The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: ellisr on March 13, 2011, 01:00:55 pm
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The ewe I had with twin lamb disease died whilst lambing last night and so did the lambs as she wasn't strong enough to get them out and I couldn't find them to get them out quick enough. Problem now is her best mate a whether has refused to eat or move so I have carried him into the field shelter and gave him food and water but he really isn't interested and is already a tad under weight because he is so timid at feed time. If it's not one thing it is another at the moment
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Very sorry to hear this.
My best wishes for you and the animals.
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Awwww, I'm so so sorry to hear that - what a huge shame. :(
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What a shame. Hope the boy picks up soon - I'm sure grieving is natural and he'll get over it with some tlc.
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Very sad, poor wee boy too, hope he picks up soon
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Sorry to hear that. Hope he livens up soon.
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sorry to hear about the loss of your ewe, as you worked hard to sort her out :'( hope you other sheep to help the wether get over his loss, as they are a flock animal hopefully the others will bring him round.
Best wishes to you :bouquet:
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Try giving him sugar puffs to encourage him to eat. Sounds stupid but can work a treat to kick start their eating again.
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and if he wont eat anything at all some warm lamb lac milk replacer syringed down might help to keep his system functioning a bit. Ivy is supposed to be the most tempting food.
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I have been pulling ivy down from the stable today and he ate some so I have put him on the lawn and he is eating grass but has lost a lot of weight because he is so gentle and never gets in for his food. He also helped himself to a little creep the lambs had so he may be looking up but he has been standing next to the fence where he used to lie in the sun with his friend
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im so sorry you have had a terible day, keeping everything crossed for your wether :bouquet: :wave:
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Oh no, I'm so sorry :'( I don't know what to say apart from you tried so hard for her, really sorry.
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Sorry :'( :'(
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Really sorry Ellisr, I'm sure you did your absolute best. :'( :wave:
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He may need a cobalt or selenium boost, have a word with your vet. I find wethers ( up here anyway) have a hard time over winter and do need a boost.
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Ohhh so sorry to hear your news, I also have had one go down with the same yesturday...
I hope things improve for you
andy
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after losing ours we had to have vet last week lost twin lambs kept ewe so far had in depth chat and conclusion was that exceptionally hard winter has been particularly difficult for livestock am sorry you have suffered loss and hope you get through rest of season problem free :)
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Ohhh so sorry to hear your news, I also have had one go down with the same yesturday...
I hope things improve for you
andy
Andy get onto it straight away calciject kept her alive but she went off her feet as she had lost far too much weight due to the dry summer then a harsh winter. Try and get her somewhere she can feed without the others so she can build up, some twin lamb drench every few hours and then fingers crossed and see what nature throws at you.
The old man is doing better not quite out of the woods yet but he can now lie down and get up without help now but he is still spending a lot of the time next to the fence where he used to lay with his friend.
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I find that about a month before lambing I check my ewes over and condition score them. any triplets and any ewes with low condition scores are seperated off and fed one concentrates. In the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy the lambs do their most intensive growing and this can be quite a strain on the ewes even if they were in good condition before hand.
I had a ewe go down with low calcium this year and we managed to save her but in previous years we have not been so lucky - ironically though she was a single in great condition!
The other thing to check for is magnesium deficiency. Any strain can trigger this. We never had an issue with this until we rented some extra land and made haylage from it. When the ewes were in we were feeding the haylage and a few went down with low mag. Turns out that area is bad for that - the farmer waited for me to find out myself! Now that I know - I have a mag bucket out for the ewes when they are in the shed. Fingers crossed we had no issues with it at all this year.
One last thing - any time I have a ewe or lamb under the weather I give it a shot of either multivit or intravit (Multi - does what it says on the tin - mutlivitamin and intravit is a cobalt, selenium and vitamin B booster). These tend to kick start the sheep to recovery and cost almost nothing.