The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Brucklay on June 27, 2011, 09:40:27 am
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To all sheep experts - we seem to have an issue with the lambs horns. The ewes were health at lambing time and 8 lambs from 3 ewes - the horns on the lambs were growing well, then one broke, then another and so on. At first it was a tip and no great damage or bleeding but the day before yesterday I spotted one of the ram lambs was covered in blood. We gathered him up and had a good look - there was a lot of blood but having read a previous thread knew this was normal. I cleaned him up with a mild disinfectant and then sprayed what I could only describe as a stump. Last night I found the horn in the field. They have good grass, fresh water and a Crystalyx extra high energy so I am just wondering if there is something I'm not giving them that is causing this issue or is it just luck or a genetic problem. Thank you
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What is coming off is the outer horn and leaving the live core behind. That will continue to grow and eventually will be covered in outer horn again although it will never match or catch up with the other side.
One good thing to use to stop the bleeding is cobwebs, which act like platelets and gives a matrix for clotting. Someone was telling me yesterday that they had seen shepherds stuff cobwebs inside shearing cuts as a flexible dressing. (dentists use a similar manufactured product to stop tooth sockets bleeding) For the broken horn, just lay as many cobwebs as you can find in your barn (clean is better but it doesn't seem to matter if they are dusty) over the raw stump. As with any head wound, the stump will appear to bleed profusely but the amount of blood lost is not too great. Far more alarming is when the core comes off too so there is a hole in the skull and a major artery is torn - then you need to find the bleeding point and pinch the artery and hold it for a minimum of 5 minutes, then dress the hole.
As for the cause, I would be looking at something mechanical rather than a deficiency. Jacobs love sticking their heads through Rylock fencing and the horns tend to break or come off completely when they pull their heads back. Another cause could be fighting between young males.
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Thank you Fleecewife - I had read the cobweb bit but believe it or not we don't have many!! It did stop bleeding and as you said I thought it was the live core (but didn't know the technical term!!) and yes we do have stock fencing everywhere so plenty of places for them to rub and then pull - I guess it's something I'm going to have to deal with and keep an eye on. All the sheep are together and I was wary of the ram being in with them but haven't seen him fighting with any of the lambs yet - trying to get an area rested for the split up later.
At least it's not me missing something in their feed, thank you