Joint ill lambs

[Jinty Mcginty]

Any thoughts on how this is affecting lambs .Always seems to start 7-10days old see lambs trailing a leg / limping .We lamb indoors wonder is there a connection between footrot and lambs getting infected ,the vets reckon could be more likely mastitis link.
Tried Draxxin for a longer cover and save catching them in the field for 5 days with pen and strep but complete waste of time had no effect. Only thing that seems to work is take them in and treat with pen and strep but end up on milking machine as mother's not take them after 5 days
Had a really bad outbreak 3 year ago and 0.1ml of draxxin at birth helped then but possibly different strain

 

[Still Farming]

Terrible progressive condition

 

[hubbahubba]

We get the odd one the same after a week or so. I always thought they were picking up bacteria infection in the shed but vet is addiment they cant be and must be getting it outside. So far very good this year and march weather was very good and less lambing lying in dirty areas unders hedges and trees. Found 1ml of zaleris works best but dont cure everyone.

 

[Jerry]

Anti inflammatory is as important as antibiotic. I treat with Trimox LA and 2ml metacam.

One treatment does sort most lambs.

I lamb outside and am convinced joint ill starts as the tails start to drop.

 

[Pistonbroke]

My neighbour had trouble with indoor and outdoor lambs and his vet persuaded him to vaccinate the ewes for erysipelas ( can't remember the trade name ). Vast improvement the next year but that could of just been coincidence

 

[Pistonbroke]

Anti inflammatory is as important as antibiotic. I treat with Trimox LA and 2ml metacam.

One treatment does sort most lambs.

I lamb outside and am convinced joint ill starts as the tails start to drop.

We've done that but it seems to still come back at some stage. I'm sure rings don't help

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Below is part of a newsheet from The Moredun Foundation​

It is worth becoming a member to access this information.

​

About Joint-Ill in Lambs​

Joint-ill is a common disease of young lambs, up to one month old, in sheep flocks across the UK. The disease often impacts between 1 – 2% of lambs in a flock, but up to 50% has been reported. The disease is characterised by an arthritic inflammation, usually of the limb joints, which results in lameness, ill thrift and in some cases death. Sometimes other joints can be affected, such as joints in the spine resulting in limb paralysis. The principal cause is a bacterial infection which localises to the joints. The most common species of bacteria isolated from infected joints is Streptococcus dysgalactiae. Only limited information is available on the routes of infection. Infections associated with the umbilical cord, tail docking, castration and ear tagging wounds are all implicated as bacterial entry points, as well as via the lamb’s mouth. The presence of the bacteria in the lambing environment and the ewe’s vagina are both potential sources of infection. Treatment options are limited to antimicrobials and anti-inflammatory drugs often with limited success, resulting in the culling of severely affected lambs on welfare grounds.

Key points​

• Joint-ill is a disease of young lambs causing severe welfare problems, ill thrift, and death
• The disease often impacts between 1 – 2% of lambs in a flock, but up to 50% has been reported
• A recent survey suggests that joint-ill in lambs affects 64% of UK sheep farms
• The bacteria Streptococcus dysgalactiae is the most common cause of joint-ill in lambs less than one month old, although other bacteria have been described
• To ensure you are using the correct treatment and control for your farm, it is advised to ask your vet to collect samples to confirm which bacteria is causing the problem on your farm. Knowing the specific cause on your farm will allow you and your vet to design specific measures for your flock
• The sources of infection and routes of transmission for some infections are poorly defined
• Ensuring good lamb colostrum intakes, good ewe and farm hygiene practices, as well as dipping lambs’ navels in iodine are all general measures advised for the control of joint-ill
• Use of whole flock prophylactic antibiotic treatment (ie treating most or all lambs) is not a sustainable or recommended control strategy for joint-ill
• Future for control for joint-ill due to Streptococcus dysgalactiae could include a combination of optimising colostrum quality, quantity and delivery with hygiene measures, and an effective vaccine

 

[tinsheet]

Anti inflammatory is as important as antibiotic. I treat with Trimox LA and 2ml metacam.

One treatment does sort most lambs.

I lamb outside and am convinced joint ill starts as the tails start to drop.

I reckon they get it from wounds from ticks,
lamb outside here, get a few each year.

 

[Agrivator]

Below is part of a newsheet from The Moredun Foundation​

It is worth becoming a member to access this information.

​

About Joint-Ill in Lambs​

Joint-ill is a common disease of young lambs, up to one month old, in sheep flocks across the UK. The disease often impacts between 1 – 2% of lambs in a flock, but up to 50% has been reported. The disease is characterised by an arthritic inflammation, usually of the limb joints, which results in lameness, ill thrift and in some cases death. Sometimes other joints can be affected, such as joints in the spine resulting in limb paralysis. The principal cause is a bacterial infection which localises to the joints. The most common species of bacteria isolated from infected joints is Streptococcus dysgalactiae. Only limited information is available on the routes of infection. Infections associated with the umbilical cord, tail docking, castration and ear tagging wounds are all implicated as bacterial entry points, as well as via the lamb’s mouth. The presence of the bacteria in the lambing environment and the ewe’s vagina are both potential sources of infection. Treatment options are limited to antimicrobials and anti-inflammatory drugs often with limited success, resulting in the culling of severely affected lambs on welfare grounds.

