Author Topic: Best footbath for small numbers of sheep / goats? (Read 5982 times)

Womble · « **on:** August 04, 2015, 12:24:52 am »

I tried to buy a plastic footbath recently, but the smallest one available was several ewes long, and 100 litres capacity. That means that we're talking twenty quid's worth of goldenhoof+ each time to fill it.

Previously I have used buckets tied to fences, or old welly boots (when treating just one sheep). However, this was getting really tedious, so I knocked up one of these:

The idea is that the sheep walk in forwards (in practice, they HATE this), then once done, the far end is hinged like a stable door to let them out again.

The tray is a Homebase cement mixing tray, which I bought to put our cat litter tray in (geriatric kitty is fond of thinking just slightly outside the box). It needs just over 10 litres of water to fill it to hoof depth, i.e. £2.50 ish of goldenhoof+.

I've found the base of this to be too slippy slidey in practice, which stops the sheep from settling. Also, although the tray would be fine for small sheep, it's not strong enough for big ones if they stamp in the wrong place whilst trying to resist being pushed in, and has now cracked along the rim. I also sized the crush to match the tray, which was a mistake - it's about a third too wide, even for Zwartbles.

So, does anybody know where I can get a heavy duty tray from? I'd weld one up in steel, only there's no way my welding will hold liquid!

Alternatively, does anybody have a better solution for small numbers of sheep? If so, I'd love to see it, before I spend any time / money trying to improve this setup.

Loobylou · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2015, 07:19:54 am »

How many do you have? We use a spray bottle with the solution in it for our goats as they see the bath and try to jump it, which means the solution goes everywhere! So we spray each hoof by hand. It's the only way we can do it without too much fuss. Hope this helps

Womble · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2015, 08:03:42 am »

Hmmm, if we do lambs as well, that's 20-30 sheep in total. The instructions say they need to stand in it for 2 minutes for prevention or 30 minutes for cure, so I'm not sure a spray is going to cut it. I guess a spray could be used for formalin more effectively, but I really don't fancy spraying that stuff about $:-\$ .

Thyme · « **Reply #3 on:** August 04, 2015, 08:22:26 am »

I got one of these http://www.onestopgrowshop.co.uk/grow-systems-pots/run-off-and-work-trays/garland-1.2-meter-square-tray-1200mm-x-1200mm-x-130mm-used-with-1.2-meter-square-grow-tents.html

I haven't needed to use it for my sheep's feet yet but it's very heavy duty plastic and I'm confident it would stand up to 30 Shetlands (probably in groups of 4-5) with no problem at all.

Foobar · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2015, 09:55:07 am »

JFC FB1: http://jfcagri.com/sheep/sheep-footbaths-dipping-tubs/fb1/
1.5m long. You can always half fill it with gravel to a) open up the cleats and b) make it use less liquid. Fits 2 large sheep or 3 or 4 lambs, ish. Most agri stores will either have this or can get it for you.

Note: You can re-use your golden hoof solution (the manufacturers say so). After you've finished footbathing let it stand so that the sediment falls to the bottom (and pick out any floating poo), and then pump/syphon off the clean liquid from the top into a container. Or pour it into buckets and do the same (its just easier to pour out of a bucket).
Then next time just top it up with a bit more of newly made solution (just make the new stuff a teeny bit strong than normal).

Me · « **Reply #5 on:** August 04, 2015, 12:29:35 pm »

You can probably make do without any footbathing. I own two footbaths, one massive one another approx 10 feet long, both given to me and never used. Lime somewhere the sheep are going to walk through when you have to handle them, spray if you have a scald outbreak.