Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Hogg dropped condition  (Read 4059 times)

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Hogg dropped condition
« on: October 16, 2016, 02:11:57 pm »
One of my hogg lambs has had a rapid drop in condition - ever since I got her two months ago, she's always scoured for a few days when she's moved fields, but the last two field moves she just hasn't seemed to dry up and has now gone horribly thin  :'( 

I've brought them all in this morning and dosed for fluke and worm, so I've separated her and another one (who was limping and I want to keep an eye on to make sure she doesn't need any more treatment than she's had today) and they're on a small grass area at the back of my house with hay and some pellets.  I've also syringed in 50g of natural live yoghurt to see if it's gut bacteria, which she seemed to like a lot. 

She's bright and alert and eating and drinking - is there anything more I can do for her, or is it just a case of keeping a close eye over the next few days and calling the vet if there's no improvement in body condition or she loses interest in food?

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2016, 02:33:24 pm »
How much do you know of her previous history?  Had she been wormed and if so how often and with which class of wormer?  Was fluke a problem on the previous farm?  Was it a closed flock?   Had they any sheep with Johnes or Jaagsiekte? 

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2016, 03:08:05 pm »
They came from about 3 miles away and while I don't know if they were wormed, I was told they'd had 'everything' done, and given that included both Heptavac jabs and a Scabivax jab, I'd be surprised if they hadn't been.  Fluke's an issue for most people round here, it's very wet ground, and we're all on common grazings, so not a closed flock.  Don't know about Johnes or Jaagsiekte, but we're such a small community round here that if they did, someone would have told me, as they wouldn't have wanted anything potentially contagious getting out onto our common grazings.

waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2016, 06:39:53 pm »
I really hate to say this.... but have you tested her for johnes disease at all... :(
the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, loving concern.

sheeponthebrain

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Turriff
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2016, 07:11:01 pm »
Scouring and severe sudden drop in condition sounds like fluke or cocci. 

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2016, 08:25:09 pm »
I think at the very least you should collect a faeces sample from her and take for a FEC , speak to your vet about her , maybe get combivit / b12 it maybe that her guts /internal organs are damaged .

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2016, 11:14:50 am »
Thank you all - whilst finishing off dagging her this morning I noticed that her garden-mate had passed a lot of worms overnight.  I've rung the vets who asked me lots of questions, said it's most likely the worm burden, but if she doesn't pick up in 10-14 days to bring in a poo sample - they say there's no point in doing any tests until 7 days post-worming.

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2016, 11:43:33 am »
I think at the very least you should collect a faeces sample from her and take for a FEC , speak to your vet about her , maybe get combivit / b12 it maybe that her guts /internal organs are damaged .


Vit B deficiency will present as loss of condition, lethargy so may be worth exploring that. Have a look at CCN- this is what it manifests as... we lost a lamb to it a couple of weeks ago.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2016, 08:35:33 pm »
I would dose all of your sheep with a good mineral drench as well as getting the worm/fluke situation checked.

Have you checked her eye lids? Heavy fluke burden will show up as pale membranes, due to anemia. Bottle jaw? intermittent scouring is often also a sign of chronic fluke (as her liver is damaged) - is she smaller than the rest?

In 2012, when it never stopped raining all summer and we lost one lamb to fluke and another recovered with loads of TLC - but she never grew properly and was always skinny and regularly had bouts of scouring. Her immune system must also have been weak, she died of (suspected) pasteurella last autumn, despite Heptavac cover. She also never lambed...

Fluke is a real nasty thing....

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2016, 09:11:27 pm »
Thank you everyone - not a happy ending to this one, I'm afraid  :'(  I was still worried after speaking to the vet, so called my friend at the farm, who kindly came over, swore, told me I'd been poorly advised by both the person who was helping me dose them on Sunday and the vet, and then as she was on her way into town anyway, said if I rang the vet to authorise her putting things on my account, would get me everything I needed, but prepare to probably lose the poor one. 

She came back with Extravite, pen and strep and kaolin for the thin lamb plus antibiotics and painkiller for the limping one, who we found had heat in her knee on top of the touch of foot root, and walked me through the injection schedule.  Sadly late last night the thin lamb decided she was going to stop drinking, lay down and refused to even try to stand.  She surprised me by making it through the night, but with no improvement today, after a chat with the vet this afternoon when I was getting the puppy's second vaccination, we made the decision to send her on her way rather than letting her die slowly of dehydration.

Farming friend says in all likelihood it was fluke, so I've learned a hard lesson about (a) dosing everything that's newly arrived and (b) asking for specifics when I'm told 'everything' has been done.  What I didn't anticipate was how fast she would go downhill.  When we dipped them on 8th October she was thinner than the rest, but not 'sharp intake of breath' thin.  I kept an eye on her over the next week and she was grazing and running up the field with the rest and eating at the trough, but 7 days later when they were dosed, she'd lost a lot of condition, and the deterioration from Sunday, when she was still walking around, grazing and drinking, to last night, when she gave up, was very quick. 

On a more positive note, limping lamb is feeling a lot better and farming friend helped me round up the other 10 lambs and give them all a trace minerals bolus.  They're all eating well from the trough now.  Limping lamb has another 3 days of injections, so will stay in the back garden for now and I'll see if I can get her a little tamer.

RIP little lamb and I'm sorry that I didn't do better by you.

kelly58

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • Highlands, Scotland
  • Home is were my animals are.
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #10 on: October 19, 2016, 09:23:25 pm »
So sorry Caroline  :hug:
We have all had learning curves along the way.
Dont beat yourself up about it, just concentrate on the rest.

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2016, 09:31:02 pm »
I agree.  We always give buyers a typed report on each sheep they buy, including exactly what vetmeds a sheep has had and when, but not many folks do.

waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Hogg dropped condition
« Reply #12 on: October 22, 2016, 09:40:54 am »
So sorry to hear this :hug: at least you have a really good farming friend to turn to though. We have lost animals to fluke before, over the years, sometimes it can be very difficult to spot and as you know sheep hide things well ::) Dont beat yourself up over it you did your best, sometimes we do have to lose battles from time to time so that we can learn new things, I know this isnt much consolation and I am sorry that I cant be of more help :( I completely agree with [member=27063]Marches Farmer[/member] we do the same with all our animals when we sell them. I give them every information about animal and their whole history plus habits too. I think that buyers find this quite cute :)
the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, loving concern.

 
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