Prevention and Treatment of Foot Rot in Livestock
10.23 - Prevention and Treatment of Foot Rot in Livestock
Zach Redgate, University of Guelph, Canada
Figure 1. Sheep hoof infected with foot rot (Niyigena et al., 2022).
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Redgate, Z. (2026) Prevention and Treatment of Foot Rot in Livestock. In Farmpedia, The Encyclopedia for Small Scale Farmers. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. farmpedia.org
Background
Foot rot is a common disease found in many different livestock around the world including sheep, goats, and cattle (University of Arkansas, 2020). It is caused when a certain bacterium enters an injured or bruised hoof. The bacteria are called Fusobacterium necrophorum and Dichelobacter nodosus (Alltech, 2019). These bacteria are found in animal feces and cause major damage to the animal. The livestock are susceptible to the bacteria when they have damaged hoofs. Their hoofs can get damaged from tough surfaces, wet conditions, or moving from wet to dry conditions (Alltech, 2019). This results in the hooves getting cracked, and the bacteria entering from there. Along with this, the bacteria are contagious, meaning that if a livestock has the bacteria, they can spread it to other animals (Progressive Dairy, 2010). Since foot rot can have major consequences, it is important to detect whether livestock have this disease. The first detection method is to watch their behaviour. If an animal does not want to walk around, laying down at a higher frequency, or has a lower appetite, they may have foot rot (Berg, 2021). If an animal is showing these signs, there are ways to check them to confirm if they have foot rot. When looking at the animals' hooves, if they are swollen, have white pus coming from them, and contain a bad odor, then they have foot rot (O.S.U, 2023). For example, the hoof will be red and swollen in between the hoof with pus coming out (see Figure 1). Infected animals can be extremely costly to farms, especially ones with limited livestock and resources. Luckily there are ways to treat this disease as well as technique to prevent the disease from affecting a farm.
Prevention and Treatment of Foot Rot
There are a few different methods to prevent foot rot from happening. The first method it to regularly trim a livestock's hooves (Rustebakke Veterinary Service, 2025). This first prevention involves trimming away any excess hoof or tissue in order to allow airflow throughout the hoof. This will allow air to travel through the middle of the hoof. This is important because allowing this airflow will help with drying the hoof off when it gets wet, thus not allowing the bacteria to live on the hoof. Also, if the livestock is already infected, trimming the infected hoof will allow the middle to dry out to prevent further damage from happening.
The second prevention is cleaning the livestock pen and area regularly, removing any feces, old food, or sharp objects (Rustebakke Veterinary Service, 2025). The two bacteria that can lead to foot rot are found in livestock feces, and therefore if the animals are constantly stepping on the feces, the likelihood of the bacteria entering the hooves increases. By removing the feces and old food from the pens and area, both the farmer and livestock avoid contracting foot rot.
Along with this, removing sharp objects from the area prevents livestock from stepping on them and cutting or slicing their hooves open. These cuts are an easy path for the bacteria to enter the hooves and cause foot rot.
The final prevention occurs when a farmer purchases new livestock: it is important to examine them to make sure that they do not already have the disease. One can inspect their hooves and take them on a short walk to see their movements (Atul Pagar, 2023). Since foot rot is contagious, bringing an infected animal could result in major damage to the entire farm herd.
If one notices that a livestock already contracted foot rot, the first task is to isolate them from the rest of the herd (Rustebakke Veterinary Service, 2025). As mentioned above, foot rot is extremely contagious and if left with other animals, they may get infected.
Once an animal is isolated, there are a couple of options to treat the disease (Atul Pagar, 2023). The first is to add some salt to boiling water to make saltwater (Atul Pagar, 2023). Once it cools, soak and splash the water on the animal's hooves. This should be done every day until the foot rot is no longer present in the animal's hooves.
If this is not working, one can make a paste using turmeric and a little bit of coconut oil (Atul Pagar, 2023). If one adds turmeric powder with a few teaspoons of coconut oil, a paste is formed that can be applied to the infected hoof of the animal (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Paste made with turmeric powder and coconut oil. Used as a paste applied to the infected hooves (Atul Pagar, 2023).
The final method is to acquire some neem leaves. Obtain jack fruit bark and crush it up until it becomes a powder. Add the neem leaves, the bark powder, some salt, and water and boil it until to becomes a paste (Atul Pagar, 2023). Once this cools, one can apply it to the livestock's infected hooves (Figure 3). There may be other ways to treat and prevent this disease from happening with natural occurring items from around the world.
Figure 3: Neem leaves, Jack fruit bark powder, salt, and water in a container to make paste used on infected hooves (Atul Pagar, 2023).
Critical Analysis
Looking at the different low-cost prevention plans for foot rot described above, there are a couple of additional limitations with each. All of the preventions need labour which can be costly for poor farmers. This has to be considered when analyzing the labour and cost of preventing foot rot. Along with that, there can be risks when it comes to cleaning the pens and areas. There are many pathogens that can be transferred to humans through animal bodily fluids and feces. These can include E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, etc. (HealthLink BC, 2024). This has to be taken seriously as some of these diseases can be very bad or even deadly to humans. Farmers need to be careful when cleaning the pens and areas to make sure these diseases do not spread to them. Finally, farmers need to take into consideration the time that it will take to trim the livestock's hooves and cleaning the pens. These have to be taking into account in order to design a weekly plan as these tasks should be completed at least once a week.
Comparing the treatment options described, they are all good cost-effective options to treat foot rot. However, for the turmeric and neem leaf options, the farmers need to take into consideration the time it takes to prepare theses pastes, and if they make a large amount, how to store the paste. These are important because these ingredients may not be readily available to farmers in certain areas in the world. Out of all of the options, the most accessible is the salt water, as it only contains water and salt. However, this option may not be as effective as the others. Overall, all of these treatment plans will work for farmers, and it is up to them to see which one works best for their price range, labour availability and local access to the materials required.
Helpful Links to Get Started
Video of different methods used by low-income farmers to treat foot rot in livestock. Link
More information on prevention of foot rot in sheep and other livestock. Link
Information of many different diseases found in livestock including foot rot. Link
Information of foot rot from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Link
References
Alltech (2019, September 18). Five Signs of Foot Rot and How You Can Stop It | Alltech. Link
Atul Pagar, A. (2023). Herbal medicine against foot rot in livestock. Herbal Medicine against foot rot in livestock.
Berg, G. (2021, February 18). Managing footrot needs a whole-flock effort | Farmtario. Farmtario. Link
Cow Care (2026). Hoof Trimming Services. Cowcare.co.nz. Link
HealthLink BC (2024, January 1). Petting zoo and open farm visits. HealthLink BC. Link
Niyigena, V., Omontese, B., & Leite-Browning, M. (2022, September 6). Managing foot rot and scald in goats and sheep - Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Link
O. S. U. (2021, March 23). Cattle producers should know signs of foot rot in livestock - Oklahoma State University. News.okstate.edu. Link
Progressive Dairy (2010, October 09). Foot rot can cripple herd performance. Progressive Dairy. Link
Rustebakke Veterinary Service (2025, April 12). Foot Rot in Sheep: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention - Rustebakke Veterinary Service. Link
University of Arkansas (2020). 10 Ways to Prevent Foot Rot on Your Farm. University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Research and Extension, USA. Link