A Longitudinal Study of Locomotion, Interdigital Dermatitis and Footrot in Sheep

A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the association between locomotion and two common foot lesions (interdigital dermatitis (ID) and footrot (FR)) in sheep). Two groups (A and B) of 30 sheep from one farm were monitored for 5 weeks. Each week all sheep in both the groups were scored for locomotion using a numerical rating scale (0 to 6) (Kaler et al., in press) and all sheep feet were then examined and scored for ID (0 to 4) and FR (0 to 3) using numerical rating scales. Lame sheep in group A were monitored and treated by the farmer using footbathing and topical antibiotic sprays. Sheep with ID or FR in group B with a locomotion score >2 were treated with antibiotic injection and spray by a research team.
The mean prevalence of sheep with locomotion score >1 during the study was 48% in both groups ...