with one long-acting dose of antibiotic (ensure correct dose, underdosing delays recovery).
- Do not trim the hoof horn, this delays healing.
Mark
- Mark affected leg of treated sheep.
Record
- Date
- Ear tag
- Cause of lameness
Recovery
- When cured, return sheep to main flock. Sheep should be sound within 2 – 10 days of treatment.
- If still lame after 14 days, check diagnosis is correct and re-treat.
Cull
- Cull sheep lame with footrot more than twice a year or not responding to treatment.
Treatment of scald
Individual ewes
- Treat as for footrot.
Individual lambs
- Spray lesion with antibiotic aerosol.
- Mark affected leg of treated lamb.
- Re-treat if still lame after 5 days.
Outbreaks of scald in lambs
- Footbath whole flock using excellent equipment and clean bathing agent at correct concentration.
- Stand on a hard surface until dry.
- Turn out onto a clean field.