4 Jan 2024
Project aims to shed light on reasons for bottle-jaw cases in closed flock on a Welsh farm.
Welsh sheep flock at Glyn Arthur Farm.
Researchers are using a new snail DNA test in an attempt to find the cause of unexpected cases of bottle-jaw in a closed flock of sheep at a Welsh farm.
By using a technique that identifies the presence of mud snails infected with liver fluke, farmer Robert Williams is hoping to better understand the risks posed and whether liver fluke could be to blame for a fluid swelling beneath the jaws of some of his sheep, known as bottle-jaw.
Changing weather patterns mean liver fluke are now colonising areas previously considered low risk, therefore when sheep at Glyn Arthur Farm presented with bottle-jaw there was concern that fluke could be to blame.
Mr Williams and his daughter, Sarah Hammond, run a flock of 650 ewes and almost 200 ewe lamb replacements on 160-upland hectares near Llandyrnog, Denbigh.
The land is mostly dry with very few wet areas therefore the pair never expected liver fluke to present a health challenge to their flock.
The farm has now embarked on project work with Farming Connect and the Department of Life Science at Aberystwyth University to establish if mud snails infected with liver fluke are present on the land, and if so, in which areas sheep are being infected with liver fluke.
The farm will be surveyed by Aberystwyth University for possible mud snail habitats using an environmental DNA test developed at the university.
Dr Rhys Aled Jones, of Aberystwyth University, who leads this research, said a map detailing fluke infection risk areas on the farm would be created to help the farmers make informed livestock management decisions in consultation with their vet.
The Farming Connect project work has involved vet Joe Angell, who is blood sample screening lambs for liver fluke exposure.
He said: “We have developed a comprehensive health plan for the flock and, going forward, reasons for lamb losses and ewe fertility issues will be investigated.
“The role of trace elements in flock health will be looked at too and parasite controls monitored and optimised.”
