Persistent lameness in rams ????

[emilyanne]

Hey guys , any help appreciated, my rams are still lame after several foot baths , sprays , alamycin la????

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

They may be overgrown, I would turn them over and trim them , spray and Alamycin if there is an infection.

 

[spin cycle]

Hey guys , any help appreciated, my rams are still lame after several foot baths , sprays , alamycin la????

could have a persistent 'carrier'....treat...split in two groups.....grass thats not seen sheep for 3 weeks....when you find him...cull him

 

[GreenerGrass]

What is it causing them to go lame. Footrot, codd or something else?

My guess is either you've bought a new ram and a problem in, or they've been lame a while and only as approaching tipping you are doing something about it?

Might not be what you want to hear but if your rams are persistently lame you probably don't want to be breeding from them. If your ewes are sound not only are you potentially transferring infection, but lamb genetics might be more susceptible too.

 

[Lili]

If theres a pocket at the side of the foot where the horn has separated from the foot it's worth checking there are no pebbles or bits of grit jammed up there. After treatment is it possible to move them onto a clean field?

 

[Man_in_black]

.22lr

 

[Longlowdog]

Why would you shoot them and pay the knackery 18 quid when you'll get 100 in the feeder ring?
But yes, cull them from the flock.
If you think they have merits beyond their feet and you really want to give them one last chance ask your vet for dose of Zactran or Draxxin or get them to give them a jag of Micotil. If that doesn't put an end to their feet problems then they are foookt.

 

[emilyanne]

Thanks guys appreciated ????

 

[Man_in_black]

Why would you shoot them and pay the knackery 18 quid when you'll get 100 in the feeder ring?
But yes, cull them from the flock.
If you think they have merits beyond their feet and you really want to give them one last chance ask your vet for dose of Zactran or Draxxin or get them to give them a jag of Micotil. If that doesn't put an end to their feet problems then they are foookt.

Yeah we do need a tongue in cheek smiley!!

But you get my gist

 

[Nithsdale]

Treat the footrot/lameness then jag them all with Footvax.


Funnily enough I've had no foot problems in my rams for years, this year nearly all of them went suspect on a foot at the same time - 3-4week off going to the ewes I think I know the culprit (Texel bought in last year), but it is frustrating.

 

[Longlowdog]

I haven't treated a tup's foot since April and then 3 ex 10 tups for sale went down with a touch of scald a month ago. I don't think the on and off wet and dry weather along with very long grass for the time of year did them any favours. However a squirt of blue spray a couple of minutes apart after allowing their feet to dry in dry straw for a while followed by another half an hour in the dry seems to have nipped it in the bud.
I have reservations about footvax (and the new mastitis vac') in that I think it allows susceptible animals to be bred. Say you buy ewes from a vaccinating farm how can you tell if any/all/none are likely to be susceptible? Surely we as a national flock need to be sorting the problem out not relying on solutions to hide the issue. However, I guess the same can be said about vaccinating lambs so I consider that can of worms thoroughly open. Maybe ewes breeding replacements should be selected on merit and ewes breeding fat lambs could have it?

 

[neilo]

I haven't treated a tup's foot since April and then 3 ex 10 tups for sale went down with a touch of scald a month ago. I don't think the on and off wet and dry weather along with very long grass for the time of year did them any favours. However a squirt of blue spray a couple of minutes apart after allowing their feet to dry in dry straw for a while followed by another half an hour in the dry seems to have nipped it in the bud.
I have reservations about footvax (and the new mastitis vac') in that I think it allows susceptible animals to be bred. Say you buy ewes from a vaccinating farm how can you tell if any/all/none are likely to be susceptible? Surely we as a national flock need to be sorting the problem out not relying on solutions to hide the issue. However, I guess the same can be said about vaccinating lambs so I consider that can of worms thoroughly open. Maybe ewes breeding replacements should be selected on merit and ewes breeding fat lambs could have it?

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with the ‘masking’ of problems that could be bred out, or reduced, through selective breeding, could the same be said of someone keeping sheep on neatly manicured paddocks, running round with a topper behind them and avoiding long grass that causes scald? Or breeding sheep for worm resistance, but keeping them extensively on low input ‘stewardship’ grazing?
Where do you draw the line?

 

[Longlowdog]

As I said it's a can of worms but my suggestion was that it is impractical to cull every single breeder of fat lambs now that show issues but by selecting breeders of replacements on merit and treating the ones that are currently only fat lamb breeders to ensure one gets ones money worth from them that eventually the replacement breeders could be selected from either side of the flock and the vaccines would be redundant after a couple of generations and the two halves recombined. Not my most articulate answer but I hope you get the gist of it.