Scald and foot rot are two conditions that sheep farmers have to get used to dealing with. I feel that I've gotten my sheep in more days that I haven't lately to make sure I'm being proactive with my animals health and trying to stop any of them being lame.
We've just topped half the field the sheep are in as well to remove a lot of the stalky grass as this can sometimes lead to the animals getting getting an irritation between their hooves (which can then lead to foot rot or scald).
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| Sprayed up to stop anything else getting in there. |
One ewe has had a bad foot for a few days and my treatments haven't been working so I decided to ring the vet and describe the symptoms. He says that it sounds like CODD, and on looking at pictures of it I can say that he nailed it straight away as the problem is at the top of the hoof rather than coming from the middle, I took in a picture and he confirmed this.
This morning I got the sheep in (again!) and I have treated her with prescribed antibiotics from the vet. Hopefully this should sort her out.
I hope people don't mind me putting things like this on my blog. I want to show the complete picture of what I'm up to here. The good and the bad and I want to show that there is a lot of work that goes into caring for animals that most people don't see! I sometimes think that people think you leave the animals in the field and just harvest the young for meat when the time is right - they couldn't be more wrong!
I love your posts on animals it is all very interesting as we are just getting into the livestock side of things :-) I keep checking on Lambert but so far no problems
ReplyDeleteCheers Dawn - I worry because people will think I'm a bad stock man but I'm trying to give an honest account and I think that some people don't realise the constant care that has to go into them.
DeleteWe had a case of coccidiosis recently and can echo that it really isn't a case of stick em in a field until the time comes (not sure anyone would have wanted to see pics of that though ;) 0
ReplyDeleteI don;t know the odd pic would do no harm! Drenched mine last week as I saw a few worms in a lambs poo. I'm building my stock of things now and it's slowly getting easier!
DeleteIt's a very interesting post, not that I will ever keep sheep. Please keep telling about everything in your world.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marlene! Just make sure you tell me when I'm boring you!
Deletedefo like all posts. you never know when someone on here might be able to help or you help them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sol! i want to make sure that I don;t just put the good and fun stuff down because sometimes there are days with none of that!
DeleteWhy do they have so many foot problems? Is it just wet underfoot or are they lacking minerals? Makes our cattle seem easy care! Hope your ewe gets better :)
ReplyDeleteIt's not wet under foot at the moment but the grass was a little long and that doesn't help. I should say this was a problem she's come in with as I've only had them a few months. I'll hopefully get on top of these problems soon and things will become a bit easier.
DeleteI don't know anything about sheep yet, but I find Pat Coleby's books on natural care for animals, I have the cattle one and she has also written one for sheep. I think they are mainly along the same lines, make sure your animals have all the minerals they need and the will be generally healthy :) That's why I always wonder about minerals first, especially for ongoing problems. We are keen to get sheep, so I keep sharing your experiences, I'd like to be prepared!
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ReplyDeleteInteresting - we have never had that one. We occasionally have one limping and when we look , a grass seed has got stuck and the area needs cleaning out. And once we seemed to have this virus that went through the herd where they all got a cold , and limped - but as soon as the cold passed, the limping stopped - have you ever had that with your sheep?
ReplyDeleteapparently it's quite new. Not had the one you described and can't remember it growing up. Sometimes I think they limp just to play me up!
DeleteI am lucky with my soay
ReplyDeleteThey are more like wild deer...and seldom get foot problems
There's a few breeds like that. The trouble is they don't come to much in body so aren't worth much for meat! Not that you're going to eat yours though!
DeleteYour blog is your story, so carry on with your posts Kev. I enjoy reading them. As for problems with sheep...... a wet winter three years saw us with nearly every sheep having foot rot, which we think was brought on to the farm by the recent purchase of goats which had been put with the sheep while we sorted out their housing. Since we were novices we did not think to check the feet of the goats, and so we got a major problem. The sheep are clear now, but we make sure that they have dry bedding over winter. We do have the occasional limps, but they only last a day or two, thank goodness! Oh, and there was the fly strike episode, but not going to say too much about that! Carry on writing, Kev,.........By the way most of our sheep are Jacobs now, and their meat is superb, and without hardly any fat.
ReplyDeleteIf you've got any number of sheep in lush grassland like I have then you've got foot problems! I'm glad people don't mind these posts, I worry I'm getting a bit boring!
DeleteI love these posts, it's helping me gain some information to store ready for when we have a couple of sheep of our own in the future. Keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteI've got 99 problems...
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