In the past, we've had problems with footrot, a soil-borne bacterial infection. We've implemented a comprehensive vaccination, footbath and culling program that has resulted in far fewer problems. Today's foot-trimming work bore this out - we had very few infected ewes.
Unfortunately, the vaccine that we've been using has been discontinued - a common problem for sheep vaccines in a country with declining sheep production. We'll be able to vaccinate our sheep this fall, but I don't know what we'll do in the future.
Our dogs were amazing today - especially Mo (who belongs to our daughter Lara). He gathered the ewes, moved sheep the the corrals, and even loaded the rams in the trailer. He's a young dog, but today he showed me how much he's matured. Working with border collies is a partnership that goes deeper than any relationship I've ever had with a pet. Today was a blast!
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