Schmallenberg?

[NFI]

Wouldn't want to see schmallenberg again. Affected around 20% of the flock 10-12 years ago. The lambs joints would be fused together. Funny thing with the doubles was that one would be affected and the other would be fine. I've never had to euthanise so many lambs.Tested my sanity that year.

 

[andybk]

Wouldn't want to see schmallenberg again. Affected around 20% of the flock 10-12 years ago. The lambs joints would be fused together. Funny thing with the doubles was that one would be affected and the other would be fine. I've never had to euthanise so many lambs.Tested my sanity that year.

Thats why i headed the thread with schmallenberg , never seen toxo where only one was affected

 

[primmiemoo]

Thats why i headed the thread with schmallenberg , never seen toxo where only one was affected

In years when we had toxo, we'd have a run of toxo lambs where one or more of a multiple was d., and the others weak but alive. They seemed a little premature as well. Quite some test of skills and stamina to get them going.

 

[texelburger]

thanks for all your replies , we did used to vax when we fed hay pre lambing , we stopped that about 10 years ago due to feeding wrapped haylage , the only source of infection now maybe the straw we buy in , though that farm has no cats but maybe foxes ? ,we do feed hay post lambing the idea was that if there were any issues with that feed it would expose the flock to the disease and some immunity was gained ,
When we had it i the past , as said above the ewes aborted all lambs about a week early or lambs were very weak at birth , this time one brown one one good strong one , thats why i asked the question looks like will have to start vaxing next summer

It's always difficult to find the source of Toxo.We have no cats but ,occasionally, have the odd feral one in the buildings so always vax yearlings as a precaution.

 

[haybob]

Hope no one minds while we are on similar subject, I'm finding rotten full grown lambs, most ewes have died after I pull the stinking lambs out. Vet says it could be stress during pregnancy??

 

[neilo]

no barley used , all bought in nuts these days , stored in a tower silo , but get your point , only other source of infection maybe feed troughs outdoors under trees , that gets bird sht in when they roost at night

Bought in nuts contain barley too…

 

[andybk]

Im assuming its not contagious between sheep ? and needs the mouse- cat route to propagate its self , just wondering about the small bales of bedding we use for lambing pens (mice have had the strings since october) , that i bin the bulk of , but sometimes use the dry outer bits to top up the pre lambing pens

 

[Global ovine]

Is this 100% right? The girl that works for me had an expensive Irish ewe abort/confirmed toxo and she was going to vaccinated all of the other ewes she has because of this 1 ewe but there are supply issues getting the toxovax. She thinks the ewe aborted before she came inside as there was no blood or evidence except she just never lambed so bloods were done.

So how does a toxo storm develop? All sheep having heavily contaminated feed etc? Would forage only fed ewes outdoor lambing be a lot less susceptible to a storm?

Toxo abortion in sheep (and can happen in pregnant humans!) is due to the ingestion of Toxoplasmosis oocysts excreted by cats in their faeces. Cats are the vector as they pick up the bug from eating infected rats and mice and birds, so large animals (sheep) can only be infected by ingesting the toxo oocysts. The more cat faeces that contains oocysts = more chance for more sheep to be infected if they are fed contaminated grain feeds, hay or grass breaks.

In NZ where indoor feeding of sheep is virtually non existent, toxo outbreaks regularly occur on pasture or forage crops. Therefore farms which run high stocking rates and get supplemented with hay and/or sheep nuts usually use Toxovax once per lifetime.
In drier regions with high rabbit numbers wild cats are very common. Even large hill properties with low stocking rates that rotationally graze autumn saved pasture only can suffer significant Toxo storms and therefore have to vaccinate. Where there is cat crap there is usually Toxo oocysts.

Other abortion diseases like Enzo, Salmonella brandenburg and Campylobacter (Vibrio) are spread sheep to sheep, so some flock immunity can be gained by introducing newly aborted to non pregnant ewes. But NOT with Toxo which involves a third party vector.

 

[BAF]

Why is it always the best that die and slip….never the auld screw you would love to cull

Its the unwritten law of the jungle. Your best sheep/cow/pig/goat/horse or dog will die from a tiny scratch or at least get a massive infection and take months to heal and cost you a fortune. The knacker you'd happily knock on the head with a spade for looking at you the wrong way on a Monday morning will live for ever and cause you just enough trouble to cost you money but not enough that you can justify shooting it.

Case and point I had a 4yr old race horse with talent to burn, turned her in the field one day and she rolled and banged her hock on a rail in the fence and severed the tendon inside her hind leg without breaking the skin. Game over. Another racehorse an absolute hound of a thing that should have been hit on the head as a foal, probably the worst jumper I ever had the displeasure of riding in a race, got loose one morning in the ice, galloped home down the road, didn't make the corner because it was frozen solid, did a power slide on his side for 100yds down the road and through a hedge, got up and shook his tack straight and carried on home. Didn't even break a sweat never mind get a scratch on him. He's probably still alive now lingering on somewhere fat as a house on a council estate eating nettles.

 

[beynon]

Re vaccination: I find advice to vaccinate with Toxovax can be at least 3 weeks before tupping, or 4 weeks but now from GO - 8 weeks is recommended. Are we all using the same vaccine or has the advice been updated?

 

[Global ovine]

Re vaccination: I find advice to vaccinate with Toxovax can be at least 3 weeks before tupping, or 4 weeks but now from GO - 8 weeks is recommended. Are we all using the same vaccine or has the advice been updated?

I looked up the recommended vax to mating interval; I stand corrected it is a month, not 2. The license to produce this vaccine has been renewed which means it's still the same.
Personally speaking, extending beyond the recommended minimum interval has merit when using a live or attenuated foreign organism. Nothing is strictly the same in nature where immune responses and ability to rid the body of what was introduced varies between individuals. I would not join rams with the newly vaxed ewes within that month.

 

[Filthyfarmer]

Just had blood results back on 6 barren ewes after a sh!t scanning. 52 out of 570 barren.
All ok for selenium, no toxo, little low in iodine ( marginal was the term used ) and going to drench on vets advice.
But......
5 out of the 6 positive for schmallenberg antibodies so fair chance of abnormalities this year, hopefully not.