There has been a growing spotlight in recent years surrounding watery mouth disease, or E coli scour, in lambs.

This is partly stemming from greater restrictions being introduced surrounding the routine or preventative use of antibiotics, as discussed here.

The other aspect that has brought watery mouth disease in to the spotlight in 2022 is the news released earlier this year that Ceva Animal Health delisted Spectam Scour Halt from its product listing. This will affect farmers in Ireland and the UK, where the product is used on a significant number of farms.

This is not surprising, given that E coli features highly on the list of infections linked with lamb mortality, as detailed here.

Interchem, which distributes Spectam Scour Halt in Ireland, reports that it is working on an alternative supply for the 2023 season.

Reports indicate that there are still some supplies available in the market, but it is not likely that they will be sufficient to meet demand.

The product is targeted at preventing neonatal disease (eg watery mouth or E coli scour) in lambs that are at risk of colostrum depravation.

This statement provides the cause and also the solution to the ailment.

The risk of watery mouth can be majorly reduced by ensuring that lambs receive a sufficient quantity of good-quality ewe colostrum in a timely manner after birth.

Alternative measures

It is not surprising that there is plenty of talk surrounding the lack of availability of Spectam Scour Halt. This is also evident in farmers who have a sufficient supply for this year and are looking further down the road.

There are a number of measures that can be taken to get your flock in a better position and these are outlined as follows:

1 Colostrum

As touched upon previously, colostrum is the best form of defence against watery mouth. The recommendation is to supply lambs with a minimum of 50ml of colostrum per kilogram of liveweight within the first six hours of life and at least 200ml within the first 24 hours.

Colostrum will provide a protective covering to the gut lining, which will keep bacteria and viruses from establishing. If a lamb is unable to suckle, then stomach tubing will help, but remember that stomach tubing equipment must be cleaned and adequately disinfected.

Ewe nutrition is central to promoting high-quality colostrum. Research in UCD has shown that if energy intake in the last four weeks of gestation is limited, it will reduce the volume of colostrum produced in the first hour post-birth and thereafter in early lactation.

Protein intake is also vital and twin-bearing ewes, for example, require in the region of 200g of protein daily, with soya bean meal the preferred feed choice where ewes are being supplemented.

Where at all possible, each lamb should receive some colostrum from ewes on the farm, as this will ensure there is an opportunity for lambs to absorb antibodies that have been produced to guard against bacteria in the environment.

For triplet births, each lamb should receive ewe colostrum and be topped up where required with another source of colostrum or colostrum substitute.

If using cow colostrum, the advice is that colostrum should be obtained where possible from a cow that has received vaccination for clostridial diseases and pasteurella. There are also risks that need to be considered with other diseases such as Johnes. If feeding cow colostrum, then the volume fed should be increased by 30% to take account of a lower concentration.

Colostrum substitutes are regarded as a poor replacement for ewe colostrum and as such, every effort should be made to ensure lambs receive some ewe colostrum.

Research in UCD shows that lifetime performance of lambs who only received a colostrum substitute was 17% lower than lambs which received ewe colostrum.

2 Reducing environmental risk

There are two avenues for bacteria to enter a lamb’s system – via the mouth or navel. Bedding should be kept clean and facilities disinfected regularly, with an appropriate navel treatment used as soon as possible after birth.

The ewe’s fleece, udder and teats are a potential source of bacteria and maintaining a clean environment in the final weeks before lambing and practises such as shearing, crutching or dagging will help to reduce fleece contamination.

3 Treating high risk lambs

The use of antibiotics at birth is not a sustainable practice due to the concerns outlined here and also the fact that some sheep farms have seen resistance develop to E coli and other bacteria due to drug overuse.

An option to wean a system back from administering antibiotics or to conserve supplies of Spectam Scour Halt for this season is to treat high risk lambs where sufficient colostrum intake is questionable.

For example, some farmers have successfully stepped away or significantly reduced the use of Spectam Scour Halt by opting in year one to treat high risk lambs, such as those born in a triplet or higher litter size, lambs born to ewes with milk yield problem, yearling hoggets with insufficient milk or lambs born late in the season, followed by a further step back in year two.

4 Alternative antibiotics

Where issues emerge that threaten animal welfare, then there are a few alternative antimicrobials veterinary practitioners can prescribe. This will be based on the judgement of your vet and the use of antibiotics will be confined to high risk lambs where there is no other options deemed sufficient to control the problem.

5 Natural supplements

There are also a number of products based on natural supplements that claim to enhance the development of beneficial bacteria to strengthen gut immunity or provide lambs with an energy boost that can enable them to enhance colostrum uptake. Colostrum and hygiene management remain paramount.