Key points​

• Joint-ill is a disease of young lambs causing severe welfare problems, ill thrift, and death
• The disease often impacts between 1 – 2% of lambs in a flock, but up to 50% has been reported
• A recent survey suggests that joint-ill in lambs affects 64% of UK sheep farms
• The bacteria Streptococcus dysgalactiae is the most common cause of joint-ill in lambs less than one month old, although other bacteria have been described
• To ensure you are using the correct treatment and control for your farm, it is advised to ask your vet to collect samples to confirm which bacteria is causing the problem on your farm. Knowing the specific cause on your farm will allow you and your vet to design specific measures for your flock
• The sources of infection and routes of transmission for some infections are poorly defined
• Ensuring good lamb colostrum intakes, good ewe and farm hygiene practices, as well as dipping lambs’ navels in iodine are all general measures advised for the control of joint-ill
• Use of whole flock prophylactic antibiotic treatment (ie treating most or all lambs) is not a sustainable or recommended control strategy for joint-ill
• Future for control for joint-ill due to Streptococcus dysgalactiae could include a combination of optimising colostrum quality, quantity and delivery with hygiene measures, and an effective vaccine

They make only a passing reference to dipping lambs' navels in iodine. But infection through the umbilical cord is probably the main source of infection.and correct immersion (rather than spraying) of the cord, as soon after birth as possible, is the best preventive measure. That is easy enough with indoor lambing, but not with outdoor lambing. And possibly the worst situations are where lambing is concentrated on the same small outdoor areas year after year.

 

[neilo]

My neighbour had trouble with indoor and outdoor lambs and his vet persuaded him to vaccinate the ewes for erysipelas ( can't remember the trade name ). Vast improvement the next year but that could of just been coincidence

Porcilis Ery. I’ve been using it for decades, in it’s various incarnations. Like everything, it’s got expensive these days though.

Erysipelas gets in through open cuts (like from tails/balls dropping off), so tends to hit them at several weeks old. The vaccine doesn’t help against bacteria that get in through the navel in a contaminated lambing shed, which I’m told is usually streptococcus.
A shot of Betamox to every lamb at turnout will stop that, but bad practice and hardly sustainable. Pruex in the lambing shed, when it works, will also prevent it by reducing the population of those pathogenic bacteria.

 

[Jinty Mcginty]

Thanks for all the replies very informative. Never realised that metacam along with the AB is important as well . We are very particular about keeping the lambing shed clean and dry but not so easy at the peak of lambing.We don't actually dip navels but spray instead another entry point could be the fact we ring,tag and scratch for orf at 24-36hrs old but we do disinfect tagger between every lamb
Think we will get a few tested to see what bacteria it is
Is Erysipelas diagnosable from the lambs

 

[steveR]

Anti inflammatory is as important as antibiotic. I treat with Trimox LA and 2ml metacam.

One treatment does sort most lambs.

I lamb outside and am convinced joint ill starts as the tails start to drop.

Bigger dose of Metacam than I use... noted

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

Thanks for all the replies very informative. Never realised that metacam along with the AB is important as well . We are very particular about keeping the lambing shed clean and dry but not so easy at the peak of lambing.We don't actually dip navels but spray instead another entry point could be the fact we ring,tag and scratch for orf at 24-36hrs old but we do disinfect tagger between every lamb
Think we will get a few tested to see what bacteria it is
Is Erysipelas diagnosable from the lambs

I would have thought the scratch for Orf at this age was almost a step too far.
Does you Vet tell you to do this?

 

[Jinty Mcginty]

Yes being doing it for some time

 

[neilo]

Bigger dose of Metacam than I use... noted

@Jerry is a wealthy man.
I use 0.5ml for young lambs, 2ml for a ewe. I was thinking 0.5ml was still a generous dose, and still 45p!

 

[neilo]

Thanks for all the replies very informative. Never realised that metacam along with the AB is important as well . We are very particular about keeping the lambing shed clean and dry but not so easy at the peak of lambing.We don't actually dip navels but spray instead another entry point could be the fact we ring,tag and scratch for orf at 24-36hrs old but we do disinfect tagger between every lamb
Think we will get a few tested to see what bacteria it is
Is Erysipelas diagnosable from the lambs

My vet reckoned you could test the fluid drawn from infected joints, before treatment obviously.

I have always thought that erysipelas infection was more likely at several weeks old, after getting in from balls/tails dropping off. Joint ill at a younger age is getting in through the navel (or tag wound I guess) from a contaminated shed.

We’ve swabbed the shed a few times when using Pruex and they are looking at proportions of the (non-pathogenical) Pruex bugs vs E.Coli (watery mouth) and Streptococcus (Joint-ill). It’s the latter that causes issues here, even with copious quantities of clean dry straw down.
Water troughs apparently another common source, where the ewes drink then lick their lambs.

 

[Optimus]

@Jerry is a wealthy man.
I use 0.5ml for young lambs, 2ml for a ewe. I was thinking 0.5ml was still a generous dose, and still 45p!

That's what I do.but I'll give it a go see if a bigger dose makes a difference

 

[Sheepfog]

We try and iodine navels two or three times. Not easy at the peak of lambing, but try and do it when we go through checking lambs have suckled.

Treatment this year has been 1ml metacam and 1ml synulox (changed from betamox on vets advice). Vets also suggested a 5 day course of the synulox. Not easy to catch them by then though!