Skip to main content

Story: Diseases of sheep, cattle and deer

Footrot bath

Image
Footrot bath

The traditional and most convenient way of treating sheep for footrot is by using a shallow concrete bath, installed beside the draughting race in a sheep yard. As the sheep are driven through, their feet are washed in the bath’s disinfecting solution. The sheep in this 1957 photograph are walking through a bath which probably contained a bluestone (copper sulfate) or formaline solution.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: AANR 6329 66 G846

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Gary Clark, Neville Grace and Ken Drew, Diseases of sheep, cattle and deer – Sheep footrot and poisonous plants, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/17427/footrot-bath (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gary Clark, Neville Grace and Ken Drew, published 1 March 2009.