The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: PeterPan on March 20, 2011, 08:57:33 am
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Hi
Our adopted lamb was fine last night - thos morning he is cold, limp and seems to be having a fit - uncontraollable limb movements. He can drink when offered.
Any ideas? Please help?
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cold and limp would make me think of giving him a drench, but I dont know enough to comment on the fits.have you got a farmer friend to help.
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get him warm and put a finger into his mouth to see if he is really warm, his mouth shouldnt feel cold.there are better people on here to advise you but they are not on yet.
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Thanks - he is now curled up in front of the fire sleeping. The fitting has stopped and he looks very peaceful. Is breathing nice and strong so suppose we'll just have to sit and wait :(
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Are you sure it was a fit? Could it have been extreme shaking due to having got extremely cold? Make sure he is kept warm for a few days, and draught free - is he outside normally? How did he get so cold? If he does have a proper fit there may be something wrong with him and I'd check with the vet.
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A hypothermic lamb can have convulsions head shaking,leg paddling .Keep warm and fed.
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hows he doing now.
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Always warm a lamb before feeding it under such circumstances. A cold lamb cannot digest anything.
Perhaps the lamb needs a heat lamp at night. ;)
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Glad he's warmer now :)
put a finger into his mouth to see if he is really warm, his mouth shouldnt feel cold
That's the way to check. If a lamb gets very cold, you sometimes need to stomach tube them with a glucose mix cos if they warm up they then become hypoglycaemic if they haven't been feeding. He needs heat at night, and in the day if cold - he would have a large, woolly ewe to snuggle into in the normal scheme of things! You can get 'discs' that you heat up in the microwave that retain heat for a while, but a heat lamp, the Aga, a friendly dog are all good 'keeping warm all night' alternatives.