The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Gemma417 on December 05, 2020, 03:28:35 pm
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Hi everyone, i've got a 11year old ewe, hasn't lambed for about 5 years now.
Last year she was housed inside for a few months but suddenly stopped eating and went blind on one side and was twitching. We thought it was listeriosis and she got better and her eye sight came back.
But.....
This year she is outside on grass but again has gone blind (i think possibly deaf too) just on one side and has started to twitch abit. She is keeping up with the others and eating grass and i take her abit of hay and corn.
Could it be a lack of mineral or vitamin? With it being winter and not much nutrition in the grass and shes older than the others? Or could it be a nervous disease?
Any suggestion would be gratefully appreciated.
Thank you
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We had similar in the odd ewe (among 500+) on moorland in Northumberland. The vet explained that similar symptoms for listeriosis, CCN and a third thing I can't remember, maybe it was just lack of Vitamin B. Anyway, we were recommended to give VitB jabs and antibiotics, as that combination would address all 3 possibilities, and we found it pretty effective.
If you haven't been giving a mineral drench then it's likely that, especially in a ewe of that age, a drench in autumn and another before lambing (if they're lambing, or in spring if not) would go down well.
You'd need to talk to your vet to get antibiotics and B vits, and it would be worth talking to them anyway. So many of these things are quite regional / topographical etc, and no-one has a better overview of local conditions and livestock needs in your area than a local farm vet. ;)
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Thank you for your reply, i'm so glad someone has had a similar experience. I gave her some of the twin lamb drench today which has vitamin b in and was going to get a lick on monday i will try to get a vitamin drench too
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If it is CCN she needs injectable B1 from the vet, it’s not something that a mineral drench or bucket will fix. Drenches and buckets will help to reduce the likelihood of it happening again but won’t treat it. So Sally makes a good suggestion to speak to the vet ASAP. Tomorrow would be better than Monday, neurological problems can get worse very suddenly. Of course it could just be old age, but I think she needs to see a vet to diagnose whatever is wrong.
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I think she needs to see a vet to diagnose whatever is wrong.
Or you might find, as we did, that the vet can prescribe an antibiotic / vitamin combo treatment that would treat all the things it might be, so you might be able to do it all with a telephone call ;)
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If she has either CCN or Listeriosis she would be dead pretty soon, so unlikely to be that.
At her age it could also be some kind of "old person/sheep disease... I had an older ewe that suddenly started circling and falling down on her side and we thought she may well have had a stroke...
But with nutrition in the grass at this time of year being very low, additional stuff like a lick/soft concentrate may help her quite a bit.
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If she has either CCN or Listeriosis she would be dead pretty soon, so unlikely to be that.
At her age it could also be some kind of "old person/sheep disease... I had an older ewe that suddenly started circling and falling down on her side and we thought she may well have had a stroke...
But with nutrition in the grass at this time of year being very low, additional stuff like a lick/soft concentrate may help her quite a bit.
I'm beginning to wonder if it's something less serious than CCN because it's 8 days since she went blind/deaf in one side and from what i've read she would be very poorly by now and should be separating from the flock and reluctant to eat but shes still very keen on the feed i take her and she's sticking with the others and walking around, she seems to only do the twitching in her face if she gets distressed.
Going to find a multivitamin drench today and a lick containing vitamin B1