The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: dyedinthewool on March 29, 2013, 07:55:59 pm
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Hi,
It never rains but it pours.....going on from my earlier post about my ewe losing her lamb - being given an 'orphan' only he wasn't and the person wanted him back but gave me another instead. It's been an uphill battle with my 'herdy' she hasn't really wanted to let this lamb suckle unless I've insisted... so I've been supplementing with a bottle. This morning I noticed the lamb had a slightly swollen lip and a bit of blood there as well, so had a look and on the bottom of her top lip (if that makes sense) was this wart like bubble, I'm sure it wasn't there last night when I fed her. I thought OH mY gOD is it ORF... So after putting a bit of Udder cream on it I came in and scrubbed my hands - didn't think to put on gloves before applying the cream. Googled ORF and that is what it is. My worry in now has she (the lamb) infected Herdy. I've kept them together but not let her feed from Herdy, I reduced Herdy's concentrate to zilch, as she (Herdy) doesn't have much of an udder - I think she was drying herself off despite little one having a bit. Is she likely to get mastitis?
I can't isolate the pair and they have been with the other two ewes and their lambs, inspected them and at the moment they seem okay but will keep an eye on them (paranoid now).
To-night I sprayed the 'wart' with the 'green/blue' antibiotic just in case of secondary infection.
I googled ORF again and came up with a Spray called Active VMB is it any good or should I be looking at giving her a jab of something.
I now recall the lady who gave me the lamb saying she had ORF last year with some of her lambs, would the lamb maybe picked it up from her farm or does it pass from mum(if she had it last year) to lamb.
Sorry for all the Q's and the long post, but the photos I've seen look horrendous. AND my immune system is not good and I've a couple of cuts on my hands....... I'll be wearing gloves while I continue to bottle feed the baby.
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Orf is a virus, so whilst you can jab with pen&strep it won't cure it, just prevent secondary infection that comes from the open/broken skin after the warts fall off. You've just got to sit it out and wait for it to clear up. 3 of mine had it this year, I treated with 3 days pen and strep and used orf paste just to soothe the sores, although I think sudocrem is probably just as good (and probably cheaper!). I think my guys cleared up after a couple of weeks and looking at them now at 6 weeks old you wouldn't know they had it.
The 3 of mine that had it were in with another 2 orphans who never got it, so your lambs and ewes might be ok.
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Unfortunately can't offer any advice as no experience :fc: yet. Just wanted still to offer sympathy and support and so hope for you that it proves manageable and that you've not contracted it. Also hope that someone in the know comes along soon to respond to your post.
Amanda x
Ah, cross posted with a knowledgable sort. Hope that helped :)
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As stated above its a virus and will run its course....
Keep an eye out for secondary infections and dont inject with antibiotics unless you need to for infections.
There are several preparations available specifically for Orf, which will ease the irritation and speed healing, but they wont cure it.
No point really looking for a cause - it happens.....
If your immune system is low then double glove and cover all exposed skin - orph in Humans can be very painful in some cases.
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If orf is about on your farm, then your ewes will have immunity to it, so unless your Herdy girl is under the weather, she shouldn't be affected.
However, if this lamb has brought orf to your farm and you didn't previously have it, then all your sheep could be susceptible.
Most healthy sheep will shake it off anyway - a few pustules, a few cracks and bleeds, it heals, all over.
Any that do get a worse dose of it will mostly still heal up and get better, but do watch out for any secondary infections.
Where there are suckling lambs then there are cracks in teats to allow the infection into the ewe's udder - and thence to the lambs. So be alert for orf on suckling lambs and check the mother's udder. If she's under the weather at all, including if she's struggling to feed her lamb(s), then she's at risk of the orf leading to mastitis. But if you are vigilant and treat any secondary infection immediately, all should recover.
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Thanks to you all for the replies.
It's great to have help on hand if only to reassure those of us who have little knowledge that things are not as bad as you think and that it's not just you that has the problems.
