With the bad weather this spring, the lambing season has been particularly hard in many aspects; including farmers experiencing more cases of mastitis than usual.  

Mastitis occurs as bacteria enter the udder resulting in an infection causing swelling and inflammation. Uddering ewes to pick up mastitis should be done by gently squeezing both sides of the udder while the ewe is in the race, feeling for generalised hardness or lumps of one or both quarters. Lumps in front and behind the udder can be normal in ewes, however, lumps within udder tissue itself are abnormal. 

If identified early (hot, swollen udders) mastitis may be able to be treated with antibiotics, however, typically ewes are found with chronic infections that are unlikely to be treated successfully and should be culled.  

It’s best to udder ewes around 4-6 weeks post-weaning, as studies have shown it identifies approximately double the amount of mastitis ewes compared to uddering at weaning alone! This prevents more ewes with mastitis making it to mating.  

These studies also show lambs born to mastitis ewes are 3-4 times more likely to die, and lambs that survive average significantly less weight gains. 

Ewes with mastitis should be identified, marked and culled to prevent issues in future seasons and to maintain optimum health within your flock.