The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: waterbuffalofarmer on August 14, 2016, 09:54:50 pm
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I have a friend who recently bought in some sheep, nothing wrong with them, albeit unvaccinated and all her sheep are, but wormed before they went to her. They were fine and then one day she came and 1 was dead, no explanation stomach fine, all fine except a runny poo. Could someone let me know what could have caused this? They were absolutely fine when bought, and from a very good flock; They were bottle fed from birth and had colostrum for 3-4 days too, all natural non powdered, they had a grass and cake based diet with some hay and were given good quality milk powder and were grown very nicely. Could it be something they randomly picked up at their new home? Apparently both flocks are in very good health and have never had this happen before. I was wondering about these things listed above but who really knows? I would like it though if someone could explain symptoms of these at all? Its just so we can rule out anything at all.
Thanks
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The list of possible causes is endless.Pneumonia, clostridial diseases, organ failure, poisoning, stress, tumours, fed up of living, spite.....
PS are they sheep or lambs ( born this year).
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sorry I found that a bit funny :roflanim: :roflanim: comeon WBF sober up.... :innocent:
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sometimes just a change of grass can do this, if the grass is rich and green, and they have been on poorer grazing before.. they fill their gut.... as you do :-)
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If unvaccinated I would always first suspect pasteurella, especially at this time of year but, as Old Shep said, it could be so many other things.
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The list of possible causes is endless.Pneumonia, clostridial diseases, organ failure, poisoning, stress, tumours, fed up of living, spite.....
PS are they sheep or lambs ( born this year).
Lambs born April, I think.
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If unvaccinated I would always first suspect pasteurella, especially at this time of year but, as Old Shep said, it could be so many other things.
I'd agree, this time of year they can go in hours and it looks like almost no symptoms unless you know what to look for just at the right time.
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Only way to tell would be to get a vet to do a post mortem. There are endless causes of death which do not show up on the outside.
Most likely if not vaccinated would be pasteurella or a clostridial disease but could be bacterial infection, worms, coccidia, fluke, twisted gut, mineral deficiency, bloat or a host of other conditions.
Best bet would be get a faecal sample from the others to the vet to send off to check for worms, coccidia and fluke, if the sheep is less than 24 hrs dead get a post mortem done, and get them vaccinated asap.
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.... and get the rest of the flock vaccinated... sorry to be blunt!
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Are they so new your friend should be going back to the previous owner and asking about a refund?
Also where is your friend because I will have some heptavac next week (about 8 doses). That's my second dose so she would still have to find her second somewhere or buy a whole bottle. Although, if there's any challenge in the flock they shouldn't be vaccinated should they?
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Are they so new your friend should be going back to the previous owner and asking about a refund?
Also where is your friend because I will have some heptavac next week (about 8 doses). That's my second dose so she would still have to find her second somewhere or buy a whole bottle. Although, if there's any challenge in the flock they shouldn't be vaccinated should they?
yea she told them what had happened and they have offered to give her a few more as replacements next April. She has already done her flock I think with heptevac but I could always ask her :)
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Dont under estimate mineral deficiencies sheep are highly sensitive and with over grazing and poor soils sheep are susceptible to a day of not getting enough minerals. Its always worth doing good soil analysis to confirm whether there are areas lacking in selenium and copper.
As for vaccinated - we dont anymore only have small flocks - no issues if they are raised with plenty of quality grazing land and moved regularly. Over grazing and too many on one field seems to be quite a fashion in the UK.