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Background: The neonatal period is acknowledged to be the riskiest phase of rearing for the loss of lambs with adaption to the extrautero world, an appropriate environment, successful passive transfer, overcoming the threat of pathogen challenge and a strong maternal‐neonatal interaction essential for success. Unfortunately, despite significant research and focus on this phase, there haven't been significant improvements in lamb survival in recent years. Aim of the article: This article considers the obstacles to implementing change on sheep farms and reviews the evidence base for recommendations to be used on farm.

ForewordAbortion takes a heavy toll on the sheep industry, not only economically, but in emotional terms too. Enzootic abortion in ewes is consistently the most frequent diagnosis followed in descending order by infection with Toxoplasma gondii, Campylobacterspp., Salmonellaspp. and Listeriaspp. Causes of abortion also lead to increased barren rates, and the birth of weak lambs, so the impact of these pathogens is greater than just abortion. Fortunately there are vaccines for the two most common causes of abortion, providing farmers and the veterinary surgeons advising them with effective and sustainable tools in the control of enzootic abortion and toxoplasmosis. The uptake of these vaccines, however, remains lower than might reasonably be expected. In this roundtable discussion the barriers to the implementation of the extant measures of abortion control were discussed and suggestions made as to how abortion can better be prevented.

Background: Tail docking and castration in lambs are permitted in the UK and are governed by multiple legislations including the Protection of Animals (Anaesthetics) Act (1954), the Veterinary Surgeons Act (1966), the Welfare of Livestock Regulations (1982), the Animal Welfare Act (2006) and the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures)(England) Regulations (2007). However, with political uncertainty and increasing consumer interest in how red meat is produced, the changing global agenda with reference to mutilations will mean that such procedures in the UK are increasingly under the spotlight and may require increasing justification on farm. Notably, the pain caused by these mutilations and their blanket use in regards to sheep production feature on the agenda of several animal welfare charities, including Compassion in World Farming and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. Aim of the article: With over 10 years since the publication of the Farm Animal Welfare Council's (FAWC) report discussing the implications of these mutilation procedures on the welfare of lambs (FAWC 2008), and the recent publication of the BVA's policy on tail docking and castration (BVA 2020), in this article we will review the debate. Key areas that are considered include the changes in perception of mutilations; the developments in the evidence since the FAWC's publication; the current legislation and how global practices adhere to these rules; the European perspective of mutilations; and how the ‘reduce, refine, replace’ (3Rs) approach can be applied to mutilation discussions when preparing health plans. The arguments surrounding this topic are complex and the ultimate driver for any discussion on farm should be maximising overall animal welfare.

Background:Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by the gram-positive bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, has been present in Great Britain since the 1980s and is now considered endemic. CLA is considered to be an iceberg disease; that is, it is a production-limiting disease, characterised by slow insidious onset, that has production-limiting effects in a larger proportion of the flock than is exhibiting clinical signs at any given point in time. Aim of the article:The disease has been previously reviewed in In Practice(Baird 2003). In this article we consider updates in our understanding of the pathology, risk factors for flocks and the challenges of initiating control where the cost of the disease is still relatively unquantified.

There is evidence that goat numbers are increasing in the UK in both pet and commercial settings and with that a demand for health planning and veterinary surgeons who are familiar with and comfortable advising keepers. In this article we consider the main challenges for keepers of herds of all sizes including routine procedures, parasites, lameness and some of the obstacles for veterinary surgeons such as the lack of licensed medicines and limited evidence-based medicine breadth.

Neonatal lamb mortality is a significant threat to welfare and production in commercial sheep flocks and is defined as the death of lambs during the first week of life with the predominant risk period being the first 48 hours. Lamb mortality between scanning and sale ranges from 10 to 25%, with examples of losses between 0 to 48 hours old ranging from 5.9% to 12.5%. Lamb post-mortem examinations are a tool which can facilitate achieving further understanding of the scale and cause of losses for flocks. We discuss an approach to postmortem examinations on neonatal lambs, the common differentials affecting lambs between 0 and 48 hours old, and discuss the role of farmers in surveillance.

Sheep medicine has traditionally been a low priority for cattle-dominated practice, as it is commonly thought that there is minimal financial opportunities in this sector. The perception has been that the vet's role regarding sheep is that of an emergency care provider and that farmers would be reluctant to pay for training and preventive advice. As such, this has inhibited investment in sheep services within farm animal practices that predominantly focus on dairy cattle, as these services are deemed less lucrative revenue streams for the business (Bellet and others 2015). In this article, we explore the challenges associated with delivering sheep preventive medicine within private veterinary practice, and look at how, by harnessing positive relationships with commercial flock owners, farm animal practices can develop this service.

