The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: tommytink on May 12, 2020, 08:44:02 pm
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My ram has ripped his horn off. It’s come away clean from the base, exposing the bone. Had the vet out who cleaned and treated with an antiseptic wound spray. They said no good bandaging and to apply this spray for the next 10 days.
They also said about a spot on treatment to keep flies away and said it was called Spot On. When I’ve looked at this it says it treats established flystrike on sheep, it doesn’t say about preventing it, although it does mention use to control flies on cattle so I assume this works the same. A single dose in one spot between the shoulder blades. Has anyone used this product for this purpose? Vet says he needs something as don’t want flies getting into it.
In addition he’s due to be shorn in a couple of weeks. The vet said this product shouldn’t be an issue as it goes to the skin rather than the fleece.
Any advice welcome please. Can’t believe he’s done this to himself :(
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Hi there, spot on will also repel flies. I would split the dose, some down the back and some carefully applied round the site, avoiding the wound and the EYES, get help from a person wearing rubber gloves. Do not worry today or tomorrow as so cold, but don't leave it. Keep checking visually until it heals over, three or four days. It happens!
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Your ram is lucky! Two of my 4 horned shearling rams once got their side horns twisted together and they both lost not only the horn but a piece of skull too, so the brain could be seen, and arteries were torn - massive bleeding with pinching of the arteries needed, then cauterisation. One eventually died, we still have the other and he's fine. Two big vet bills though.
We use CROVECT on the horns as it prevents as well as treats head flies. I've not used Spot-on
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That sounds pretty horrific :( I don’t know how he did this. Did it on the stock fence. He’s always rubbing alongside things - I’ve seen him get the vertical part of field gates between his horn and head but he always just backs out. It’s like he panicked, but still must’ve been some force to rip that off. I thought he was messing about ramming the rails till I saw the blood everywhere.
How do you apply the Crovect? And is this still okay for shearing?
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Summer fly cream is great for things like this, provides a barrier to flies and aids healing. Smother the stump in it :yuck: it’s made by Battles and is bright yellow. Must wear gloves applying or you’ll have yellow hands forevermore.
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We apply CROVECT with a hand sprayer, having previously calculated the rate, and as it doesn't run it's OK applied to the horn just before shearing. However, twizzel's idea of fly cream (? sold for horses) would be good.
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I’ve got the spray the vet left which he says use for the next 10 days so can’t really cover it in the cream. Need to leave it clean as it were for the new horn to grow (providing one does).
If I got Crovect I guess I’d need to just dab that around the area too to avoid it getting in the wound. It’s only that area that needs extra protection until shearing.
Someone I know has suggested a very weak solution of Jeyes fluid applied around (not on) the area would keep any flies away. I know I’ve read about people using Jeyes for things before??
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Crovect would be better. Just buy a bottle dab or hand spray a bit around the horn and job done. Then you can use the rest of the bottle after shearing to prevent strike on the rest of the ewes.
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I'm not clear on what the vet has given you? You mention spot on, but you can't use both spot on and Crovect together. Is the vet's stuff spot on or a fly repellent? Do you have a pic of the damage?
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Ah no, the vet gave us something called SCP spray - “soothing, antiseptic wound spray that removes excess moisture”. He says “you can have this” but I’ll still get charged full whack for his half a can he’s been using already. Done me over before like that with blue spray >:(
Anyway! He said to get some of this spot on stuff from the co-op today. I’m loathe to pay out again for something I’ll probably never use any more of and no one I know has any. Would make more sense to get the Crovect, although I preferred Clik for prevention, I could still make use of it. Then the weak Jeyes fluid was suggested. Also that I could spray this around the back end of any ewes that were dirty (I have dagged but just as a precaution might be useful).
I have pics of the horn, didn’t get one of him when he looked horrendous, covered in blood, but will see if I can get one to show you what’s left.
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My guess is it's left the stump, so it's just a case of keeping it dry and fly free whilst it heals. They bleed profusely when they knock a horn off and leave the stump but it'll dry up in no time. I would just give it a spray of blue spray then once that's dried put the crovect on. There's no real need to use jeyes fluid seeing there's a licensed product available that will do the same thing. A little 0.8litre bottle of crovect is useful to have in your arsenal of products even if you do use Clik. I use Clik too but have a small bottle of Crovect available- was very thankful of it this year when I brought a couple of flystruck shearlings in at 6pm in the evening.
On a side note if the vet charges you full price for a half opened can of something then you need to say something, not just take it on the chin.
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Spot -on waste of time on heads , it works by being absorbed into the skin layer and will kill biting flies but only after they have bitten Crovect stays in the wool grease on the head but again only kills head flies after they have bitten . You are dealing with Blowflies which will lay their eggs in and around the open wound ,so a pour on is'nt going to stop that , thing like the Battles summer fly cream / pine tar spray / stockholm tar will stop flies being attracted and landing and laying eggs , all are cheap easy to apply and last for years .
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NOAH says Crovect application for headflies gives up to four weeks protection. Says a 5ml dose and using T bar nozzle apply to top of head between ears. So looks like it could work and may come in useful. Could always use it for flystrike prevention and then just have to redo once the eight weeks are up. Do you know what the use by is once opened?
I will see what they charge me for this can of stuff. It’s like a liquid bandage sort of thing, protecting the wound. When they gave me the blue spray before they said I could have it, and I thought that’s nice, makes a change from money-grabbing, but then it turned up on the bill. Not long after dropped the bloody thing on a hot day and it exploded. Once this virus has done one I’m looking to change vet anyway after they charged me £27 for a telephone consultation for my dog the other day. Only wanted some jollop for his ears...
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Picked up the Crovect and have dabbed that around the area so will now keep a good eye on him. It’s certainly shook him up a bit - he’s gone from running at me to running away from me!
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Losing a horn is a big thing for a tup, quite apart from the pain. He would lose status amongst a crowd of other tups, especially if he was previously dominant, and he might also lose status in the eyes of his ewes. So perhaps now instead of challenging you, he has gone all subservient, and conceded that you are the boss.
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Oh gosh I guess you’re right. I was thinking about the physical side of things and hasn’t considered the hierarchy. He had got to thinking a bit much of himself and liked to get a bit feisty, so I won’t miss that, but I hope the ewes still fancy him!!
Here’s a pic of him. The white bit is the bone (sprayed up with the white spray).
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Ah I see, he's ripped the outer part of the horn off but not the core, which is the living bit - that explains why he doesn't have a hole in his skull. That's not so bad. If it happens again to a sheep, you can collect clean cobwebs and wrap them round the exposed core to stop the bleeding. You can buy a similar haemostat dressing at the chemist - worth keeping in stock if you have horned sheep. Once it's dried up, he should have no bother.
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Yes thank goodness he didn’t have a hole in his head. The vet said about cobwebs too. Will pick up some of the spray. Hopefully I won’t need it! Fingers crossed he heals up soon as he’s due for a shearing and I’m worried he’s going to knock it and it start all over again :(