The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pony-n-trap on August 05, 2010, 09:04:19 am
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Having worked 9 and a half years out of the 10 years the Over Thirty Month Scheme for cattle ran, I am aware of the rules and regs for cattle being fit to travel.
Does the same apply to fat lambs doe anyone know? Couple of ours are a bit bad on their feet and a trim and spray hasnt improved it. Any advice gratefully received. :)
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I would check with your vet. You don't have to take the sheep along or have a visit, just ask their advice. Are the lambs off for slaughter? If so, you could also ask the abattoir what they advise.
Sometimes when you have trimmed feet, the sheep continues to hobble for a few days until they settle down.
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I dont like sending sheep to travel lame.
If the lameness is caused by scald, I recomend Zinc Sulphate foot bath, its far better and kinder than formalin. For scald in lambs the results are miraculous. If its just a couple you dont even have too fill your foot bath, just stand their feet in a bucket of it. Make sure they are in for a few minutes though.
It is also very effective against foot rot but the results are not so instant. When I first moved here my whole flock of lambs became crippled by scald. I foot bathed them all in zinc sulphate and after two years running I eradicated it. There was also a foot rot problem here that I eradicated with regular zinc sulpate foot baths. You can also cure foot rot in individual animals with an anti biotic injection but I'm not sure what the retention period is on this if its for lambs for slaughter.
Trimming can be a cause of lameness in itself. Modern thinking is tending to move away for regular routine trimming. Excessive growth is often a sympton of an underlying problem. I virtually never trim the feet of lambs that are to be slaughtered in their first year.