Clare Phythian

Validating indicators of sheep welfare through a consensus of expert opinion

A consensus of expert opinion was used to provide both face and consensual validity to a list of potential indicators of sheep welfare. This approach was used as a first step in the identification of valid welfare indicators for sheep. The consensus methodology of the National Institute of Health, using pre-meeting consultation and focus group discussions, was used to ascertain the consensus opinion of a panel of sheep welfare experts. The Farm Animal Welfare Councils five freedoms were used as a framework to organise a list of current on-farm welfare issues for sheep. The five freedoms were also the welfare criterion used to identify potential on-farm welfare indicators for sheep. As a result, experts identified 193 welfare issues for sheep and lambs managed on farms across England and Wales. Subsequently, a combination of animal- (n = 26), resource- (n = 13) and management- (n = 22) based indicators was suggested for (i) adult rams, (ii) adult ewes (male and female sheep, over 1 year old), (iii) growing lambs (male and female sheep, over 6 weeks to 1 year old) and (iv) young lambs (male and female lambs, 6 weeks old and under). The results from this study could therefore be used to inform the further development of valid methods of assessing the on-farm welfare of sheep.

Impact of footrot vaccination and antibiotic therapy on footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis

Footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) are common causes of foot disease of sheep in the UK. The study reported here is a split flock randomised treatment trial undertaken on a group of 748 fattening lambs on a UK sheep farm affected by CODD and footrot. The sheep were randomly assigned to one of two treatment protocols. In protocol A, all sheep were given two doses of footrot vaccine (Footvax, MSD), plus targeted antibiotic therapy (long-acting amoxicillin, Betamox LA, Norbrook Pharmaceuticals) to sheep with foot lesions likely to be associated with a bacterial infection. In protocol B, the sheep only received targeted antibiotic therapy. Sheep were re-examined and foot lesions recorded five and nine weeks later. New infection rates in the footrot vaccinated group were lower compared with the vaccinated group for both CODD (18.2 per cent compared with 26.4 per cent, P=0.014) and footrot (12.55 per cent compared with 27.5 per cent, P<0.001). Recovery rates were unaffected for CODD (80.46 per cent compared with 70.97 per cent, P=0.14) but higher for footrot (92.09 per cent compared with 81.54 per cent, P=0.005) in sheep which received the vaccine. On this farm, a footrot vaccine efficacy of 62 per cent was identified against footrot and 32 per cent against CODD infection. An association between a sheep having footrot at visit 1 and subsequently acquiring CODD was identified (odds ratio [OR] 3.83, 95 per cent CI 2.61 to 5.62, P<0.001). These results suggest a role for infection with Dichelobacter nodosus in the aetiopathogenesis of CODD on this farm.

A comparison of the FECPAK and Mini-FLOTAC faecal egg counting techniques.

Faecal egg counts (FECs) are used for detecting and quantifying nematode infections and are the basis for determining drug efficacy and anthelmintic resistance in faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs). Currently, several FEC techniques are available for detecting and quantifying eggs of sheep nematodes. A comparison of the egg counts from the FECPAK (with a minimum detection limit of 30 eggs per gram (epg)) and Mini-FLOTAC (with a minimum detection limit of 5 epg) showed better diagnostic performance with Mini-FLOTAC in terms of measurement error (level of over- or under-estimation of FEC) and precision (variability in FEC). A tendency to under-estimate FEC was observed with the FECPAK particularly at egg densities of less than 500 epg. It is concluded that Mini-FLOTAC is a reliable diagnostic tool offering reduced measurement error and a higher level of precision.

Effects of parenteral amoxicillin on recovery rates and new infection rates for contagious ovine digital dermatitis in sheep

The present study is a randomised split-flock treatment trial, which compared the effect of foot bathing in a 1 per cent solution of chlortetracycline alone with a treatment protocol that added a single injection of a long-acting amoxicillin. Overall, the prevalence of contagious ovine digital dermatitis in the examined flock was 22 per cent, while 45.7 per cent of affected sheep had infections in two or more feet. Parenteral antibiotic treatment increased the odds of a recovery by 3.8 times (95 per cent confidence interval 1.05 to 14.0) (P=0.008). Moreover, the amoxicillin injection may also have had a preventative effect, reducing the rate of establishment of new infections from 2.5 per cent for foot bathing alone compared with 1.0 per cent with the addition of parenteral amoxicillin.

