[Hellybee]

I remember the vets saying on the one occasion they've used the M word    And they said its a real powerful drug and would never be able to let it go over the counter.  What is it about it and so toxic to humans?

[Me]

Can give you a touch of heart attack.

[Porterlauren]

I have been experimenting with this. . . .

The old adage was the untrimmed feet caused foot problems, whereas now it seems more likely that foot problems cause overgrown feet (due to less pressure being placed upon them).

Trimming bad feet seems to prolong the time it takes it to heal. In one study, they trimmed one batch and jabbed them, and didn't trim another (but also jabbed them), something like 90% of the untrimmed sheep were sorted within 5 days, but less than 50% of the trimmed feet.

However, to be honest, repeated exposure to a/bs is a bad idea, so the best idea is to try to breed it out. A predisposition for foot root is a genetic trait, so although you will always get some sheep with it, with decent recording and culling you can seriously reduce the levels of F/R in your flock.

[Me]

Split them off, jab them, get them over the withdrawal period and cull them.

[Hellybee]

A touch of a heart attack ?? Blimey x

[Dogwalker]

I remember the vets saying on the one occasion they've used the M word    And they said its a real powerful drug and would never be able to let it go over the counter.  What is it about it and so toxic to humans?

and it kills goats!

[Me]

In Americans anyway...

[Hellybee]

In Americans anyway...

    

[Daisys Mum]

I am absolutely gutted as my lovely tup that I bought last year has the worlds worst feet, it is impossible to keep him sound , I am now finding that most of his offspring are lame a lot of the time.

[Marches Farmer]

The show standard for my main breed (Southdowns) specifies black hoof horn but I've always found that the horn on striped feet is much thicker and less likely to be damaged or suffer from Shelly Hoof, so we actively select rams with stripy feet.  It's one of the reasons I don't show them.

[Rosemary]

My Ryelands are rarely lame - sometimes their feet look horrendous but they are hardly ever unsound. Then trimming and blue spray is usually enough. Only used ABs for sair feet less than a hanful of times in seven years.

[Daisys Mum]

I noticed that they put lime down in front of the troughs, what kind of lime and where would I get some?

[OhLaLa]

Re Lime, my vet also suggested liming the fields, but then keeping them empty for a while.


Liming the area around the water trough ensures all the flock walks through it. Mine however, would also lay in it.

[humphreymctush]

I never routinely trim my sheep's feet but if the hoof is getting misshapen I tend to find a tidy up will encourage it to a better shape. I agree with Porterlauren – In my experience foot rot can cause excessive growth of the hoof so if you see a sheep with foot rot and overgrown feet you could be forgiven for thinking the foot rot was caused in part by the shepherd's failure to trim when in fact the over growth was a symptom of the foot rot. The most important thing to understand is that foot rot and scald are bacterial infections and in a relatively closed flock can be eradicated either by vaccination or frequent use of a Zinc Sulphate foot bath for a few months.

[kanisha]

The show standard for my main breed (Southdowns) specifies black hoof horn but I've always found that the horn on striped feet is much thicker and less likely to be damaged or suffer from Shelly Hoof, so we actively select rams with stripy feet.  It's one of the reasons I don't show them.

Interesting observation. I would add that in addition to thickness of hoof horn there is also hardness and mine with black hooves certainly seem to have harder feet/ hooves and are less likely to chip or split. Although  I would be tempted to agree with the white or black and white hooves being thicker i'll have to check my sheep hooves a little more closely to confirm.