Lameness is a major health and welfare problem in the UK. A study by Professor Laura Green, at the University of Warwick calculated that lameness cost UK farmers between £70M and £210M annually.* During summer months lameness problems can be higher due to higher stocking rates, longer grass and damp conditions.
sheep lameness prevention
Sheep lameness – “prevention is better than cure”
Perry and Barbara Semple run a commercial flock of 500 ewes near Limavady. The ewes are Suffolk and Texel cross mule sheep put back to Texel and Belclare rams.
“We start to get lambs away from 11 weeks of age at 20kg deadweight with no meal. To do this they need to be thriving well the whole way through and cannot suffer any setbacks.
To achieve this the Semples use a variety of management techniques including rotational grazing and topping to ensure fresh leafy grass is available all the time, a worming and fluke program based on SCOPS principles and a preventative footbathing program.