[twizzel]

I have 7 orphan lambs in 1 pen, we've had them for between 2 and 3 weeks. 3 of them tonight appear to have a few small scabs around their nose and eyes. They are red and small... could this be Orph?    They haven't been outside yet so not sure where they could have got it from if it is orf. What's the treatment for it, or will it clear up by itself? They are all drinking very well and bright and active. Any advice is much appreciated

[ZaktheLad]

Sounds a good possibility of it being orf - did you get all the lambs from the same place?  They may have arrived carrying the virus so don't necessarily need to have been outside.  Orphan lambs seem quite prone to orf - make sure you sterilise the teats of the bottles/feeding system really well to try and stop further infection. Orphan lambs purchased at a market are much more susceptible to contracting things like orf as they are often mixed in with lambs from so many different farms that could be carrying a host of different things!  I find a tiny amount of purple antibac spray on the area works well, but obviously not around the eye area.    Denis Brinicombe also sell a superb bucket lick called frobut, especially designed for lesions such as this - the tubs are not cheap but they are so worth the money and you would only need to buy the one.

[twizzel]

Yes all came from the same farm. I may give the farmer a ring tomorrow. Where would I get the bucket lick from? Is it suitable for such young lambs? Apart from spraying the area is there anything else I can do... I presume it's not fatal? Although am aware that it is contagious...
Is it  worth getting some Orph paste? Or just spraying with purple spray?

[supplies for smallholders]

Orf in itself is not dangerous to the sheep - its caused by a virus.

What is dangerous to them is the secondary infections that they can pick up through the sores. Also dont handle them with your bare hands - as orf can be transmitted to people and can be quite painful.

There are several "Cures" for orf, some swear by salt and sulphur buckets, others use Ovaloid capsules, and others use a preparation that we sell a lot of called "Orph Paste".

If the animals are left untreated, and i they dont get secondary infections, then it will clear up in time.

[ZaktheLad]

The Frobut tubby is available on the Denis brinicombe website - the price includes delivery and they deliver in a day or so.  The buckets can be fed to young lambs - I have always found them superb in the past for any such lesions and they clear the infection very quickly with next to no fuss.  I think the Frobut is circa £30 but it will last ages.

I caught orf from a neighbours orphan lamb years ago - it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced - it was so bad that it also gave me blood poisoning.  What started with a very small spot on my thumb soon turned in to raging bumps all over my body that were so itchy that I couldn't sleep.  It made me cry with pain and my limbs also became swollen.  The doctors had never experienced it before and so I was a sort of guinea pig for them and they asked to take photos of the worst areas.  I never ever want to experience such a thing as that again.

[SteveHants]

Its the salt in the tubs that helps clear up orf. Its a virus so I have doubts about the efficacy of scratching them. Any mineral bucket should do, but the frobut one has big lumps of salt in it for preciseley this reason.

[moony]

As ZaktheLad says its very painful for humans. You do not under any circumstances want to catch it. The lambs will get over it quite easily without much interference. Just make sure they keep feeding. Wear gloves and keep handling ot a minimum. Normally its a bigger issue if the lambs are on a ewe.

[SallyintNorth]

I've written up our experience with orf a few times before:

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=26502.msg259739#msg259739

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18782.msg176183#msg176183

(Worth reading because Daz really does help!)


And of when I got it myself:
http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18852.msg176794#msg176794

Now I have heard about ZaktheLad's experience I guess I will have to temper my "it's not so bad, no worse than bad sunburn" stance...  we've talked before about whether being a person who gets cold sores gives some level of immunity to orf, so maybe there is something in that.  You ever had cold sores, Zak?

[ZaktheLad]

No - never had cold sores!  I think my experience of orf was made worse by the fact that I didn't know that the small lump/spot on my thumb was orf.  It wasn't painful but had a sort of scab/hard skin on top which I bit off    - this probably is what got it in to my blood system.  It was quite interesting to see 3 doctors looking in their medical text books for what they thought I had!  I was off of work for 3 weeks - my hands so swollen that I couldn't even grasp the steering wheel of the car!  I couldn't even bend my knees where the virus had affected the joints so badly.  I just couldn't stop the horrendous itching and went to bed smothered in vinegar and calomine lotion in an attempt to actually get some peace from the constant scratching  .  One early morning it was so bad that my Mum drove me to the A&E department to see if there was anything they could give me.  Quite lucky that I happened to mention the red line that seemed to be tracking from my thumb up my arm, not realising it was actually anything serious.  The doctor was glad I hadn't left it any longer as she said I would have ended up in the ICU if I had!  I was given some seriously strong antibiotics.

I have known other people have orf lesions on their fingers and not suffer too much in comparison and have also been told that once you have it, you will ever catch it again.  I don't know how much truth there is in this statement, but I never want to find out!