Common Diseases. of Sheep and Cattle. Lameness - Sheep. Sandy Redden BVSc

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1 Common Diseases of Sheep and Cattle Sandy Redden BVSc Lameness - Sheep Foot rot bacterial infection of skin between claws causing the hoof to separate -> leads to foot abscess Environmental conditions warm and wet Contagious Heritable trait and some individuals are more susceptible than others Treatment includes providing a dry environment, foot trimming, foot bathing, and antibiotics Painful condition, should not be ignored Trauma/injuries, arthritis, tetanus

2 Lameness - Cattle Solar abscess secondary to overgrown claws Lack of wear Abscess within hoof -> pressure -> very painful condition Usually ruptures at coronary band (hoof-skin margin) in time, but can be drained from the bottom of the foot by a trimmer or vet. Faster resolution Requires facilities Antibiotics NOT indicated Trauma/injuries, arthritis, tetanus ** Transport certificates legally required before moving stock with lameness or any other disease condition. ** Parasites aka. Worms Cattle, sheep, and goats share some species of internal parasites Goats are notoriously difficult from a control of internal parasites perspective It s most important to treat young stock for parasites (cattle less than 15 months and sheep less than 6 months). Adult animals should not need regular drenching. External parasites (lice, mites and ticks) may become a problem and need treatment in animals of all age groups. FLYSTRIKE! Animals that are affected by internal parasites do NOT always have scours and vice versa. Monitoring can be done by a faecal egg count (FEC)

3 Recumbency / Down Can occur during any disease process, but most commonly seen in the following scenarios: Milk fever (cows & ewes) occurs just prior or within the first few days of milk production Grass staggers (cows) spring, low magnesium intake, hyper-excitable, tremors, convulsions Sleepy sickness (ewes) occurs if reduced feed intake prior to lambing (esp. in last 4-6 weeks gestation) Mastitis Severe lameness, traumatic injury, systemic illness, sepsis, severe parasite burden, grain overload (too much, too quickly) Bearings / Prolapsed Vagina More commonly occurs in ewes late gestation 5x more likely in twin bearing 11x more likely in triplet bearing In ewes, it can be corrected by cleaning the prolapse, replacing and applying a bearing harness. Can also occur in cows usually several weeks after calving. Needs veterinary attention to correct. A much more serious condition, uterine prolapse, can occur just after calving and requires immediate veterinary attention.

4 Calving / Lambing Difficulties Ewes are generally pretty good at lambing despite malpresentation, occasionally will need some assistance by gentle pulling. Cows more often have issues with the calf being too large. consider breed when selecting a sire A cow that has been in labour for more than two hours without noticeable progress requires veterinary assistance, especially important when the goal is to produce a live calf! If you can see the calf coming out minutes Looking after the health and welfare of the cow/ewe is the first priority. If live lambs or calf are born the next priority is ensuring that the offspring drink an adequate amount of high quality colostrum within a few hours of life. Ill thrift / Poor Growth in Youngstock 1. Nutrition feed availability, quality and quantity 2. Parasites (internal and/or external) 3. Trace minerals Selenium, Cobalt, Copper 4. Disease pneumonia, facial eczema, foot diseases, ryegrass staggers

5 Feed Related Diseases Bloat Nitrate toxicity (usually winter / early spring) Grain overload too much, too quickly Facial eczema toxic fungus in dead matter at base grass (autumn) Staggers Grass - low magnesium, lush grass (Spring) Ryegrass toxic endophyte in seed head and base of leaf (Late summer) Thank You Questions? Contact details: Sandy Redden sandy@vswai.co.nz