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Respiratory issues of lambs
Solution name: Respiratory issues of lambs
Aim: Reduce of lamb mortality and permanent damage of lungs
Description:
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One of most common problems of indoor fattening lambs with sudden high temperature, hard breathing and drooling is respiratory pasteurellosis.
It can be fatal in the course of a day, so shepherd must keep his eyes on lambs. Several predisposing factor can increase this issue, such as crowdedness, high concentration of ammonium , lack of colostrum etc.
Fortunately if we can notice sick lamb in time, it can be healed completely with parenteral antibiotic and demulcent treatment.
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This issue also can appear in replacement flocks, when they are taken out to pasture and get sudden worm burden. It is the same situation when a wet weather follows a long dry weather period. Lungworms multiply and keep lung bronchi in inflammation. Farmer must apply antibiotic and anthelmintic treatment at the same time in this case.
Topic: Health
Production: Dairy / Meat
Animal Category: Lamb
Issue: Lamb mortality/respiratory issues
Level of Solution: Knowledge, Practical
Country: Hungary
How to implement it
Reduce predisposing factors ,plentiful straw bending, avoid dusty haylage.
Get replacements used to pasture gradually with complemented hay in the first couple of weeks.
Expected benefits
- Decrease losses, avoid of permanent damage of lungs, as adhesion to the ribs
Cost Benefit analysis
The additional costs increase due to the increased vet visits and the cost of the vaccination. If we reduce respiratory problems, the flock will be healthier and improve animal welfare. This causes more carcass weight and thus more income. There is no extra work for the farmer and the healthier flock needs fewer hours of work. In the healthier flock, fewer sheep culled for respiratory problems will lead to fewer replacement sheep and thus fewer costs.
Prerequisites and/or limits
- pasteurella vaccine, farm specific vaccine
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