'Observing lame sheep: Evaluating test agreement between group-level and individual animal methods of assessment'

For on-farm sheep welfare assessment, a reliable, simple and robust method is required to assess the level of flock lameness. This study examined the level of test agreement for two binary lameness scoring systems for sheep. The first was a group-level lameness assessment of sheep performed on ungathered sheep at pasture and was termed group observation method (GOM). The second method of lameness assessment was performed after gathering of the sheep and involved close observation of the gait of individual sheep in a handling pen and was termed individual animal gait assessment (IAGA). Following individual gait assessment, each sheep was also examined for the presence of specific foot and limb lesions: white line lesions (WL); inter-digital dermatitis (ID); footrot (FR); contagious digital dermatitis (CODD); toe granuloma (TG); and joint swellings (JS). A total of 3,074 sheep were assessed from 40 flocks in North England and Wales by one assessor. Test agreement between the assessment methods was found to be good as judged by linear regression and Bland-Altman plots. The method of group observation identified a slightly higher proportion of lame sheep compared to the individual animal examination and also appeared to be a more feasible on-farm method of observation. Over half of the sample sheep were identified with WL but this did not appear to be associated with a high level of lameness (as assessed by IAGA) with just under 12% of sheep with WL being identified as lame. In contrast, the percentage of lame sheep was most closely associated with CODD and over 80% of animals with this lesion were scored as lame.

Sheep health, welfare and production planning 1. Recording and benchmarking performance indicators of flock health and production

This is the first in a series of three articles that examine the opportunities for veterinary practitioners and livestock advisers to engage sheep farmers in proactive health and production planning. It focuses on the use of on-farm records to identify specific flock health, welfare and production issues and for setting farm-specific targets and action plans. Subsequent articles in the series will look at flock nutrition, and ways in which financial and performance indicators can be used to demonstrate the economic and future benefit of flock health planning.

Sheep health, welfare and production planning 2. Assessing nutrition of the ewe in late pregnancy

Flock nutrition is a vital aspect of good animal health and production. This article, the second in a series of three examining the opportunities for veterinary practitioners and livestock advisers to engage more sheep farmers in active health planning, discusses practical ways for assessing flock nutrition, with particular reference to pregnant ewes.

Sheep health, welfare and production planning 3. Using financial indicators

Implementing changes to sheep vaccination programmes, parasite control and flock nutrition often incur additional cost in advance of any improvements in performance. This article, the last in a series of three examining the opportunities for veterinary practitioners and livestock advisors to engage more sheep farmers in active health planning, looks at calculating the financial gain of implementing changes to improve flock performance, which is crucial to ensuring that farmers realise the benefits resulting from the initial investment.

A pilot survey of farm animal welfare in Serbia, a country preparing for EU accession

Abstract The selection and field application of animal‐based welfare measures for pigs, sheep, dairy cows and broilers was the first step towards the future development of welfare improvement schemes for Serbia – a country that is applying for EU accession. The aim of this pilot study was to: (1) test the feasibility of a protocol for monitoring farm animal welfare in Serbia, (2) ascertain preliminary data on animal‐based outcomes of farm welfare and (3) gain insight into Serbian farmers’ understanding of animal welfare as part of a wider project working towards inclusion of animal‐based assessments in a ‘higher welfare’ voluntary assurance scheme. This study encompasses the first national survey of farm animal welfare in which animal‐based outcomes were tested on 105 farms by a total of ten trained assessors. Data on the views and aspirations of the farmers from these 105 farms were also systematically gathered during face‐to‐face interviews. Existing animal‐based measures for pigs, sheep, dairy cows and broilers that have been successfully applied and identified as valid, reliable and feasible measures in other countries, were found to be largely transferable. However, some on‐farm protocols, previously used in other countries, had to be shortened for logistical reasons when used in Serbia. Our findings suggest that further refinement may be needed in order to allow local application of all measures. While the term ‘animal welfare’ has only recently been introduced into the Serbian language, seventy‐three percent of farmers had heard of it. Overall, few positive associations were found between farmer satisfaction with animals’ living conditions and animal‐based data. Many farmers had aspirations to develop and expand their farms, which may potentially enhance animal welfare, but these farmers identified that financial and technical advice and support would be needed in order to achieve these goals.

Inter-observer agreement for clinical examinations of foot lesions of sheep.

In sheep, the diagnosis of foot lesions is routinely based on physical examination of the hoof. Correct diagnosis is important for the effective treatment, prevention and control of both infectious and non-infectious causes of lameness. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the level of inter-observer agreement for clinical examination of ovine foot lesions. Eight observers of varying experience, training and occupation performed foot examinations on a total of 1158 sheep from 38 farms across North England and Wales. On each farm, a group of two to four observers independently examined a sample of 24 to 30 sheep to diagnose the presence or absence of specific foot lesions including white line lesions (WL), contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD), footrot (FR), inter-digital dermatitis (ID) and toe granuloma (TG). The inter-observer agreement of foot lesion assessments was examined using Fleiss kappa (κ), and Cohens κ examined the paired agreement between the test standard observer (TSO) and each observer. Scoring differences with the TSO were examined as the percentage of scoring errors and assessed for evidence of systematic scoring bias. With the exception of WL (maximum error rate 33.3%), few scoring differences with the TSO occurred (maximum error rate 3.3%). This suggests that observers can achieve good levels of reliability when diagnosing most of the commonly observed foot conditions associated with lameness in sheep.