Implementing The 5 Point Plan To Tackle Sheep Lameness
Lameness is a major animal welfare and economic challenge across the sheep sector, costing the UK industry alone an estimated £24 million a year. The most common cause of lameness in UK sheep flocks are footrot and scald, two infectious bacterial diseases. With an estimated 3 million sheep being lame at any one time FAI developed the Five Point Plan to help the industry meet the challenge of reducing lameness.
The Five Point Plan was developed by drawing together existing science on sheep lameness and practical experience from farmers who had achieved and sustained low levels of lameness. It consists of five action points that support the animal in three different ways: building resilience, reducing disease challenge and establishing immunity (Figure 1, Table 1).
Copyright FAI Farms 2014
The Plan
The Five Point Plan was developed by drawing together existing science on sheep lameness and practical experience from farmers who had achieved and sustained low levels of lameness. The 5 Point Plan has five action points that support the animal in three different ways: building resilience, reducing disease challenge and establishing immunity. | Step Cull badly or repeatedly affected animals Relevance By removing worst offenders, flock resilience to disease is increased. Ewes with chronic misshapen feet likely to be a source of infection. Implementation Ewes treated more than once for foot-rot or scald should be cull tagged. “Two strikes and you’re out” policy. Cull ewes with misshapen chronic feet. |
 | Step Cull badly or repeatedly affected animals Relevance Minimising overall disease challenge for incoming and existing animals, allowing time for inclusion to a vaccination and management programme. Implementation Develop robust quarantine procedure to protect both existing ewes and the newcomers. |
 | Step Cull badly or repeatedly affected animals Relevance Minimising overall disease challenge for incoming and existing animals, allowing time for inclusion to a vaccination and management programme. Implementation Develop robust quarantine procedure to protect both existing ewes and newcomers. |
 | Step Avoid propagation of infection on farm Relevance Reduce the opportunities for the disease to spread from sheep to sheep via the ground, periods of close contact are high risk. Implementation Identify opportunities for improvement in underfoot conditions, both in the field/barn and in the handling set up and frequency. |
 | Step Vaccinate biannually Relevance Build immunity in breeding stock, vaccination gives additional protection at high risk times. Implementation Initially vaccinate all breeding stock biannually, timing doses to coincide with high-risk times such as housing and late summer |
Locomotion Scoring- assessing lameness
A simple six point locomotion score can be used to measure lameness in flocks. Ewes scoring one or greater are considered lame.
Download and read the FAI 5 Point Plan Implementation Plan
