Flock lameness can be a challenging health and welfare issue facing Irish sheep farmers. To help sheep farmers tackle the problem from all angles, in the first video of the Sheep Health Video Series Sarah Campbell, Ruminant Veterinary Manager with MSD Animal Health and Kieran Devaney, Veterinary Surgeon with Ormonde Veterinary Hospital, talk through the gold standard approach to reducing lameness: The 5-point plan. These 5-points are, cull, quarantine, treat, avoid, and vaccinate. It’s all covered right here!

There are many causes of lameness in sheep; effective control depends on correct identification. In the second video of the series, Sarah and Kieran roll up their sleeves to closely examination a sheep’s hoof. The pair identify where some of the common sites where infectious and non-infectious causes can occur. If that’s not enough, Sarah also speaks to sheep farmer, Richard Hogg about his approach to tackling lameness and the financial and labour-saving benefits he has seen since getting on top of lameness in his flock. This one’s not to be missed!

Every animal that dies on farm is a loss that comes with a cost; establishing the reason why, is key to preventing future losses. Act fast and vaccinate is the theme of the third video in the series. Sarah deep dives into the most common causes of sudden death in lambs and the role that vaccination plays in the protection against clostridial and Pasteurella disease. Sheep farmer, Richard also returns to give an insight into his experience of dealing with sudden death in his lambs and why pre-lambing vaccination has worked so well on his farm.

The devastating impact of Toxoplasmosis or Enzootic abortions has been experienced by many sheep farmers. However, do you know how they occur? What the risk factors are? And, if it can be controlled? In the fourth video, Sarah explains all this and more while sharing her practical management advice and effective vaccination protocols to control the problem in flocks.

In the final video of the series, Sarah gives a full run down of the Footvax vaccine and explains how it can be strategically used as part of a farm lameness control plan. She also delves into the use of Heptavac-P vaccination and how it can be used effectively to control clostridial and Pasteurella disease in a flock. Finally, Sarah presents her top tips to help you get the most from your vaccination programme including administration, best timing and much much more.