New born lambs

[millen87]

Hi guys doesnt any1 jag there new born lambs shortly after birth with betamox/penicillin ect is a job worth doing.

 

[spin cycle]

no

 

[Tonka]

Punctuation helps - not certain I fully understand your question.
Why would you if they're not ailing?

 

[HarryB97]

Helps cover up poor husbondary and management but isn't very good practice or sustainable. I no several farms that do and all now have resistance issues to several groups of antibiotics so are actually making their life much harder in the long run, once they're gone there gone!

 

[Hilly]

Hi guys doesnt any1 jag there new born lambs shortly after birth with betamox/penicillin ect is a job worth doing.

Your joking ? What for ?

 

[Nithsdale]

I have a neighbour who gives 1ml penicillin to every single new born lamb. He lambs outside (mostly class 3 arable) and says it stops infections causing joint ill.



It is horrendously bad practice, IMO - the sort of carry on which will see anti biotics become vet administration only.

 

[neilo]

It rather depends what your dealing with.
As described in the Pruex thread, I had gone to jabbing every lamb with Betamox LA as it left the lambing pens, as it was the only way I could knock Joint Ill out in my March lambs. They were the second lot through a cleaned out, but obviously contaminated shed.

No, it’s certainly far from ideal practice, but is it worse than having to use more & bigger doses on almost every lamb later, after it was already suffering a painful condition, as was the case a couple of years previously?

Thankfully the Pruex seems to have helped sort the problem, for now at least, so no longer jabbing. If it hadn’t worked, I would certainly still be jabbing that mob.

 

[millen87]

Yes same here some men give 1ml to every lamb hard to know if its needed or not.

 

[taff]

We do them all out of the shed with half a mil of betamox it's in our health plan and signed of by the vet as in her own words
" betamox la isn't in one of the groups of drugs we are worried about there becoming resistance to and it's a very small dose"
We still got joint I'll this year in our autumn flock but it was very wet so we went round groups and gave everything a second jab it seemed to stop it completely

 

[Agrivator]

I have a neighbour who gives 1ml penicillin to every single new born lamb. He lambs outside (mostly class 3 arable) and says it stops infections causing joint ill.

It is horrendously bad practice, IMO - the sort of carry on which will see anti biotics become vet administration only.

There is no evidence that the correct administration of antibiotics causes resistance.

Orajet, which contains two antibiotics, has been used widely for at least 40 years for the treatment of neomycin and streptomycin sensitive enteric infections in neonatal lambs. We stopped using it about 30 years ago, but the empty 300ml bottles are ideal for storing Colostrum.

But the first line of attack should be to dip every navel religiously and to ensure that every lamb gets enough colostrum and gets rid of the first meconium from its rectum. That help save the expense of using antibiotics needlessly.

 

[Nithsdale]

Blanket treatment is a sure fired way to generate resistance... it's also proven to weaken the lambs immune system in the immediate short term leaving them more susceptible.

As I've said to my neighbor countless times - sort out the ewes pre-lambing, assuring they are producing good levels quality milk and he wouldn't need to waste his time throwing ABs at the lambs.


You shouldn't be dipping navels in an outdoor lambing, either.

 

[Al R]

Blanket treatment is a sure fired way to generate resistance... it's also proven to weaken the lambs immune system in the immediate short term leaving them more susceptible.

As I've said to my neighbor countless times - sort out the ewes pre-lambing, assuring they are producing good levels quality milk and he wouldn't need to waste his time throwing ABs at the lambs.


You shouldn't be dipping navels in an outdoor lambing, either.

I use nettex septiclense violet for navals outside, you can also see which ones Have been navaled from 25m away so no need to disturb them again.
I find anything that goes near the shed has to have iodine spray (might move to dip this year) but outside there isn’t so many bugs so septiclense is sufficient.. 2-3/1700 lambs had joint ill/erisipylis last season and I know 2 of them had been inside for a few days when young.

antibiotics at birth is definitely a bad idea and basically hides poor hygiene.

Anyone thought of using Mayo Panatec lamb? It’s probiotic.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

It’s a good job bovine retired otherwise he’d be having kittens

 

[puppet]

We do them all out of the shed with half a mil of betamox it's in our health plan and signed of by the vet as in her own words
" betamox la isn't in one of the groups of drugs we are worried about there becoming resistance to and it's a very small dose"

Amoxicillin is widely used in humans where there is certainly a lot of resistance in E coli.
Giving it as part of a health plan is unbelievable. A small dose is actually worse as it will not kill the bugs which carry the resistance gene so they end up thriving. As for giving it to outdoor flocks that is plain crazy.

As mentioned above CORRECT use of antibiotics is less likely to cause resistance. That involves clinical signs, sending some samples, waiting 3 days for the results and treating with the right antibiotic. Not practical but better than having nothing left.

 

[GreenerGrass]

There is no evidence that the correct administration of antibiotics causes resistance.

Of course there is. You need to look up how resistance occurs. Correct and proper use of antibiotics lowers the risk of resistance occuring, but it does not prevent it.

Everytime an antibiotic is used you expose bacteria to it. And each time that happens there is a chance one of those bacteria has a genetic mutation that gives it the lottery ticket to survive and persist.

If antibiotics are used more regularly there is an increased risk, and if someone uses them like a bellend (wrong dose/preventative/not stored properly) it increases further

 

[andybk]

joint ill can be worse in some sheds / fields than others , i have one where it would occur or scour (lack of ventilation so often damp floor ) so i dont use it for young lambs if possible , your neighbours farm will be totally different to yours , so best wait and see if you get an infection before you blanket treat , just remember its not good practice ,
try and get feet right , if they come in as thats where a lot of problems start , either mastitis or joint ill , mine are fed outside in yard and walk back in through zinc every day .