Eradicating Footrot

To eradicate footrot, all:

  • infected sheep must be removed
  • footrot bacteria must be killed
  • remaining sheep must remain free of disease until the spring spread period, following eradication.

Eradication programs

These are best carried out when pastures have dried off, generally from December to April, depending on when the autumn break rains occur. Eradication programs involve:

  • complete destock of all sheep on the property, or all identified infected sheep
  • multiple inspections and treatment of infected sheep over the 'non-spread' summer period, until no infected sheep are identified in the flock
  • dividing sheep into clean and dirty mobs, for treatment and segregation until the next spread period.

Your local vet or Animal Health Officer should be consulted prior to developing a footrot eradication program as they can be complex and need to be tailored to your specific situation.

Hoof paring

Hoof paring is required during an eradication, as it:

  • helps to identify the severity of lesions present in infected sheep
  • returns overgrown or misshapen hooves to normal, allowing for effective footbathing
  • enables other hoof faults, such as fibromas, abscess and shelly toe, to be identified.

Hoof paring is best done by an experienced footrot contractor to ensure it is carried out quickly and effectively.

There are 2 treatment options post inspection and paring for sheep, depending on the severity of infection:

  • footbath in zinc sulphate solution
  • long-acting antibiotic to treat sheep with a footrot severity score of 3 or greater.

Footbathing

When used as part of a footrot eradication program, footbathing must be more stringent and done in conjunction with effective inspection and good paring, to expose footrot lesions to the foot bath solution.

Footbathing can:

  • help cure lower grade footrot lesions
  • harden the hoof to prevent reinfection
  • disinfect hooves of unaffected sheep that have been running with infected sheep.

Footbathing involves:

  • mixing zinc sulphate powder and water
  • standing sheep in the solution for at least 10 minutes; and up to an hour.

Consult your vet or livestock expert for advice on footbathing.

Instructions to control footrot

  1. Mix a solution that is 10% zinc sulphate and water. The correct ratio is 1kg of zinc sulphate to 9 litres of water.
  2. Include a wetting agent such as sodium laurel sulphate at 1–2% to greatly improve the effectiveness of the footbathing solution.
  3. Ensure you have a footbath with high enough sides to prevent sheep from walking along the edge and avoiding the solution. It should also be large enough to contain several sheep at once, depending on mob size.
  4. Ensure solution is deep enough to cover the hoof and fetlock across its whole area.
  5. Stand animals in the footbath solution for at least 10 minutes; and up to an hour.
  6. Stand sheep on grating or concrete immediately after bathing to allow the solution to dry on the hoof.
  7. Return sheep to a paddock that has not been grazed by sheep or cattle for at least 7 days.

See pages 55 – 64 of Footrot: A guide to identification and control in the field (PDF) for more detailed information on footbathing.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics can cure 90-95% of sheep with treatable lesions with a footscore of 3 or greater.

Treating with antibiotics

Antibiotics are injected into the sheep muscle. Consult your private vet or Animal Health Officer about how to treat sheep with antibiotics.

After treatment:

  1. sheep must be kept in dry conditions on concrete or grating for up to 24 hours before returning to the paddock
  2. re-examine sheep 4-6 weeks later
  3. cull sheep that have not responded to the antibiotic
  4. continue to inspect sheep every 4 weeks.

Complete inspections before autumn. Footrot is less likely to spread in dry summer conditions.

Emergency Animal Disease Hotline

Suspected disease or pests in livestock, poultry or aquatic animals must be reported immediately.

Call us to help stop the spread of animal illness, even if you are unsure of the disease.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Freecall 1800 675 888
Page last reviewed: 19 Sep 2022

 


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