Foot rot is a painful bacterial infection affecting sheep worldwide, causing lameness that significantly reduces welfare and productivity, yet it is largely preventable through systematic flock management.
Foot rot causes chronic pain that significantly impairs sheep welfare over weeks to months when untreated. Lame sheep reduce feed intake, lose body condition, and have impaired reproductive performance. Ewes with foot rot produce less milk, harming lamb growth. The condition spreads rapidly through flocks in wet conditions, creating high welfare burden at the flock level. Despite being painful and economically costly, foot rot treatment on farms is often delayed due to the labor intensity of catching and treating individual sheep. Systematic foot scoring systems that identify lame animals early, combined with prompt treatment protocols, reduce both the duration of individual suffering and the spread within flocks.