Page 66 - 2025 Premier Equipment Digital Catalog

What are the diseases?
Foot rot and scald affect hoof tissue. Spread usually occurs when the temperature is 40-70° and the soil is wet.
The differences:
1. Foot rot
Caused by the bacterium D. nodusus. It lives in oxygen- starved locations (mud, soggy bedding). Often introduced to the farm via new animals (always quarantine new stock for several weeks!).
The bacteria chews away the tissue of the sole, exposing the soft hoof. Hoof horn can separate away from the hoof wall. The foot rot bacterium
is spread from infected
sheep to the ground, manure and bedding, where it can infect other livestock. Once introduced, it will only live in the soil for 2-3 weeks.
It is a short-lived bacteria,
but the soil will be constantly reinfected by sheep carrying on their hooves.
2. Foot scald
Caused by F. necrophorum,
a bacteria found naturally in soil and manure and present wherever there are animals. It is not contagious.
However, foot scald does cause lameness and lesions between the toes. The tissue between the toes will be either blanched and white, or red and swollen.
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Foot Health
Understanding common foot/hoof diseases
What are the treatments?
It’s best to treat the entire flock. Foot bathing is the most recommended treatment outside of antibiotics.
There are several antibiotics available from your veterinarian that can treat infected animals. Consult them for instruction in proper use. There is no vaccine for foot rot widely available in the USA.
1. Foot bathing
Foot bathing (below) involves walking animals through a series of foot baths containing either a solution of zinc sulfate or formaldehyde
(see pp. 72–73). After a soak or bath (depending on veterinarian’s directions), the clean animals are introduced to clean pasture or a dry lot where no infected animals have resided for over 3 weeks.
2. Trimming
Recent studies suggest not to trim infected hooves (foot bathe and antibiotics only). Trimming is now reserved for removing excess or overgrown hoof horn.
FOOT CARE