It been a lovely :sunshine: :sunshine: day here and the lambs have been out racing around - I gave them an old bale of hay to play on - they are such time wasters. I just sat on a bench and watched them play I'm the King of the Castle. While mums just grazed (what little grass there was....) then they all snoozed in the :sunshine: :sunshine:
Thanks again
When I got them in tonight they had their tea and were all fast asleep with in minutes.
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A (near)perfect day for a sheepkeeper, then. ;D Just need a little bit of grass growth... :fc:
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old post - but still providing help and info THANKS :bouquet: :bouquet: just noticed one of the 'top up on field' lambs has a few warts around mouth....
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If the sores on the face start getting bad a wee spray with Tetracyclin spray (Blue antibiotic spray), Iodine or Bactikil will a speed the clear up. You will know if you have caught it. Starts as a small red itchy spot, grows to normally about the size of a 5p with a white centre. Itches like hell. Goes brown a weepy in the middle!!! Nice!! Blue spray works on more than just animals though!
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Blue spray as soon as you see anything that might possibly be orf. If the ewe's drying up then the lamb may be damaging the teats as it tries to get milk out, so I suggest you check the ewe's teats every day and spray them if you see any lesions at all, whether or not they're orf-like.
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Put out lump rock salt, as well as containing lots of minerals, it is supposed to ward off the evil Orf.
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Antibiotic spray is not effective against orf, as orf is a virus. The only reason to use antibiotic spray is if there is a secondary bacterial infection or there is a strong likelihood of getting one.
Farmers come in for a lot of stick for what the public seem to perceive as the wanton and unjustifiable use of antibiotics - so please think before using them and do not use them unless there is a real bacterial issue.
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Antibiotic spray is not effective against orf, as orf is a virus. The only reason to use antibiotic spray is if there is a secondary bacterial infection or there is a strong likelihood of getting one.
Farmers come in for a lot of stick for what the public seem to perceive as the wanton and unjustifiable use of antibiotics - so please think before using them and do not use them unless there is a real bacterial issue.
I'll be doing nothing unless I see signs of secondary infection :thumbsup: . Will get some rocksalt just in case it helps!!!
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Well I did get 'Orf' on my left hand index finger knuckle, the knuckle that gets closest to the lamb when bottle feeding. At first thought it was a thorn as we had been laying a hedge - but after a few days it took on the white ring with a spot in the middle - foolishly I didn't sort it for another few days....(could do with a Banging HEAD here) so it got quite red and gooy, so kept putting iodine on it to dry it up, but was still sore. After 6 weeks it is now slowly clearing up about the size of a 5p. I put a dry lint plaster on it when out with the animals or if likely to meet humans as it doesn't look very nice. I did use gloves but obviously it was too late I already had it....!!!
Babby lambs 'wart' dropped off after six weeks and only one more of the lambs got a small wart on HIS mouth - he is her best friend :innocent:
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Great to be able to search - knew I had read this post but didn't take all info in!!
I've got it too - right hand pointing finger, discovered a wart low down on one of the shetland's I'm topping up - his sister is fine and so is mum (checked her uder and it's fine - just not a lot of milk).
Now I don't want to pass it too any of the bottle fed lambs - so gloves and should I put iodine on me anything more powerful?
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Clean everything - including your hands - with a strong solution of Daz. Can't hurt and IMO it does help.
We had a lamb here with terrible orf, she had to be kept in solitary to stop her infecting everyone else; we kept a bottle and teat just for her and all tried very hard to keep from passing infection on. But eventually the bottles got mixed up and some of the other pet lambs got it - but very few had it and of them, only two so that it bothered them really - and of them, one had been in pretty poor shape to begin with, so would have been more susceptible to anything going.
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Thanks Sally - as always the font of all sheepishly knowledge - the way I handle the lambs I'm lucky to get away with it for this long but basically noticed his wart the same day mine came up so just have to work with it.
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:wave: Hi i was just wondering if anyone has tried the orf jab if so did they have any success as heard alot of farmers been using it, we seem to just get over one lot then someone else gets it although does seem to be more common in orphans.
