Economic Improvements from a Clinical Trial Minimising Lameness in Sheep

two year intervention study (2005 and 2006) in a lowland spring-lambing flock with four groups of ~ 180 commercial ewes per group was set up. In two groups, sheep with footrot or interdigital dermatitis were treated with parenteral antibiotic and topical antibiotic spray within 1 – 3 days of first becoming lame (intervention) and in the other two groups sheep were treated with foot trimming and topical spray within 1 – 2 weeks of becoming lame (control). Over the two year study production data and veterinary costs were recorded. Responses from 140 farmers with estimated time to gather, catch and treat lame sheep were used to calculate the costs of managing lameness using the two approaches above. The cost of the intervention was ~ £1.45 per ewe. The costs of the two treatment regimes and the change in production were combined to estimate the economic impact of prompt individual treatment of lame sheep with footrot or interdigital dermatitis ...