How to Treat Mastitis in Sheep? The Correct Way to Give a Mammary Block Injection

AbstractTreatment methods for sheep mastitis: use dandelion in the early stage; use deer antler gelatin in the middle stage; use safflower and deer antler gelatin in the late stage, decoct in water and divide into 2 doses for oral administration, while for sheep with high fever and systemic infection, antibiotics are needed for systemic treatment. How to give a mammary block injection: use 800,000 units of penicillin and 40 ml of 0.5% procaine, insert the block needle 4-5 cm at the base of the udder or between the abdominal wall, inject in 3-4 divided doses, block once every 2 days.

I. Treatment Methods for Sheep Mastitis

1. During the breeding process, you can use 400,000 units of penicillin, or 80,000 units of gentamicin, and 20 ml of distilled water, then use a teat canal needle to inject through the teat in 2 divided doses, 2 times a day in total; before injection, disinfect the teat with an alcohol cotton ball and squeeze out the milk in the udder, and massage the udder after injection.

2. In the early stage of mastitis, cold compress can be used; in the middle and late stages, hot compress can be used, or 10% ichthammol alcohol, or 10% ichthammol ointment for external application. Except for purulent mastitis, udder massage can generally be combined before external application.

3. In the early stage of mastitis, 100 g of dandelion can also be used; in the middle stage, 40 g of deer antler gelatin; in the late stage, 10 g of safflower and 40 g of deer antler gelatin, decoct in water and divide into 2 doses for oral administration. For sheep with extremely swollen udders and high fever with systemic infection, antibiotics such as kanamycin, gentamicin and penicillin should be used promptly for systemic treatment.

II. How to Give a Mammary Block Injection

During this period, you can also use 800,000 units of penicillin and 40 ml of 0.5% procaine, insert the block needle 4-5 cm at the base of the udder or between the abdominal wall, generally inject in 3-4 divided doses, block once every 2 days.

III. Prevention Methods for Sheep Mastitis

1. Before each milking, wash the udder and teats with warm water, then dry them with a dry towel. After milking, soak or wipe the teats with 0.05% benzalkonium bromide, or 0.2-0.3% chloramine T solution.

2. During the breeding period, improve the sanitary conditions of the sheep pen, promptly clean up the dirt in the pen, which helps maintain the cleanliness of the sheep's udder. Sick sheep should be raised in isolation and milked separately to avoid the spread of bacteria, and the shed and pen should be disinfected regularly.

3. In the late stage of pregnancy, do not stop milking too abruptly; after stopping milking, inject antibiotics into each teat canal.

4. Generally, during the dry grass season, appropriately supplement feed, prevent severe cold and direct sun exposure. Dairy sheep should be milked at regular times, generally 3 times a day. When milk production is relatively high and the lambs cannot finish it, the remaining milk can be manually squeezed out and concentrate feed reduced.

5. If the udder is excessively swollen before parturition, reduce concentrate feed and succulent feed.  

IV. Causes of Sheep Mastitis

The main cause of mastitis in sheep is unskilled milking technique, which damages the sheep's teats and mammary gland tissue, or unhygienic milking equipment, causing bacterial infection of the sheep's udder. It can also be seen in the course of foot-and-mouth disease, tuberculosis, metritis, pyosepticemia, etc.