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We've been using the orf vaccine for a couple of years now - it's bloody marvellous!
BUT, don't use it unless orf is causing you alot of problems every year. It is a live vaccine (administered by scratching the bare patch of skin under the lambs armpit with a special vaccinator which infects the scratch with the vaccine) so you need to be careful how you use it to avoid catching it yourself, and it needs to be used within 8 hours of opening the bottle. Comes in 50 dose bottles.
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Glad it works as we have 20 ewes and lambs we are slowly expanding them but we seem to get orf 2/3 times a year at min and all local farmers say they use the vaccine.
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Like Dot, we've been using it again the last few years, as orf cases had increased over the preceeding few years.
It works, but you do need to do it right and you do need to scratch all the lambs which will come into contact with the lambs that have been scratched and the places they have been. It's a live virus, so vaccinated lambs shed live virus which will infect unvaccinated sheep who come across it.
We do a double scratch to make sure it enters the lambs' systems - first scratch with the dose of vaccine; we do it in the 'lisk' but under the armpit works too, then, while the blue fluid is still visible, the second scratch, without pumping another dose onto the progs, but scratching across the first scratch, which makes absolutely sure that the vaccine enters broken skin.
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Someone, I think it was Sally mentioned the 3 in 1 buckets available from Brinicombes and elsewhere and they are wonderful. Orf hates it dry so hopefully those of us who do suffer should see it clearing up and an end to fresh outbreaks if this weather keeps up. Now shoot me if it is still wet where you are :)
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I dunno how much the buckets are but I'd vote for lump rock salt instead, it's bound to work out cheaper. About 8-10 quid for a 25kg sack. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else uses this as an orf preventative, it's certainly been recommended several times on the farming forums.
Don't buy the horse lumps on a rope, they cost a fortune. Get a 25kg sack (or bigger, the bigger the load the bigger the lumps), most agri places sell 'em. These folks import
http://www.ballofmadley-hereford.co.uk/index.htm (http://www.ballofmadley-hereford.co.uk/index.htm) so can tell you where your nearest supplier is. There is another importer too ... I got some from countrywide once, I can't remember who the producer was though.
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theres only one cure for orf in lambs, thats 'orfoids' about £18 for a 100, give 2 to each lamb, works a treat, next best is Iodine
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I dunno how much the buckets are but I'd vote for lump rock salt instead, it's bound to work out cheaper. About 8-10 quid for a 25kg sack. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else uses this as an orf preventative, it's certainly been recommended several times on the farming forums. END QUOTE.
I have had orf three times in my sheep in 30 years. After the first time I vaccinated and it came back. The second time, after consulting an old farmer, I used ordinary salt mixed with sulphur and it disappeared in both ewes and lambs after about 2 weeks. It didn't reappear till 20 years later, and again was cured by putting out the sulphur/salt mixture. You mix equal quantities (roughly) of each and put it out where the animals can help themselves. I believe that sulphur is a major ingredient of orphoid tablets also.
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as usual huge relief to find something on our latest drama. its spread around a bit unfortunately amongst the ewes and lambs till we worked it out. been using battle cream but sudocrem sounds like an idea. both wife and i now inspecting all the usual scratches and hoping we've not scratched anywhere we shouldnt- buying rubber gloves in the morning
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Once you've got it on a holding it helps to eliminate things like thistles and hawthorn and blackthorn low enough for the sheep to graze. Anything that might scratch the skin may give the virus a foothold.
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Once you've got it on a holding it helps to eliminate things like thistles and hawthorn and blackthorn low enough for the sheep to graze. Anything that might scratch the skin may give the virus a foothold.
My grazing is full of hawthorn/blackthorn/gorse copses, so that aint ever gonna happen.
I hardly ever see orf hough. Apparently 'orfoids' contain a lot of sulphur sals and a cheaper alternative is to put sulphur slats out for the sheep to lick.
I am thinking of experimenting with that hymalayan rock salt to clear up whatever orf I do have...