[moprabbit]

I've been having a few foot problems lately so decided to try a foot  bath. Read various articles which recommended zinc sulphate or copper sulphate. Tried all my local agricultural merchants and not one had zinc sulphate but  got some copper
sulphate instead.  Couldn't find anything about ratio of copper sulphate to water, but did find something that said don't use copper  sulphate for sheep as it's poisonous. Just wanted some advice please
a) Where would I get zinc sulphate from and what quantities should I use ?
b) Is copper sulphate poisonous when used as a foot bath? If not does anyone know ratio of water needed?
c) How long should the sheep stand in the chemical?

Thank you.

[Womble]

Hiya, I can't comment on copper sulphate, but zinc sulphate for foot treatment is commonly sold as 'Goldenhoof Plus'. The blurb on this says that it's zinc sulphate plus some surfactants (i.e washing up liquid type stuff). You can buy it from the likes of Mole Valley.

The recommended concentration is 1 kg of powder to 10kg of water. For prevention they should stand in it for 2 minutes, and for treatment of footrot, it's 30 minutes ( ).

HTH!

[Marches Farmer]

When you say "foot problems" do you mean scald, footrot,  contagious ovine digital dermatitis, shelly hoof or something else?  I'm a big fan of vaccination for footrot, which (in my experience) deals with scald as well.  Shelly hoof, unless severe, generally grows out over the summer and can be helped by not letting the ground get poached over the Autumn and Winter, allowing earth to be forced up under the horn layer of the clee.  Not trimming back the "bulb" at the back of the clee can also help by keeping the horn layer under tension. CODD is another matter and you'd probably be best to consult your vet.

[moprabbit]

Thanks for the replies. It's really shelly hoof that is the problem, Marches Farmer,  and I thought that zinc sulphate was supposed to help the growth of new horn, which would help the problem.

[Foobar]

A mineral supplement with zinc in would also help.  For shelly hoof I would trim it back up to open the pocket up (look up how to if you are not sure), then leave it and do not do routine trimming.  I had some girls with it and when I stopped routine trimming it also stopped.

[moprabbit]

Thanks for that Foobar, I'll look out for a mineral supplement.

[Womble]

[member=23323]moprabbit[/member] , we have had similar problems with shelly hoof and weak hooves in general, for example:



In particular, some aged ewes we bought with good feet developed horizontal cracks around their hooves after being with us for a couple of months. The only explanation I could come up with was that the hoof that they'd grown since coming to us being weaker than what they previously had, so it cracked at the join. The hoof below belonged to an 8 month old lamb, but this is the sort of thing I mean:



After a tip from somebody on here (can't remember who, sorry!), we put "zinc rich rockies" blocks in every field. They're expensive, but as long as you protect them from the rain (very important), they last for ages.

Since we put the rockies out, their hooves are in generally much better health, and hence less prone to infection and other problems. The few hooves we have trimmed due to excessive growth or persistent shelly hoof have also been much, much stronger (i.e. harder to cut), and are getting progressively better with time. Actually, I haven't had to touch any of the lamb's feet at all this year, and I'm quite shocked when I look back at those photos to realise just how bad they were. It's hard to prove anything conclusively of course, but that's our experience. Let us know if you find the same?

Thanks!

[moprabbit]

Thanks for that Womble. The photos look just like my girls feet. Going to look into those zinc rich rockies straight away. Thank you!

[Womble]

   Good luck! Please come back in 6 months or so and let us know if it made any difference.   

You should be able to get the Rockies from your local farm store, or if not, a horsey place should be able to order them in for you.

[BenBhoy]

If the same culprits are getting foot issues then cull & don't breed from daughters. Make life easier.

[Womble]

Fair enough, if it's just one or two.  If it's all of them though, perhaps it's not the sheep who are at fault!