Vet’s corner: Seven health checks for thriving lambs

It’s great to see lambs out at this time of year. We need to make sure we optimise daily live weight gains to maximise lamb performance. First of all, nutrition is key and making optimal use of grass for lambs to minimise meal bills is essential.

There are a number of things we see every summer that can affect lamb growth rates and performance, so I have made a list of the common problems we see affecting lamb thrive.

Worms

The No 1 concern would be worms, especially roundworm, as the summer progresses. This can vary farm to farm and can depend on stocking rates and grazing rotation. Unfortunately, we now see lots of resistance issues with white and yellow drenches. In a few rare cases we also have also encountered resistance to clear (ivermectin) drenches.

One progressive step with sheep and lambs is to start taking faecal egg counts (FECs) to monitor parasite burden. This can do two things:

We have also seen some nematodirus in the last week or so, typically causing greenish or watery scour in lambs. Where this is suspected, it is strongly recommended all lambs receive a benzimidazole (white drench).

We measure FECs in eggs per gram or (EPG):

After a worm dose, we can check FEC in lambs. If we see a reduction greater than 95%, this indicates there are no issues with worms.

Thankfully, as the summer progresses we see less coccidiosis in lambs. Always watch out for scour in lambs and consider sampling for coccidia to rule it out.

Cobalt deficiency

The next big factor we see affecting lamb growth is deficiency in cobalt and, to a lesser extent, in copper, iodine and selenium. Cobalt is converted to vitamin B12 in the lamb’s gut, which is very important in the liver. It also produces energy and low levels depress appetite.

B12 is also required for wool growth, which explains why sheep are more susceptible than other animals when it comes to cobalt. My advice where deficiency is suspected is to supplement cobalt over the summer months. If you are concerned about minerals in lambs, you could take some bloods and assess deficiencies that way.

Respiratory disease

We often see respiratory disease in lambs during the summer months. The main offender is most often pasteurella pneumonia. There can be others, such as viruses and mycoplasma. The best action to take in cases of pneumonia is to identify what is causing it to make the most strategic plan to control it.

Scald

We will occasionally also see lambs with scald during the summer months. If left unchecked, this can lead to more serious footrot problems.

This form of lameness can be controlled quite well with regular preventative footbathing or as soon as any issues arise.

Pink eye

Another common condition is moraxella ovis, also known as pink eye. It is often carried and spread by flies in the summer months, or when lambs congregate around creep feeders.

When this is diagnosed it is best to break the cycle by treating all infected cases rapidly. Some outbreaks require whole flock treatment when persisting for a long time.

Rhododendron poisoning

One condition we see occasionally in the summer months is lambs eating rhododendron, which is highly toxic for sheep. This usually occurs where grass is tight and lambs are hungry.

Although it is not very common, bear it in mind where lambs have access to this plant.

Costridial diseases

At this stage, we strongly recommend that lambs should have received two shots of their 10&1 clostridial vaccine. This is a relatively inexpensive vaccine but gives cover against the main clostridial diseases that effect lambs.

Watch out for the conditions listed in this brief overview and your lambs will thrive over the summer months.

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Stay healthy this spring and summer