Campaign aimed at farmers and vets looks to promote healthy feet in sheep

#HealthyFeetHappySheep is an industry-wide collaboration that is a direct outcome of the work conducted by the Farm Vet Champion sheep ambassador group. It will run from September until December and aims to engage with as many vets working with sheep farmer clients as possible.

“We all know that maintaining healthy feet in flocks not only benefits sheep welfare but improves farmer well-being with less time, money and stress being diverted to dealing with lameness issues,” explained independent specialist sheep vet Fiona Lovatt, who has developed the campaign.

“A sound flock always means better flock sustainability and overall performance.”

The campaign also aims to reduce antibiotic use in the sheep sector, with the vast majority of drugs being administered to treat lameness, Ms Lovatt added.

“We have plenty of evidence to show that we need to use injectable antibiotics to effectively treat lame sheep, but we are encouraging the use of ‘Plan Prevent Protect’ principles to reduce the chances of sheep going lame in the first place,” she said.

A new website accompanying the campaign is the main resource of downloadable assets with sections for both vets:

• Vet toolkit to aid vets as they undertake Healthy Feet flock visits
• Resources for vets who want to run Flock Health Club or sheep farmer meetings for clients

And farmers:

• How to keep sheep feet healthy
• What to do if I’ve got lame sheep

To help the campaign reach more farmers and industry professionals, a couple of short films have been made starring well-known sheep vets Phillipa Page and Joe Angell, farmers on the HCC Stoc+ program and celebrity sheep farmer, Gareth Wyn Jones.

Films will be released via social media channels and to the #HealthyFeetHappySheep website over the next couple of weeks.

“In recent years there have been really positive advances in understanding the causes of lameness in sheep and how to control it,” said Liz Nabb, farm vet, lameness researcher and Veterinary Investigation Officer.

“Many farmers have applied this new knowledge and now realise that lameness doesn’t have to be accepted as part of farming sheep, and they have healthier, more productive flocks as a result.

“#HealthyFeetHappySheep is aiming to make sure every sheep farmer has access to this knowledge and how it can be applied to their own flock.”