Now is the time to sort out feet post weaning. It has dried out so spreading of footrot should have slowed down. Making a good job of inspecting all feet is important. Drafting off limping sheep is not very effective at removing infection from the mob. Antibiotic treatment of lame sheep seems most effective when the affected foot is deprived of moisture, and we have had some very good reports post treatment with tilmicosin (Micotil/Tilmovet). If there are still some signs of scald and early footrot in your flock then trough 2-3 times, 1 week apart to help break the cycle before rolling over and making a clean mob.

To keep the clean mob clean check again in 1 month. Catch anything limping or suspicious.

Treat infected animals with long acting tilmicosin (vet only administered). Re-check for cure in 14 days. Lincospecin and oxytetracycline are still available and can be administered by the farmer but to get really good cure rates grating in the woolshed for 24 hours post treatment is required.

We are planning on having some footrot workshops in March so let me know if you and your staff are interested in attending.