Management Practices Associated With Prevalence of Lameness in Lambs in 2012–2013 in 1,271 English Sheep Flocks

Is footbathing as effective as antibiotics when treating sheep with footrot or contagious ovine digital dermatitis?

“…Currently, evidence for the efficacy of footbathing is mixed. Flocks in Great Britain that are footbathed to treat SFR have a higher prevalence of lameness in both their ewes and lambs compared with flocks that are not footbathed, 5,14 whereas flocks that are footbathed to prevent or treat ID have a lower prevalence of lameness in ewes. 5,15 Additionally, the prevalence of non-infectious foot lesions (granuloma and shelly hoof) has been reported to be higher in flocks that are footbathed routinely.…”

“…Less is currently known about best practice management of lameness and foot lesions in lambs than in ewes. Previous studies suggest that most farmers would use foot spray to treat lambs with footrot, 4 but they are reluctant to use injectable antibiotic products 18 and tend only to use them once more than 10 per cent of the lamb flock is lame, 14 although the use of injectables is current 'best practice' for treating ewes. 13 This reluctance to use injectable antibiotics in lambs is primarily due to concerns over getting the withdrawal period correct before slaughter and the potential for carcase damage at injection sites.…”

“…This, in turn, provides another way to reduce antibiotic use on farms, as fewer sheep will be treated. Levels of lameness in lambs are related to levels of lameness in ewes, 4,5,14,19 and it should be noted that many management options that contribute to a low prevalence of lameness in ewes, such as vaccination against D nodosus and avoidance of routine foot trimming, 20 are not antibiotic based. As such, the importance of these management options should not be overlooked when seeking to reduce antibiotic use.…”

Exploring farmer and advisor lameness management behaviors using the COM-B model of behavior change

“…Understanding the factors motivating behavioral change is important for encouraging efforts to drive lameness control ( 2 ), and has received increasing attention in relation to encouraging farmers to make changes of various kinds ( 47 ). Farmers' motivations for lameness prevention and treatment may vary, and can include animal welfare concerns, economic considerations such as animal productivity, and social wellbeing and morale concerns for themselves and their staff ( 4 , 48 ).…”

Interspecies encounters with endemic health conditions: Co‐producing BVD and lameness with cows and sheep in the north of England

“…Preventative work is carried out at the flock/herd level, while treatment in symptomatic animals involves catching and treating individuals, which can pose a welfare issue as cattle and sheep are social species stressed by being separated from their groups. Treatments can involve foot bathing and hoof trimming, along with prophylactic or therapeutic medication, or culling persistently or badly lame animals, and also focus on adapting the farm environment, for example, in changing walking surfaces, removing slurry more frequently or breeding more resilient animals (e.g., Cutress, 2020; Lewis & Green, 2020; Tunstall et al., 2019; Whay et al., 2012). Efforts to prevent and treat lameness and BVD tend to revolve around the application of more‐or‐less standardised protocols such as the Healthy Feet Programme and Five Point Plan for cattle and sheep lameness, respectively (see Best et al., 2020; Holloway et al., 2023a) and the BVDFree England Scheme (https://bvdfree.org.uk/), which aims to combat BVD.…”