Zinc sulfate foot bath for control of ovine foot rot.

A 10% zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) solution was used as a foot bath to control foot rot in pastured lambs. When the foot bath was placed where infected lambs would walk through it each day, clinical evidence of foot rot was greatly reduced within 15 days, and the total number of cases detected after thorough foot trimming was greatly reduced within 30 days. When the foot bath was placed under the salt feeding box, it was not effective. Feeding ZnSO4 at the rate of 0.5 to 0.75 g/head/day was not effective in controlling foot rot. Temperature and moisture conditions were favorable for foot rot transmission throughout the trials.