Fat lambs in the shed

hally

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cumbria
We find this time of year inside sheep here almost never have footrot, rarely scald and mainly codd. So we mix some lincospectrum with water in a squirty bottle. Treat lame ones once a week and they always recover. Trick is to keep on top of it, if you have alot lincospectum footbath is very effective but expensive.
Thats here though everywhere is different
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
we run lambing ewes out through zinc sulphate and feed outside in a yard every day (add some fairly liquid to help penetration ) , zinc or formalin will seal infection inside a hoof if its underrun hoof as you have found , the odd ones will need to be caught and carefully trimmed to let infection out , (just release the pressure) all will be well then , problem with not sorting it straight away is straw will be infectious , so really be a good idea to start bedding again after treatment .
 

hally

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cumbria
we run lambing ewes out through zinc sulphate and feed outside in a yard every day (add some fairly liquid to help penetration ) , zinc or formalin will seal infection inside a hoof if its underrun hoof as you have found , the odd ones will need to be caught and carefully trimmed to let infection out , (just release the pressure) all will be well then , problem with not sorting it straight away is straw will be infectious , so really be a good idea to start bedding again after treatment .
Never trimmed a sheeps foot for years and get less lameness than we ever used to. If you want to spread foot problems just use a set of trimmers.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
Never trimmed a sheeps foot for years and get less lameness than we ever used to. If you want to spread foot problems just use a set of trimmers.
yea i know , but if the scald is sealed in from footbath , you have to let it out the odd ones , op said hoof was hard as iron , footbathing again wont make any difference
 

Jonp

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Gwent
4 years ago I tacked my 100 odd ewes in one large field and had awful problems with footrot and codd.
Got a small farm tenancy with six 10 acre fields and managed to get to no footrot in year 2 and so far none this year. If I shake a bag my ewes rush me so they are easy to catch with guile.
Have golden hoof in an old dysect cannister, a cut off Welly boot, a tin of red spray and a long bit of bailing twine.
Catch limping sheep between legs (or tie it to fence/gate with twine if it's a bucker) do sniff test to confirm footrot.
Put foot in Welly with golden hoof for 10 mins or so. GH reuseable so pour it back in cannister
Spray leg so I know who's been done, if its got a red leg and still limping a couple of days later repeat if still bad. Don't trim feet...esp when footrot present, it makes it worse
Other thing I do is move the sheep around fields so it's more than three weeks before they go back to first field to break bacteria cycle.
Find that no footrot....no codd.
Scald in lambs is minimal, if I do get any engamycin spray them.
It's time consuming to start with but it's worked for me. Hate limping sheep. Formalin is nasty stuff and makes their feet hard and seals bacteria in (imo) Have never culled a sheep because it has footrot..they're too valuable to me, £30 for a bag of golden hoof, bag I bought 3 years ago is still 1/4 full.
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
Would putting hydrated lime down help as well? I could put some gates halfway down the shed and give them a 5ft gap to travel through walking through the lime.
Kilco envirex might help the feet inside with bacteria, it’s not dusty to use like lime and absorbs moisture rapidly, I used it this lambing after a worker swore by it and definitely saw a huge improvement in health.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Best way I’ve found for footrot in indoor lambs is to run them through formalin bath every other day 5%. Lambs soon trained to run through makes a quick cheap job.

The OP’s lambs have already been running through 5% formalin and it hasn’t helped, it’s just hardened their feet…

But yes, that’s all mine get just now.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Would putting hydrated lime down help as well? I could put some gates halfway down the shed and give them a 5ft gap to travel through walking through the lime.

I very much doubt it, if they are already badly lame. It might (possibly) reduce the incidence of scald if they go in healthy, but it’s not likely to be an effective treatment imo. The bacteria are already in their feet, not just on the bedding.
 

johnrob96

Member
Livestock Farmer
I know you've said run them through, but would standing be better?
It would be yes, depends how many you have it starts taking a long time standing 10 or 12 for 20 minutes at a time, as a genral rule every time we bed them they get ran out thru the bath and it genrally keeps them right
 

J428TGS

Member
this is bloody good stuff
1638906819735.png
 

hally

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cumbria
break them into groups based on wt and don't jag those about to go......mind you they won't grow or go if they're limping
In some systems that may work but we only house for 2 or 3 weeks before sale. Most withdrawals are longer than that, a topical anti biotic targeted to the problem is the way we go.
Feet Got to be bad though not to put weight on if on a hopper.
 

Anymulewilldo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
Wish I could, but they're big lambs. Dammed if I do , Dammed if I don't.
I’d have a serious look at Lincoln spectin or Tylan soluble in your foot bath. I’ve not had too use it for a few years but when it got really bad one winter I did 3 days of tylan soluble footbath, cleaned shed out, limed then rebedded. Different sheep altogether a week later
 

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