Blowfly strike causes severe suffering in sheep globally. Prevention through integrated management and early detection are critical for sheep welfare during warm months.
Flystrike causes some of the most severe suffering experienced by sheep in temperate and sub-tropical farming systems. Maggots digest living tissue, releasing toxins that cause systemic illness and death within days if untreated. Affected sheep are in acute pain and show visible distress. The insidious nature of strike is that early-stage cases can be missed in large flocks until animals are severely affected. Prevention through combination strategies including dagging (removing dirty wool), preventive insecticides and selection for tighter breech conformation is more welfare-positive than reliance on treatment. Mulesing in Australia, while reducing lifetime flystrike risk, causes significant acute suffering that is increasingly viewed as unacceptable given available alternatives.