The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: pikilily on February 08, 2009, 01:10:47 pm

Title: my way of dealing with foot rot.
Post by: pikilily on February 08, 2009, 01:10:47 pm

Hi, thought I'd share this with you. I am still chuckling.

Tuppence one of my ewes has very suddenly developed a lameness yesterday, having checked her feet out I discovered she had a touch of foot rot.  I cleaned her foot and sprayed it, and most of myself,  with the purple foot spray.  Thats not the funny bit! Over night I lay worrying about what to do and how to manage her.

This morning I caught her again,  washed her foot again, soaked a cotton pad in purple spray, and secured it in place with a dog boot.  You know the ones used to protect a dogs foot and bandage. It will stop the bugs from passing to the other sheep, protect her foot from grit and mud, and keep the disinfectant soaked cotton in place.

So Tuppence is now trotting about in the snow with her......wait for it...... lovely silver 'Bada' boots on!!  :sheep:
She looks quite the picture of sophistication! and I am ever so chuffed with myself for creativity and lateral thinking.
Emma

Title: Re: my way of dealing with foot rot.
Post by: gavo on February 08, 2009, 04:31:00 pm

Emma,
If your vet is friendly enough ask him/her to prescribe Alamycin spray. We use it on our goats - one spray and problem sorted.

Cheers

Gavin

Title: Re: my way of dealing with foot rot.
Post by: tirdu on February 08, 2009, 05:52:22 pm

best thing as said already is to ask ur local vet for some antiseptic spray like alamycin r terramycin, though id also recommend that the foot isnt covered up by anything as 1 thing that footrot hate is air of any sort!!

Title: Re: my way of dealing with foot rot.
Post by: pikilily on February 08, 2009, 06:31:41 pm

hi folks
my local hero shepherd came past this afternoon and was mega impressed with my trimming and the use of the boot. He had some of the spray from the vet as an extra measure. he was saying he used to be able to get the boots which were especially made for sheep, with zips up the front. So i wasnt laughed out of the field!  he felt that the boot would be a good idea for a few days to allow the spray to really work and for the foot to toughen up a bit. He felt that there was very little rot there but that id had used my scrub nurse skills well to flush everything out.

will see if i can get the spray from the vets anyway
cheers Emma

Title: Re: my way of dealing with foot rot.
Post by: woollyval on February 08, 2009, 06:35:56 pm

I have to say.....purple spray will not cure 'strip', the infection thay leads to footrot and sealing the bugs in a nice warm boot may not actually have the desired effect :o :o

Get some antibiotic spray.....only available from the vet, always dued a terrible blue/green ::) and apply that. I also use some stuff called Hoofphast which is made by Nettex..............its fantastic!
I drop a sachet in a bucket of hot water and put the infected foot in it for 2 minutes......can take a bit of wrestling, but sheep seem to like warm foot baths.....can't say I blame them!!!