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blowin

Several of our lambs are limping quite badly . The problem is between their toes -- where the hoof meets the foot . The hair has gone , leaving an area of bare skin which looks very pale and a bit wet but not broken or flakey . This is not a large blemish .
Locally it is called " scald" and is usually attributed to the animals being too long on wet / boggy land but conditions have actually been dryer than usual since these lambs were born . They are mountain type . The flocks in the hills are apparently suffering in the same way .
Any advice gratefully received .
Many Thanks .

Looking at the number of questions I have asked about sheep I wonder whether I should stick to just eating them !

Camile · Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 9:25 am Post subject:

Good morning .. .

does it have an awful smell coming from it ?

because that sounds like foot rot .. and it spreads heavily so it would explain with the rest of the flock got it too ..

what you can do is to clean the hoof as much as you can (even with the tip of your knife to scrap off the excess of dirt and all in between the toes and underneath the hooves ...

they trim off the excess on the hoof, then bath the injured leg in "hot" water (not boiling or cold) with some big salt in it .. it will ease it for them and it will usually stand still for a little while in there ..

then use some blue spray (copper ?) and apply it on the hoof and in between.

There is a chance there might be an "abcess ?!" too .. in that case a jab from the vet would be needed.

Good luck,
Camile

Jack · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 71 Location: North Otago

Gidday

Sure sounds like scald to me too.

Zinc sulphate is a good thing to use but sorry I don't know at what strength. If you want to be really green about it you could try baking soda as that is supposed to be good at stopping fungus.
_________________
Cheers
Jack
QBE

gai · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 83 Location: Co Donegal

I agree with the above. Clean the foot, check for cuts or abcesses, bathe in salty water, take the opportunity to clip their toenails and a blast of blue spray (available from local creamery or vet).

chook · Joined: 14 Mar 2007 Posts: 305 Location: North Clare

The blue spray is called Alamycin, available from the Vets. It works for foot rot and scald.

Best,
chook

David · Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 180 Location: Co. Clare

We have used the blue spray in the past, very good for drying and disinfecting the area. Scald looks really painful. We have also have used copper sulphate (bluestone) footbath for scald in goats, not sure if this would be ok for sheep. On a small scale, we have administered it using a mini-footbath - an old tin can, foot dunked in the solution.

D