Skin Ulcers on Sheep

A skin ulcer is a sore that results from tissue breakage, often accompanied by pus. Skin ulcers can fester and cause the skin to disintegrate if not treated. These types of ulcers affect many species, including sheep. When sheep develop skin ulcers, it is most likely due to a condition called pizzle rot.

  1. About Pizzle Rot

    • Pizzle rot is a condition also called sheath rot. Pizzle rot is an infection that affects the sheath, or the fold of skin that surrounds the male reproductive organ, of a male sheep, known as a ram. Pizzle rot creates difficulty for male sheep to mate.

    Causes of Pizzle Rot

    • Bacterial growth of the bacteria, corynebacterium renale, is generally the cause of a pizzle rot infection. A high protein diet of greater than 16 percent tends to cause the infection, which results in an abnormal amount of bacteria in a ram's sheath.

    Physical Effects

    • Skin ulcers around the sheath are the most common side effect of pizzle rot. The ulcers tend to form due to the high amount of ammonia found in a ram's urine when it is infected with pizzle rot. An infected ram generally experiences pain and irritation as well as skin ulcers in the preputial or foreskin opening. Pizzle rot also commonly causes a crust to form underneath the skin ulcers that result in blockages around the prepuce, or foreskin of the ram.

    Other Sheep Diseases

    • Sheep can suffer from a wide variety of diseases from plant poisoning to measles to rabies. Plant poisoning occurs when a sheep ingests a toxic plant perhaps due to a lack of normal feeding plants. Plant poisoning often causes sudden death in sheep but can also result in severe skin reactions. Sheep measles are not detectible until the sheep is slaughtered and lesions are found in the heart, diaphragm and other muscles. Sheep contract rabies by coming into contact with an infected animal through saliva, an open wound or bite. A sheep generally tears at its wool when it is infected with rabies.