Sheep

Figure 3. 4-year-old ewe with poor body condition score (1.5 out of 5), despite being housed in a single pen and fed appropriately. Clinical examination was unremarkable.

Diagnostic testing in small ruminant medicine

The field of diagnostics, like many others, is fast evolving and many exciting new technologies have arisen in the last few years, which will help to overcome some of the challenges within small...

Figure 1. Freshly calved cow and environment

Q fever: a disease with underappreciated significance?

C. burnetii is a small, Gram-negative bacterium and obligate intra-cellular pathogen that causes Q fever. C. burnetii can infect humans, cattle, goats, sheep and many other mammals. C. burnetii...

Figure 4. Plant species and stage of plant maturity can affect trace element concentrations in grazed pastures

Trace elements in sheep: history taking

When presented with a clinical scenario, a standard clinical history needs to be taken. This should include the following:.

Iron-deficiency anaemia in calves and lambs

Most of the iron in the body is stored in haemoglobin (60–70%), while iron can also be found in haemosiderin (spleen, liver) and myoglobin. Some is transported in blood, bound to transferrin. Apart...

Figure 1. Ewe restrained on a halter.

How to: ovine clinical examination

Personal protective equipment is required; typically consisting of disinfectable wellington boots (with the option of steel toe capped variants available), waterproof trousers and top (the author...

Ovine Caesarean sections and assisted vaginal deliveries: a clinical audit

Data from 209 procedures and the associated postoperative checks were recorded through the survey, with the following splits between location, time and intervention required (Figure 1)..

Figure 1. Red clover (Trifolium pratense), a perennial legume, that will last 3–5 years. It is higher in protein content and has greater nitrogen fixing capacity than white clover seen below in Figure 2.

Impact of phyto-oestrogens on reproductive health of sheep

Phyto-oestrogens are all non-steroidal compounds that can bind to oestrogen receptors. The compounds found in plants of agricultural and veterinary importance include isoflavones and coumestans. The...

Figure 1. Johne's disease is an important differential for low body condition score and poor performance that should be routinely investigated. Antibody serology tests have very low sensitivity compared with faecal polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Ovine Johne's disease

The two main groups of MAP strains are ‘type S’ and ‘type C’, named after the host species from which they were originally isolated, sheep and cattle respectively (Collins et al, 1990). This...

Figure 3. Increasingly, nematodirosis is seen in older lambs during late summer and autumn. This may involve an evolutionary change in the parasite's dependence on specific conditions for egg hatching, or may be an effect of climate or pasture management change on larval survival.

Changing patterns of Nematodirus battus infection

During the summer and autumn 2021, the FECs of lambs in a hill flock of about 500 ewes in the south-east of Scotland were monitored using a saturated saline and cuvette method with a detection...

Figure 1. A sheep with septic pedal arthritis. Note the severe lameness and the noticeable degree of swelling above the coronary band.

Digit amputation in small ruminants

In cattle digit amputation is indicated for septic pedal arthritis (infection of the distal interphalangeal joint) (Pejsa et al, 1998; Desrochers et al, 2008), pedal osteitis (infection of P3), toe...

Ewe colostrum quality on commercial Welsh sheep farms

A total of 1295 samples were submitted from 64 farms in total, which represented 43.5% of the recruited farms. The median number of samples per farm was 20 (interquartile range 11–22). Forty three of...

Figure 1. Adult cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) — heavy infestations can cause anaemia in lambs.

Ectoparasites in sheep

Among all the listed diseases that are related to ectoparasites, some are particularly relevant in the UK. To find out which diseases are common in a particular area, the surveillance tool developed...