Best Practices in Biosecurity on Sheep Farms

Biosecurity refers to management measures taken to prevent disease agents from being introduced and spreading… U.S. Department of Agriculture

I recently had a discussion with a friend about best practices in biosecurity on sheep farms. One of the best ways to keep your flock disease free is to prevent disease from coming onto your property. The following are some basic management procedures which help keep your farm and flock healthy.

Best Practices in Biosecurity

Introduction of New Animals

• Purchase new sheep from reputable farms and ask questions about the health status of the flock. Look for signs of health problems such as lameness, coughing, runny eyes, lethargic sheep, and poor body confirmation.
• Request all new sheep come with a health certificate.
• Always quarantine new sheep that you purchase from other farms for at least 2 weeks but ideally 4 weeks. This allows you time to observe and gives enough time for any diseases to manifest themselves. While in quarantine, you should test and treat for internal parasites. Be sure they are up to date on any vaccines that you typically use on your farm. It is a good time to trim their hooves and inspect them closely for any symptoms of hoof rot.
• Wear coveralls when caring for your new sheep that is in quarantine and wash your hands before moving on to the rest of your flock.

Traffic Control

• Ask visitors to the farm to wash their boots or wear disposable plastic boot coverings before entering your barn or fields. Have spare boots for visitors to wear.
• Keep a pair of on-farm boots and a pair of off-farm boots for your own use. Reserve your on-farm boots for only wearing while on your property. You can introduce disease to your farm inadvertently through your own clothes and shoes.
• During shearing, ask your shearer to use your own hoof trimmers if he/she will be trimming feet.

House Cleaning

• Keep barns, run-ins, and pens clean. The end of each season is a good time to clean out manure, wash down stall mats, and broom sweep the barn.
• Keep water buckets and feed pans sanitized and clean.
• Keep all feed and grain in tin cans with lids to prevent rodents from contaminating them.
• Keep barn cats away from bred ewes and do not allow cats in your hay storage area. Cats can transmit toxoplasmosis to ewes. (see more about barn cats at end of post)

On the Road

• When taking sheep to festivals or shows, use your own water bucket and hay rack. Get water directly from the faucet rather than from a hose.
• Move your sheep directly from your truck to the pen.
• Wipe down the pen with sanitizing wipes before putting sheep in the pen.
• Keep your sheep from being nose to nose with other sheep. Use tarps to separate your sheep pen from the one next to you.
• Provide clean straw daily.
• Once home again, quarantine your show sheep from the rest of your flock.

Barn Cats
Cats carry the disease toxoplasmosis. When a bred ewe (or pregnant human) contracts the disease, it can be devastating to the unborn lamb. We have had barn cats off and on throughout the years. Our hay loft is not one that can be closed off from the cats and was often where the barn cat slept. When I questioned my vet about the risks involved with our cats being in the hayloft, I was told that if the sheep are exposed to cats since lambs, that their bodies can build an immunity against the disease. We do not breed our ewe lambs, so they would live their first 18 months being exposed to cats. All of our breeding ewes would have had exposure to cats prior to being bred. In doing so, we never had problems on our farm with the disease, however, I was very much aware of it and the risks involved.

Remembering these few best practices in biosecurity will ensure a healthy flock and happy shepherd.

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