Pregnant ewe with Footrot

[Khale]

I have a ewe that's due end of March who has had foot rot for the last week, i've been treating with blue spray but due to her being quite heavily in lamb i've tried not to stress her out too much with tipping her up. However, the last few days she's been kneeling a lot so ive been treating her a couple of times a day with the blue spray and has had pen and strep. I'm just wanting to know will this cause the lambs a great deal of stress and is it likely to kill them/or cause her to abort?

I know it's best to avoid handling the ewes when pregnant, but the ewes welfare took priority in this case.
cheers

 

[neilo]

You've done right injecting her with abs (Alamycin LA would be better if it's footrot though IME) but I certainly wouldn't be worried about turning her over either, she's still 6 weeks away yet. Are you sure it's footrot and not CODD though, as different abs would be used to treat that.

Untreated lameness and reduced intake will cause more problems for her unborn lambs than anything you could do to treat her, especially if it's got to the stage where she's kneeling a lot.

 

[spin cycle]

get her in and 10ml engymycin IMO...don't bother with blue spray JMO

 

[neilo]

get her in and 10ml engymycin IMO...don't bother with blue spray JMO

+1 In case the OP doesn't know, Engemycin and Alamycin LA are both the same ab (Oxytetracycline).

 

[spin cycle]

+1 In case the OP doesn't know, Engemycin and Alamycin LA are both the same ab (Oxytetracycline).

yes i've actually got alamycin at moment.....no experience of pen + strep

 

[Khale]

Thanks guys, having mentioned CODD, what is the best antibiotic for it? The more i think about it, it does seem more like it, as there is a slight swelling around half way down the hoof, which is also abit raised and cracked. Im going to take her in to the vets tomorrow to be definite.

Thanks again for the input

 

[cheviot53]

Penstrep is normally repeated every day for at least 3 days . Amoxicillin is a recommended ab for codd

 

[andybk]

+1 In case the OP doesn't know, Engemycin and Alamycin LA are both the same ab (Oxytetracycline).

yep and dont forget to add the colour spray to mark for cull after lamb weaned ,

 

[Al R]

Thanks guys, having mentioned CODD, what is the best antibiotic for it? The more i think about it, it does seem more like it, as there is a slight swelling around half way down the hoof, which is also abit raised and cracked. Im going to take her in to the vets tomorrow to be definite.

Thanks again for the input

That’s codd, take her into the vets? Mine asked us what was the best way to cure it when we asked what they’d recommend!
Betamox LA worked well for us and a lot of footbathing in formalin! Zactran is meant to be better but the last quote I had was £170/100ml!!!!

All we use is Alamycin LA for foot and joint problems and Betamox LA for everything else.

 

[chris wink]

Couple ml of zactran and leave her to it , it is expensive but it works . By the time u count ur time of catching and pen strep ect ect zactran is cheap

 

[bobajob]

Your lucky you just have one lame ewe!!

 

[Ysgythan]

yep and dont forget to add the colour spray to mark for cull after lamb weaned ,

How hereditary is CODD? @neilo @bovine

 

[Estate fencing.]

Get her treated a quickly as possible if you only have one lame ewe, if you leave her you will have 10 lame by Monday!!!
I use draxxin for anything that has footrot, it not cheap but you only have to one jab and at least she isn't lying around the feeders spreading it to all the others for weeks.

 

[Al R]

How hereditary is CODD? @neilo @bovine

I don’t think it is but the flock does build immunity to it. We went through 6/7 bottles of betamox over tupping trying to get rid of the codd and we did it in th end and havnt had a case since! 3 bottles a year would be considered a lot for us when we had 900 ewes!

 

[neilo]

How hereditary is CODD? @neilo @bovine

I don't know if the works ever been done, but with DD in cows, we got hit hard the first year, then it seem to just bubble along at a low level ever after. Folk often say the same about CODD.

I don't think any particular lines of cows were more susceptible to it at home, but some did have softer feet which are more prone to all manner of foot ailments and let it in easier perhaps? Would the same be true in sheep?

I do remember one poster (who I wont name) telling me a few years ago that his NZ genetics ewes would be more resistant to it as the sires had been selected for resistance to footrot, and selecting for resistance to FR would mean they were more resistant to any other foot problems too. The next year he was posting about being hit hard by CODD coming in.
That would suggest to me that you'd have to select amongst CODD infected sheep to breed any degree of resistance, if indeed you can. I'm sure if it was possible, the dairy industry would be way ahead of us, as they will be with any vaccine for prevention.

 

[Khale]

Thank you for everyone's input, took her to the vets and she's been jabbed with antibiotics for CODD, painkillers and ive sprayed her with a big 'C' that stands for Cun.. i mean Cull!

 

[Bury the Trash]

Thank you for everyone's input, took her to the vets and she's been jabbed with antibiotics for CODD, painkillers and ive sprayed her with a big 'C' that stands for Cun.. i mean Cull!

if you have ewes that must be culled later ..try using an earnotcher for a permenant mark doesnt have to be a huge chunk either.

 

[Al R]

if you have ewes that must be culled later ..try using an earnotcher for a permenant mark doesnt have to be a huge chunk either.

Or cheap plain tags of a colour you never use. Unless the ewe is really getting on I don’t think i’d cull yet. There isn’t any proof to show that she could ever get it again and they reckon they get immune to it.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Or cheap plain tags of a colour you never use. Unless the ewe is really getting on I don’t think i’d cull yet. There isn’t any proof to show that she could ever get it again and they reckon they get immune to it.

.i used to use red pig eartags.

 

[neilo]

Thank you for everyone's input, took her to the vets and she's been jabbed with antibiotics for CODD, painkillers and ive sprayed her with a big 'C' that stands for Cun.. i mean Cull!

Whilst i’m A great believer in culling problems out, has she been a problem before, or is it her first offence? Do you breed your own replacements, or buy in sheep that may be just as susceptible?

I wouldn’t cull a ewe for being lame once, but I would record her so that I knew if she did it again, or if she failed to respond to treatment.