Border disease is a syndrome of sheep caused by pestiviral infection, most commonly by border disease virus (BDV), but also by bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). Border disease results in a varied spectrum of clinical signs, but most commonly increased barren rates, abortion, stillbirths and the birth of weak lambs. Outbreaks of acute severe clinical disease in adult sheep are rare, but have been reported. There is increasing evidence of its negative impact on lamb health and growth rates through its immunosuppressive effects. There is currently little knowledge on how widespread border disease is within the British sheep industry and how much of an effect it is having on flock health and productivity.

The relationship between sheep farmers and their veterinary surgeons is a challenging enigma in modern day farm animal practice. The necessity for flock health planning, disease surveillance and performance monitoring is ever increasing and demanded by legislation, industry and the consumer, but the working dynamic between both parties may be limited or in many cases non-existent. This article will consider the immense value sheep veterinary surgeons can deliver to sheep flocks, positively influencing productivity and animal welfare. It will attempt to define flock health planning and discuss the challenges for both shepherd and veterinary surgeon in embracing and delivering preventative strategies, considering the potential for engagement in the future and the opportunity to deliver innovative practice.

Disbudding of goat kids is an elective procedure performed routinely. The procedure is considered an act of veterinary surgery (in accordance with the Veterinary Surgeons Act, 1966). Potential complications can arise as a result of the use of general anaesthesia in neonates, the low therapeutic index of local anaesthetics for small ruminants and potential risk of thermal necrosis of the brain if excessive pressure or duration of heat is applied. This article reviews the legislation, anaesthetics and techniques involved to reduce the risks for maximum efficacy and safety.

Ovine pestiviruses have the potential to reduce productivity in the British sheep flock. However, their prevalence and impact are currently poorly understood. This study aimed to estimate the exposure to pestiviruses in adult breeding ewe stock. Blood samples collected for metabolic profiling before lambing were tested using an ELISA that detected antibodies raised to both bovine viral diarrhoea virus and Border disease virus. A group of 15 animals were tested per flock. A total of 34 farms were tested, of which 13 had at least one seropositive animal. In those positive flocks between one and nine of the animals tested antibody‐positive. Positive flocks were identified in all regions of Great Britain. This work suggests that exposure to ovine pestiviruses is widespread, and that it is timely to investigate flock‐level prevalence and possible production impacts of endemic infection.

The aim of this study was to examine the variation in antibiotic usage between 207 commercial sheep flocks using their veterinary practice prescribing records. Mean and median prescribed mass per population corrected unit (mg/PCU) was 11.38 and 5.95, respectively and closely correlated with animal defined daily dose (ADDD) 1.47 (mean), 0.74 (median) (R2=0.84, P<0.001). This is low in comparison with the suggested target (an average across all the UK livestock sectors) of 50 mg/PCU. In total, 80 per cent of all antibiotic usage occurred in the 39 per cent of flocks where per animal usage was greater than 9.0 mg/PCU. Parenteral antibiotics, principally oxytetracycline, represented 82 per cent of the total prescribed mass, 65.5 per cent of antibiotics (mg/PCU) were prescribed for the treatment of lameness. Oral antibiotics were prescribed to 49 per cent of flocks, 64 per cent of predicted lamb crop/farm. Lowland flocks were prescribed significantly more antibiotics than hill flocks. Variance partitioning apportioned 79 per cent of variation in total antibiotic usage (mg/PCU) to the farm level and 21 per cent to the veterinary practice indicating that veterinary practices have a substantial impact on overall antimicrobial usage. Reducing antibiotic usage in the sheep sector should be possible with better understanding of the drivers of high usage in individual flocks and of veterinary prescribing practices.

The split upper eyelid defect (SUED) is a congenital defect of the upper eyelid thought to be exclusive to multihorned sheep. Eleven flocks with a high proportion of multihorned Hebridean sheep were visited in 2011. Statistical analysis was performed generating Pearson's chi‐squared analysis, as well as (1) logistic regression, (2) ordinal logistic regression and (3) linear regression models. Four hundred and seventy‐three pure‐bred Hebridean sheep and one crossbred lamb were examined. Of all the multihorned animals inspected in 2011, 9.7 per cent of adults had evidence of SUED in one or more eyelids, with 17.6 per cent of lambs presented with one or more eyelid affected. Having five or more horns was protective in the linear regression model on eye‐level data (p=0.045). Forward‐facing horns were consistently associated with a ‘worst’ eye score in the eye‐level data, with an odds ratio (OR) as high as 9.4 when compared with a base of backward‐facing horns (p=0.002). Eyes positive for SUED were significantly more likely to be rose bengal stain‐positive in all four analysis, including multilevel mixed effect ordered logistic regression (p<0.001, OR 149.3). A novel lesion was identified during the course of the study, with 3.4 per cent of lambs presented with dermoid. SUED was also identified in a crossbred animal. Further work is needed to quantify the exact cost to animals with unilateral or bilateral SUED with subtle and production cost of SUED.