Author Topic: pink eye (Read 3184 times)

bugsym00 · « **on:** June 19, 2017, 12:16:49 pm »

Found ewe in field looking very sorry for herself all alone very odd so went up to her she didn't move noticed eyes all covered in white .Caught vet called diagnosed pink eye. Pen strep given and eye drops. following day three more again pen strep eye drops now have virtually every ewe come down with it.
not been feed together for months no new sheep to flock no idea how they have caught it.
Question how long will glazed eyes take to recover also I cant catch one she just runs and I am more worried she will hurt herself as we try to catch can she be left without treating or do I have to wait till she cant see and then catch her?

Foobar · « **Reply #1 on:** June 19, 2017, 02:37:02 pm »

If you have a sick sheep then you need to catch it, period. If you can't do it by yourself get some family/friends to help you - its usually easier to herd the entire flock into a pen, rather than trying to catch an individual sheep.
As for treatment, it will depend on what your vet gave you. I used Orbenin (antibiotic cream) on mine, and I think I had to apply it every day for at least 5 days.

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #2 on:** June 19, 2017, 02:48:17 pm »

Are they trained to the bucket or call? Can you make a pen large enough to contain them all and keep them in it for a few days to make treatment easier? If you have difficulty in catching them do you know anyone with a working sheepdog that might be able to help? Red eye is very distressing for a sheep and they'll lose condition.

bugsym00 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 19, 2017, 03:10:14 pm »

thanks hubby and 2 friends have tried to catch her but she is so skitty she wont go in pen with rest of flock for feed or anything and with weather this warm don't really want to chase her and the rest around.
have penned them all up bar her and treated them as per vets instructions except her just wondered how long the opaqueness takes to go

Sbom · « **Reply #4 on:** June 19, 2017, 03:51:42 pm »

It can take weeks to clear, it'll fade gradually over time. I was treating with Alamycin, one was really bad and the vet gave me something else for that one, can't remember what though... it'll go through the whole flock unfortunately

Buttermilk · « **Reply #5 on:** June 19, 2017, 07:45:27 pm »

It can be spread by flies.

bj_cardiff · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2017, 09:03:10 am »

This time of year I think I'd bring them all in, with the runny swollen eyes and flies I think it'll take ages to clear up if you don't. When my flock had it it was around lambing, some of the ewes went blind which was awful to see, but the advice I had was that you can spend a lot of time and money treating it, but it will last for as long as it lasts. As with Orf, leave it along and let it run its course.

bazzais · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2017, 12:08:34 pm »

large pen, plenty of people to round them up, orbenin ointment off vet

Keelan H · « **Reply #8 on:** June 26, 2017, 05:42:24 pm »

I've had the same this week, got some Terramycin cream and the opaqueness has starting to go away after two days of the cream. However a few lambs are getting it so it's hard to keep it away, like mentioned above keep using the cream and eventually it'll run its course