CODD outbreak

[Mc115reed]

So long story short I bought 100 ewes 2 weeks ago, was 3/4 lame ones in the bunch... got them home and grabbed the 3/4 lame ones too treat and realised they had CODD...

Fast forward 2 weeks and I have 34 sheep out of 180 isolated, apart from about 2 they’re all walking back on 4 wheels now.

How long after recovery should I wait before I put them back to where they’re supposed to be singles/twins/triplets? Could really do with the pen there in but don’t want too go back too pulling 5 lame sheep a day out of the main groups....

 

[@dlm]

Have you access to linco spectin? If so bath the others for a minute as chances some of them will flare up, do alongside those that have flared up and if been treated for over a week or 10 days then I’d guess fine. Though to be honest I guess I have more space than you so I permanently isolate

 

[Mc115reed]

Have you access to linco spectin? If so bath the others for a minute as chances some of them will flare up, do alongside those that have flared up and if been treated for over a week or 10 days then I’d guess fine. Though to be honest I guess I have more space than you so I permanently isolate

Iv been footbathing everything in formalin and injecting everything lame with zacktran and not had any extra lame ones for about 5 days now ...

Will carry on footbathing everything every other day for another 6 days maybe before I re-divide them...

 

[Northern territory]

Iv been footbathing everything in formalin and injecting everything lame with zacktran and not had any extra lame ones for about 5 days now ...

Will carry on footbathing everything every other day for another 6 days maybe before I re-divide them...

Zactran is the only thing I found to be effective, formalin usually aggravates it. As long as possible away from the others I would say. It’s a horrible thing.

 

[milkloss]

Depending on how many sheep you've got, is footvax a viable option to help prevent further foot trouble?

 

[Al R]

Depending on how many sheep you've got, is footvax a viable option to help prevent further foot trouble?

Been on footvax 12-15 years here and still had a bad codd outbreak a few years ago during tupping.
Formalin double strength like it says, 4 days on 2 days off for a month and got rid of it, used alamycin LA and betamox LA on the worst but the formalin made the difference.

 

[Mc115reed]

Been on footvax 12-15 years here and still had a bad codd outbreak a few years ago during tupping.
Formalin double strength like it says, 4 days on 2 days off for a month and got rid of it, used alamycin LA and betamox LA on the worst but the formalin made the difference.

Iv been doing every other day double strength for the last week with zacktran but zacktran is back breaking expensive and the formalin is starting too burn there feet, I think I’m ontop of it now as all the infected are walking again and not had any get infected for a good few days... but I need too get them back in there pens, muck that part the shed out, disinfect it ready for when they start too lamb any minute because that’s where my pens normally go ...

 

[dogandstick]

Another joy of sheep farming. Expensive to eradicate in terms of time and money, but achievable.

I wonder are easy care systems and NZ shepherds ever inflicted by such troubles? Would love to know, because if they do, how do they cope with such events with their large numbers of sheep per labour unit?

 

[Mc115reed]

Another joy of sheep farming. Expensive to eradicate in terms of time and money, but achievable.

I wonder are easy care systems and NZ shepherds ever inflicted by such troubles? Would love to know, because if they do, how do they cope with such events with their large numbers of sheep per labour unit?

I don’t know what’s worse... knowing I bought the problem in...
Knowing some barstuard sold me the problem...
or every time you open the shed door running ewes round that could lamb any day now and pulling another 2-3 sheep out that have gone lame literally over night!

Sheep farming for you I guess lol

 

[Estate fencing.]

Another joy of sheep farming. Expensive to eradicate in terms of time and money, but achievable.

I wonder are easy care systems and NZ shepherds ever inflicted by such troubles? Would love to know, because if they do, how do they cope with such events with their large numbers of sheep per labour unit?

Surly they are much less likely to get it if there not buy sheep in. Most easy care flocks would be self replacing and nz shepherds would only buy tups in from a known source.

 

[Estate fencing.]

By they way in not say this is me. I’ve had some real bad outbreaks. First lambing 1400 ewes inside. By the time I finished lambing I had over 500 ewes in lame groups. The second outbreak was when I bought 1100 mule gimmer lambs and ran them a one group, that took a hell of a lot to control. I found jabbing with draxxin and dicicure footbath sorted it in the end (also the drought probably did more good than anything).

 

[neilo]

Another joy of sheep farming. Expensive to eradicate in terms of time and money, but achievable.

I wonder are easy care systems and NZ shepherds ever inflicted by such troubles? Would love to know, because if they do, how do they cope with such events with their large numbers of sheep per labour unit?

I’m pretty sure they haven’t had the joy of tackling CODD in NZ?
I remember a thread about imported NZ genetics a few years ago, where someone was saying how they were all resistant against all lameness and I questioned whether they’d ever been challenged by CODD. My comment was shouted down, then that poster was having serious lameness problems a year or so later iirc.

I would imagine it would be an absolute nightmare if it suddenly arrived in a large naive flock, particularly one run with minimal labour and only a mobile handling yard on various grazing blocks. It doesn’t need to come from bought in sheep, it only needs a wanderer from elsewhere.

