# Foot rot in sheep



## mystang89 (Sep 29, 2018)

I noticed my Ram starting to limp a bit today and checked on his hoof.  Sure enough, foot rot.  Seems pretty invasive to me too.  Its deep into the hoof.  Everything I've read so far seems to be for the beginning stages.  I'm wondering if its the same thing.  Do I need to give him a shot?  Pack the area which is open?  Wrap it?  Put fungicide on it?  Run down would be nice.  Thanks.


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## mysunwolf (Sep 29, 2018)

It's the same thing as the horrible photos you see, just beginning stages. Sometimes they never get past that stage, even if you don't treat, so that's a bonus.

Clean it out, trim if it's misshapen, and try fungicide. If that doesn't work, use LA 200 or Zactran, but be aware of withdrawal times.

My neighbors have cured individual sheep by putting bags of liquid zinc sulfate on their hooves and letting them sit in that treatment for hours, as well as giving the Zactran, but it's impractical to do this to a whole flock. Might be worth treating your ram this way to limit the rest of the flock's exposure.

I honestly have never had much luck truly getting rid of this stuff once it shows up. You'll think it's gone, and then it will come back after a rain. Just have to mitigate.


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## mystang89 (Sep 29, 2018)

Thanks.  Ill try to get a pic taken tomorrow but the foot rot extends into the hoof about 1/2" or so deep/long.  Ill start spraying the fungicide and give a shot of LA 200.  I don't have the zinc sulfate but will look into getting that.


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## Mike CHS (Sep 29, 2018)

That is something I have never had to deal with but I have some links when we were learning that might provide some help;

https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/410/410-028/410-028.html


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## Sheepshape (Sep 30, 2018)

This is what we do over here. Foot rot is fairly common due to wet, muddy pasture where the infection lives for up to two weeks.

Firstly, any animal who starts to limp should be inspected, ideally that same day. If foot rot is found, the animal should be isolated from the others and the others moved to clean pasture. Clean the foot up, use an iodine-based spray locally on the hoof and inject with a long-acting tetracycline. May need to be repeated after 3 days. 

Our current guidelines say no foot trimming at all, even if the hoof is overgrown. The hoof has overgrown as it is not being worn off by the animal placing its full weight on that leg. Cutting back, particularly the aggressive cutting back (to 'fresh blood')which used to occur,  meant the animal was being forced to walk on raw tissue and infection was being poured onto the walking surface. When the hoof becomes less painful and the animal can walk on it again, the hoof will wear off.If there's a large piece if broken hoof which gets filled with soil, then this can be pared back. 

Over her a vaccine is available for flocks in which the problem is chronic.

Be sure it is foot rot and not Contagious Ovine Digital Dermatitis which starts in the area where the nail emerges from the leg. The animal is very lame, but the foot doesn't smell like foot rot. It is treated with large doses of penicillin.


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## mystang89 (Sep 30, 2018)

Mike CHS said:


> That is something I have never had to deal with but I have some links when we were learning that might provide some help;
> 
> https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/410/410-028/410-028.html



Thanks. I had read that one but it hasn't mentioned anything treatment options other than the meds, sprays and moving them. 



Sheepshape said:


> This is what we do over here. Foot rot is fairly common due to wet, muddy pasture where the infection lives for up to two weeks.
> 
> Firstly, any animal who starts to limp should be inspected, ideally that same day. If foot rot is found, the animal should be isolated from the others and the others moved to clean pasture. Clean the foot up, use an iodine-based spray locally on the hoof and inject with a long-acting tetracycline. May need to be repeated after 3 days.
> 
> ...



Thanks. Unfortunately I already trimmed the hoof before I read this but at the same time I would not have been able to clean out the area which is infected. Would you pack it with a cotton ball to keep debri from getting in? Picture coming in an hour or so when I make my lazy way outta the bed.


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## Baymule (Sep 30, 2018)

I have not had to deal with this. I read of one account where the sheep owner had a long metal pan that he could place on the ground in a chute and he just drove the sheep through it occasionally with a solution in it to help keep foot rot from showing up.


