Lameness is one of the most significant welfare problems affecting sheep globally. Foot rot, contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD), foot scald, and white line disease cause persistent pain, reduced mobility, loss of body condition, and reduced productivity. Proactive hoof health management is both a welfare imperative and economic necessity.
Foot rot (Dichelobacter nodosus): The most economically significant sheep lameness, causing separation of hoof horn, foul smell, and severe pain. Spreads rapidly in wet conditions. Treatment: antibiotic footbathing, individual treatment with oxytetracycline, or parenteral antibiotics. Eradication programs using test-and-cull have succeeded in some closed flocks. CODD: Emerging disease causing severe underrunning of the hoof wall; poor response to footbathing, requires individual parenteral treatment. Foot scald: Interdigital inflammation; painful but usually responds rapidly to zinc sulfate footbathing.
Lame sheep may not always be obvious—sheep mask pain as a prey species survival mechanism. The Sheep Welfare Assessment Protocol (SWAP) and the Cambridge Pain Scale for sheep provide standardized lameness scoring tools. A target of less than 2% lame sheep in a flock is an industry welfare goal.
Best practice includes: prompt individual treatment within 3-5 days of lameness identification, appropriate analgesia (meloxicam) for pain management alongside antibiotic treatment, footbathing programs, regular foot trimming, and culling of chronic cases that fail to respond. Avoiding overcrowding on wet ground reduces transmission.
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