 

[NZDan]

I’m pretty sure they haven’t had the joy of tackling CODD in NZ?
I remember a thread about imported NZ genetics a few years ago, where someone was saying how they were all resistant against all lameness and I questioned whether they’d ever been challenged by CODD. My comment was shouted down, then that poster was having serious lameness problems a year or so later iirc.

I would imagine it would be an absolute nightmare if it suddenly arrived in a large naive flock, particularly one run with minimal labour and only a mobile handling yard on various grazing blocks. It doesn’t need to come from bought in sheep, it only needs a wanderer from elsewhere.

Yes you're correct no CODD in NZ, but foxtrot and scald are a significant issue on some farms. It's dealt with the same way the UK does, it's just that the foot troughs are bigger [emoji16] Feet are normally checked just after weaning and again before mating. Affected ewes are removed and toughed until clear, normally with Zinc as Formalin requires a license to use now.

 

[SteveHants]

Dunno about CODD, but footrot is strongly heritable and can survive on pasture for about three months.

That information can be used to eradicate it in a closed flock.

 

[MRT]

it only needs a wanderer from elsewhere.

My attitude to wanderers has changed over the years from very helpful, catch, pen and phone around to just shut the lane gate to keep them out.

 

[Mc115reed]

Dunno about CODD, but footrot is strongly heritable and can survive on pasture for about three months.

That information can be used to eradicate it in a closed flock.

Iv marked everything that’s gone down with CODD and they will be going at the soonest convenience I certainly have no interest in breeding a problem I didn’t have until I bought this flock in ... I just haven’t quite made my mind up on how or when too sell as not sure I feel comfortable selling them on with lambs at foot and moving the problem on too another farmer like has been done to me... yes they’ll of cleared up when they leave me but being so susceptible too the disease isn’t something I’d want sold to me so not sure I should be selling it too somebody else....

 

[neilo]

Iv marked everything that’s gone down with CODD and they will be going at the soonest convenience I certainly have no interest in breeding a problem I didn’t have until I bought this flock in ... I just haven’t quite made my mind up on how or when too sell as not sure I feel comfortable selling them on with lambs at foot and moving the problem on too another farmer like has been done to me... yes they’ll of cleared up when they leave me but being so susceptible too the disease isn’t something I’d want sold to me so not sure I should be selling it too somebody else....

Thankfully I've not had to deal with CODD yet, but I suspect it will be everywhere before long, but I have had experience of the very similar DD in dairy cows. That came in to a naïve herd with some bought in cows and caused a hell of a lot of problems as it went through them like a dose of salts. I don't think any dairy herd ever gets rid of it once it's arrived, but just keep a lid on it as best they can, but then they are walking in wet slurry at least twice a day, which is perfect to aid spread.
Individual cows do get over it though and, after the initial flair up, the level certainly subsides, suggesting a degree of immunity developing after challenge. I've heard the same from people that have had CODD arrive and treated the whole flock intensively, bringing it under control. That would suggest that those ewes that have had it, and recovered, aren't necessarily needing culling for it. If they have got over it, are they more immune to it after?

I don't think any work has been on heritability of susceptibility to it in sheep, or I certainly haven't seen any. You'd imagine that work will have been done with DD in dairy cattle, but there haven't been any breakthroughs there yet or it would be in every single breeding program. I'd certainly not assume that sheep that had been bred to be resistant to FR would be any more (or less) resistant to CODD, as it's a completely different agent.

 

[NZDan]

Dunno about CODD, but footrot is strongly heritable and can survive on pasture for about three months.

That information can be used to eradicate it in a closed flock.

NZ merinos now have a BV for FR susceptibility.
We operate a simple culling system, any ram with any foot problem at any time is culled, Zero tolerance. Ewes with FR are culled at next weaning, ewes with other foot issues are mated to a terminal. FR has dropped from 2/3rds of ewes to less than 5% but doesn't seem to want to disappear completely.

 

[neilo]

NZ merinos now have a BV for FR susceptibility.
We operate a simple culling system, any ram with any foot problem at any time is culled, Zero tolerance. Ewes with FR are culled at next weaning, ewes with other foot issues are mated to a terminal. FR has dropped from 2/3rds of ewes to less than 5% but doesn't seem to want to disappear completely.

FR isn't CODD though.

Did you really start with 2/3 of the flock ewes getting FR? That's scary.

 

[SteveHants]

NZ merinos now have a BV for FR susceptibility.
We operate a simple culling system, any ram with any foot problem at any time is culled, Zero tolerance. Ewes with FR are culled at next weaning, ewes with other foot issues are mated to a terminal. FR has dropped from 2/3rds of ewes to less than 5% but doesn't seem to want to disappear completely.

I only ever bought from people who (claimed to) cull for feet. I saw footrot once and never CODD. This was grazing ground from well drained chalk to boggy, sedgy low ground with standing water most of the winter. Maybe I was just lucky.
I'd isolate and cull anything with dodgy feet - for any reason, could have simply been overgrown enough to make it limp.

The way I always saw it was that I had loads of potential replacements out of my best ewes to find a place for.