Detailed Explanation of Key Technical Points for Spring Sheep Flock Disease Prevention

  In spring, the weather alternates between cold and hot and is changeable, making sheep prone to colds. Sheep with colds are listless, with heads lowered and ears drooping, coughing and nasal discharge, elevated body temperature, refusing to eat grass, and not ruminating. For affected sheep, intramuscular injection of 5-10 ml of compound aminopyrine, or 5-10 ml of 30% analgin can be used; in severe cases, 1.6 million units of penicillin and 500,000 units of streptomycin can be added. Alternatively, 100 grams of ginger and 2 scallions can be chopped and boiled into soup, mixed with 100 grams of brown sugar and administered orally while hot, 2 doses per day for 2 consecutive days, with very good results.

Preventive vaccination is an important measure for effectively controlling the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases. Generally speaking, sheep flocks in spring should receive the following types of immunization.

Sheep pasteurellosis is an acute febrile septicemic infectious disease caused by sheep hemolytic streptococcus, mostly prevalent in winter and spring, with early spring during February and March being the peak period. During harsh weather, the number of cases and deaths increases significantly, with a mortality rate reaching over 80%. To prevent this disease, sheep should be injected with sheep streptococcus aluminum hydroxide formaldehyde vaccine in early winter each year. Regardless of size, all sheep should receive a subcutaneous injection of 3 ml, and a second injection of 3 ml should be given 2-3 weeks after the first injection. Clostridial diseases of sheep are common in spring, generally presenting an acute course, with rapid onset, high mortality, and poor response to drug treatment. Currently, the best preventive method mainly relies on vaccines. In early spring, "Sheep Braxy, Struck, Enterotoxemia Triple Vaccine" or "Sheep Braxy, Struck, Lamb Dysentery, Black Disease Five-Combined Vaccine" can be injected for prevention. Before use, dissolve with 20% aluminum hydroxide gel saline solution, shake well, and regardless of sheep size, inject 1 ml intramuscularly or subcutaneously.

In addition, sheep farmers should also carry out immunization against diseases such as sheep pox and brucellosis according to local actual conditions. Spring immunization should be done early rather than late; it is best to seize the opportunity in early spring to immunize all sheep. When carrying out immunization injections, special attention should be paid to avoiding the period when green grass turns green. Because at this time the forage grass is turning green but not yet sufficient, and crop straw is extremely scarce while sheep's appetite for straw declines, combined with the re-emergence and infestation of various internal and external parasites, the sheep's disease resistance is reduced. At this time, injecting vaccines may induce the occurrence of some diseases and cause sheep deaths.

In spring, sheep are prone to parasitic infections during grazing when drinking pond water and eating dirty grass. Therefore, sheep flocks should be dewormed in March and April. For internal parasites, levamisole, albendazole, chukexing, etc. can be used; for external parasites, trichlorfon tablets dissolved in warm water can be used to bathe the sheep's body, or lice and flea killer powder can be used to eliminate the pests.

The main focus should be on the prevention and treatment of ticks and sheep piroplasmosis as well as other routine deworming. Sheep piroplasmosis is transmitted by ticks, so doing a good job in tick control can not only effectively prevent the occurrence of sheep piroplasmosis but also improve the feeding quality of sheep and reduce morbidity and mortality. The peak period for these two diseases is late spring and early summer, but in practice it has been found that cases can occur as early as early March. At this time, the sheep's constitution is weak, and once the disease occurs, the mortality rate is relatively high. Ticks parasitize on the body surface of sheep, mechanically damaging the skin, causing pain and itching at the parasitic site, making the sheep restless, and then causing skin or wound myiasis. When a large number of parasites are present, it can cause anemia, emaciation, stunted development, decreased milk production, and hind limb paralysis in sheep. What is even worse is that ticks can transmit a large number of infectious diseases, such as sheep piroplasmosis, sheep babesiosis, anthrax, brucellosis, etc., which can directly or indirectly cause sheep deaths. Sheep piroplasmosis generally has a benign course, but sometimes the mortality rate can reach as high as 46%-100%. Sheep of different ages can all be affected, with sheep under 1 year of age being more commonly affected.