Quarantine plans must be fit for purpose

I can sound like a stuck record when talking about the importance of quarantining new animals on the farm, writes Nerys Wright.

Quarantine is not exciting – frequently seen as yet another job involving what appear to be fit, healthy animals. But many disease outbreaks are traced back to newly purchased replacement ewes and rams or animals returning from summer grazing.

But quarantine is important. One objective is to protect your existing sheep from incoming animals and any sub-clinical diseases they may be harbouring.

It may seem like a needless additional cost. But the price of replacement ewes this year means the relatively small cost of implementing a quarantine protocol is well worth it.

How to quarantine

On arrival, yard the sheep on hardstanding or in a shed. Then, administer their treatments. After 48 hours, turn them out onto land already grazed by your sheep for four to five days before moving them to their new pasture.

I am often asked how long quarantine should last. The answer is for as long as you can – but certainly for a minimum of three or four weeks. This provides time for treatments to be administered and to check that they’ve worked.

Quarantine also provides time to inspect the sheep to ensure they’re not developing any signs of any disease, such as lameness. Other problems include roundworms, liver fluke, sheep scab, footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis.

Vaccines

For farms who don’t see scab or liver fluke, the purpose of quarantine is to keep these problems out. Vaccines to consider are ones that protect against abortion (enzootic/EAE or toxoplasma) and clostridial disease.

Production issues have been seen with the enzootic abortion vaccine this year, with limited availability this tupping. With that in mind, please speak to your usual supplier as soon as possible to secure your order.

Finally, for further information on product choice for parasite quarantine, please do visit the quarantine section of the Sustainable Control of Parasites website at www.scops.org.uk.

Nerys Wright is an independent sheep consultant. For more details, call 07891 187643 or visit
sheepconsultancy.co.uk.