Footrot is a contagious bacterial infection that attacks the soft tissue between the claws of sheep, cattle, and goats, causing painful lameness and, if left untreated, serious production losses. The bacteria responsible thrive in warm, wet, and muddy conditions, which makes Australia's high-rainfall pastures and humid coastal regions a near-perfect breeding ground. For farmers running stock on damp paddocks through autumn and winter, footrot isn't a once-off problem — it's an ongoing management challenge that requires vigilance, fast identification, and a consistent treatment routine to keep flocks and herds sound on their feet.

Symptoms & Identification

Catching footrot early is the single biggest factor in successful treatment, so it pays to know exactly what to look for during routine stock checks.

Lameness is usually the first visible sign. Affected animals may appear to be "walking on eggshells," favouring one foot, kneeling to graze, or lagging behind the mob. In severe cases, animals may lose weight rapidly because they're reluctant to move to feed and water.

Inflammation between the claws comes next on closer inspection. The skin in the interdigital space becomes red, swollen, and moist, sometimes with visible swelling extending up towards the coronary band (where the hoof meets the skin). As the infection progresses, it underruns the horn of the hoof wall, separating it from the underlying tissue. In advanced cases, the sole and wall can separate almost entirely, leaving the sensitive tissue exposed and extremely painful.

Foul smell is one of the most distinctive diagnostic signs. Footrot produces a characteristic, sickly-sweet, rotten odour caused by the bacteria breaking down hoof tissue. Once you've smelled it on an infected hoof, it's hard to mistake for anything else — including the less severe (and less smelly) condition known as scald.

Other signs to watch for include a greyish or off-white necrotic discharge between the claws, heat in the hoof when touched, and reluctance to bear weight when the foot is lifted for inspection. It's worth noting that footrot severity is often graded on a scale from 1 (mild, early-stage redness) to 4 (severe underrunning with the horn capsule virtually detached). Grading each affected animal helps prioritise treatment and decide which cases need culling versus ongoing care.

Because footrot can be confused with other conditions — such as foot abscesses, scald, or fly strike around the foot — a careful visual and smell check of the interdigital space is essential before starting treatment. When in doubt, consult your local vet, particularly if a large proportion of the mob is affected at once, as this may indicate a more virulent strain.

Step-by-Step Treatment

A consistent, methodical treatment protocol is the backbone of footrot control. Rushing this process, or skipping steps, is the most common reason treatment fails and infection persists in a mob.

Step 1: Yard and restrain the animal. Work in a clean, dry yard if possible — treating animals in muddy yards simply reintroduces bacteria to freshly trimmed feet. Use a properly designed handling crate or tip the animal (for sheep and goats) so the feet are accessible and the animal is calm.

Step 2: Pare the hoof. Using sharp, clean hoof shears or a paring knife, trim away all loose, overgrown, or underrun horn. The goal is to expose the infected tissue fully so the footbath solution can make direct contact with the bacteria — leaving overgrown horn in place creates pockets where infection hides and persists. Trim conservatively; you want to remove diseased horn without drawing blood or exposing excessive sensitive tissue, which can introduce secondary infection. Disinfect your paring tools between animals to avoid spreading bacteria through the yards.

Step 3: Mix the footbath solution. The standard, well-proven solution is a 10% zinc sulphate solution. To mix this:

  • Dissolve 10 kg of zinc sulphate heptahydrate into 100 litres of water (a 10% w/v solution).
  • Stir thoroughly until fully dissolved — undissolved granules reduce effectiveness and can cause uneven contact with the foot.
  • Use a footbath long enough that animals must take at least two to three steps through it, ensuring full submersion of the interdigital space.

Zinc sulphate is generally preferred over older copper sulphate or formalin baths because it's gentler on the skin with prolonged contact, less toxic to the environment, and remains effective against the causative bacteria, Dichelobacter nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum.

Step 4: Soak the feet. Stand animals in the footbath for a minimum of 5–10 minutes for routine prevention baths. For animals with active, diagnosed footrot, extend the soak to 15–20 minutes, or repeat short soaks on consecutive days for severe cases. Avoid rushing animals through — proper contact time is essential for the zinc sulphate to penetrate and kill bacteria in the affected tissue.

Step 5: Apply dry standing rules. This step is too often skipped, yet it's arguably as important as the footbath itself. After soaking, hold animals on a dry, hard-standing area (a concrete pad, gravel yard, or well-drained laneway) for a minimum of one to two hours before returning them to pasture. This allows the solution to dry onto the foot and prevents the freshly treated, softened tissue from immediately being re-exposed to mud and bacteria. Skipping dry standing significantly reduces treatment success rates, particularly in wet seasons.

Repeat the full footbath protocol every 5–7 days until lameness has resolved and hooves show healthy regrowth, monitoring closely for any animals that fail to respond, as these may need individual topical antibiotic treatment under veterinary guidance or culling from the flock.

Paddock & Biosecurity Management

Treating individual feet is only half the battle — footrot is a flock and herd-level disease, and control depends just as heavily on managing the environment and isolating sources of infection.

Quarantine affected animals as soon as they're identified. Move lame or infected stock into a separate "hospital mob" on dry, well-drained ground away from the main herd or flock. This prevents the bacteria, which spreads through direct contact and contaminated ground, from being carried back into clean pasture by healthy stock walking through the same wet patches. Any newly purchased or introduced animals should also be quarantined and have their feet inspected before joining the main mob — footrot is very commonly introduced onto a property through untested new stock.

Disinfect yards and equipment regularly during an outbreak. Footbaths, paring tools, trailers, and laneways can all harbour bacteria, especially in shaded, damp corners. A basic disinfectant rinse between groups reduces cross-contamination.

The 7-day paddock spelling rule is the cornerstone of long-term eradication. The footrot bacterium, Dichelobacter nodosus, cannot survive outside a host hoof for more than about seven days under most conditions — it needs the warm, anaerobic environment of infected hoof tissue to persist. By removing all stock from a contaminated paddock for a minimum of 7 days (longer in cool, wet conditions where survival may extend slightly), the bacterial load in that paddock drops to negligible levels, breaking the reinfection cycle.

To make this practical, rotate mobs through a spelling schedule: as one paddock is vacated for treatment and spelling, move stock to a paddock that has already completed its 7-day rest. Pair this with strategic drainage works — filling in boggy gateways, fixing leaking troughs, and providing well-drained laneways — since reducing overall pasture wetness lowers footrot pressure even outside of an active outbreak.

Finally, maintain accurate records of which paddocks and mobs have been affected, treated, and spelled. Footrot has a habit of reappearing in pockets of a property that were never fully cleared, and a simple paddock log can save considerable time and money in future seasons.

This guide is for general information purposes. Always consult a registered veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment of severe or persistent footrot cases in your animals.

For more, see our Grass Tetany in Cattle: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention in Australia and Johne's Disease in Australian Livestock: Symptoms, Testing & Control.