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## Sheepshape (Sep 30, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I read of one account where the sheep owner had a long metal pan that he could place on the ground in a chute and he just drove the sheep through it occasionally with a solution in it to help keep foot rot from showing up.


 We have a long plastic 'foot bath' into which we put formaldehyde solution. The sheep are run through the bath and then stand on a clean yard until their hooves have dried. The formaldehyde solution hardens the cleats of the hoof and also kills off bacteria. The foot bath is very useful when we have long, stringy wet grass which tends to cause scald in lambs in late spring.
Formaldehyde is pretty nasty stuff on the eyes though.....

I'll just go take a pic. of the foot bath.......


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## Sheepshape (Sep 30, 2018)

Upended foot bath


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## Baymule (Sep 30, 2018)

How often do you foot bath them?


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## Sheepshape (Sep 30, 2018)

Baymule said:


> How often do you foot bath them?


 I only do them when there is a problem. this summer was the hottest and driest for a very long time, so we didn't have any foot problems (nor any grass to make winter feed!). About a month ago we started to get rain again, so have now been able to grow grass for silage. No foot problems as yet, though. If we have lots of limpers then I'd use the foot bath on two occasions a fortnight apart.

We've had very few foot problems in the last few years as we have adopted a 'very early intervention' strategy for the sheep....i.e if someone's limping, look at the hoof at the first available opportunity.  A few years back a large ewe was fine one day and totally lame on a front hoof the following day. She had a fencing staple in her hoof. On another occasion a sharp stone was lodged between the cleats. Since seeing these things as soon as they limp, I look.


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## mystang89 (Sep 30, 2018)

Baymule said:


> How often do you foot bath them?



+1

I've read of people doing this but always thought that you'd have to change out the bath each day because of all the dirt that the sheep put in when they stepped through, which wouldn't be feasible for us cost wise.


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## Sheepshape (Sep 30, 2018)

Yes, the formaldehyde is a one off usage, but it's not very expensive over here. It has to be disposed of very carefully as it cannot be allowed to get into an waterways as it is harmful to aquatic life.


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## Ridgetop (Oct 5, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Thanks. Unfortunately I already trimmed the hoof before I read this but at the same time I would not have been able to clean out the area which is infected. Would you pack it with a cotton ball to keep debri from getting in? Picture coming in an hour or so when I make my lazy way outta the bed.



For your ram, I think you could soak a cotton ball in antibiotic (we use Coppertox for thrush and hoof rot), stuff it in the hole, then cover the hoof with gauze and vet wrap and then do the duct tape thing.  You will have to keep him confined for a week or two, and probably will have to take everything off and reapply every couple of days to check healing.  Also do the injectable antibiotics.  My mare got a hoof abscess once from a wire.  After draining the abscess the vet packed the hoof with antibiotics and put a piece of gauze over the hole, then cut a piece of carpet to fit over the bottom of her hoof, then vet wrapped that on, then duct taped the entire hoof to keep dirt out.  I had to keep her in the barn for a week and when the tape wore through, I had to replace the tape.  The vet checked her every 3 days. 

Is it a front hoof or rear hoof?  If you are still breeding ewes, you will need to confine the ewes with him.  If it is a rear hoof he may not feel like mounting the ewes.  On second thought he is a ram and where there is a will, there is a way.  LOL  If it is a front hoof, he will have no trouble breeding.  

We are in very dry arid climate zone.  We only get foot rot when the goats or sheep are confined inside the barn during el Nino conditions for months because we cannot clean out the bedding due to water seepage into barn.  We have to layer dry straw on top for weeks or months.  Have never had hoof rot except when I missed a goat hoof trimming and they curled under and trapped wet stuff.  Since we don't keep our horses in stalls anymore, they are out on 5 acres, they don't get thrush in the winter (rainy stalls) either.  My sheep seem to have pretty good feet and don't need much trimming.  They are on dry, hard, stony ground though, not nice green grass.  I guess it is a trade off - dry ground and no forage but less worms and parasites and no hoof rot.

If we move to an area with more rain we will have to watch for that.


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