The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: wellies on March 05, 2013, 02:33:46 pm
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Well the little ewe lamb with the contracted tendons has taken a turn for the worst this morning :-[ . She has a distended tummy, low temperature and a slightly wet chin but not a cold mouth & still has a suckling reflex. Although she was very small & had splints on she was doing well until this morning. Vet has been and given her meds and left more antibiotics to inject over a few days. It looks like the start of watery mouth but vet really unsure. She's also having some electrolytes by syringe. Feel a bit down hearted. Six more ewes to go and I'm just so worried about them all (although they look happy & relaxed). There we go just needed a little moment of feeling pathetic before I gave myself a jolly good shake & enjoy the lambs that are healthy & happy in the paddock
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Do you give the lambs some Scour Halt or similiar at birth as this will help to prevent Watery Mouth.
Don't get disheartened. Lambing is a steep learning curve and you are doing all the right things by calling the vet to help.
I have been lambing for years and things can go wrong for me which they have this lambing season. I ewe with twin lamb disease, one prolapse prior to lambing, and a ewe lamb born dead, her twin o.k. and still have 14 ewes to go.
I'm going to keep everything crossed for your lamb. :fc: Keep her warm as well. :hug:
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Thank you for the post... Was having a bit of a wobble :-\ Also thank you for you well wishes for the lamb. They all get 0.5ml of Alamycin at birth via intramuscular injection but we don't give them anything orally normally. Maybe I should look into it for the next ones? The lamb took her fluids ok and tried to suckle but it was a bit half hearted, off to see if I can get her to latch on a bit better. I've put extra bedding round her and we haven't got electricity for a heat lamp I'm wondering if a Warmish hot water bottle may help her. Again thank you very much for the post
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As a vet and long-time lamber, my heart goes out to you, I know watery mouth is a horrible thing to deal with.
If it is watery mouth (which it sounds quite like to me), the E.coli and similar bacteria that are responsible feed off the milk and multiply.
If you can just feed electrolyte/glucose solutions for 24-48 hours (Liquid life-aid do a good one, but there are a lot available) and withhold milk it might help her out.
If you can feed the fluids warm (body temperature for a sheep is about 39-39.5C, so anything up to 40C is comfortable to drink/be tubed), it'll help keep her from getting cold, as you have said her temperature is low already.
Lots of TLC, regular feeding of electrolytes and the antibiotics will help, and as she's a bit older than your typical newborn with watery mouth, hopefully her immune system will be better ready to fight it off.
Everyone uses a different prevention method, and it really depends on your farm what is best. I have known a lot of farms that have used the oral pumps previously, and after a while start to get a problem, which may be resistant bacteria. An intramuscular injection of Alamycin is also a very good option, and if this is the only lamb, or there are not many affected, I wouldn't jump ship and change to something else too quickly, it may just be that the particular bug she has is not responding, but you have prevented a lot of bugs getting into all the others. If you do have a problem with similar sorts of disease this year, it might be worth chatting to your own vet, and considering an alternative prevention next year.
Anyway, I wish you all the best with the lamb, and hope that some of this might be of help :)
Suzanne
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PS Hot water bottles are a great way of keeping sick lambs warm, just make sure there's a towel or a cover between her and the bottle so she doesn't burn anything :)
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thank you for the info, very helpful for now and in the future. Unfortunately she seems to have taken a turn for the worse again and is very weak. I'm not very hopeful at the moment. Her mother is being a bit difficult with her too and just keeps swinging round, more interested in food than her poorly offspring but she's a first timer. Remind me to buy older ewes, so much easier ::)
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You could try putting the lamb in a jacket - just a rectangle of old fleece or sweatshirt with two crosses at the front for the front legs to go through. Keeps the warmth they're producing in. We give Scour Halt 10 minutes after birth. The abdomen will become distended if it's WM - the other name is rattle belly, with good reason. Once they get to this stage the outlook is very poor.
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I give all my lambs a dose of Col-late lamb kick start when they are born as it gives them a boost and seems to do them well. Every lamb gets the recommended dose not just those that appear a little slow/weaker. One bottle will dose 25 lambs so it doesn't work out too pricey either.
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It might help if you tube feed her, as at least she is getting what she should.
I had one with watery mouth about 10 years ago, and she was a real struggle to keep alive. I tube fed her until she was strong enough to cope. With rehydration fluid for 24 hours then onto milk. If she survives she will probably have to be bottle fed, especially if Mum is being difficult. :fc:
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I think it will all be over soon unfortuantely. Haven't sobbed so much for ages, not even sure why this little ewe has got to me so much ??? Lets hope for better days and lambings to come :fc:
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Wellies - my heart goes out to you. It sounds as if you're having a really hard time and you've tried so hard by getting the vet etc. I hope that things may improve, but if they don't you can reassure yourself that you did everything that was possible for your little lamb- what more can you ask?
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Oh bless you Wellies. You really are doing your best by the wee soul. Sometimes you just can't help these things no matter what you try but keep trying. :fc:
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:hug: Poor you (and ewe). If it makes you feel any better, I'd be sobbing too. One of the reasons I'd never make a commercial farmer and why I didn't pursue veterinary college! There's no shame in being upset over the loss of a life.
I hope this is the last of your bad luck and that the rest of your lambing goes smoothly. I might pop over soon and bring my girls to see some teeny babies, if that's ok?
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oh yes do pop over, we'd love to see you and the girls are more than welcome to see and play with the little ones. Harry the pig also loves children, he's great to scratch and feed. Hopefully there will be more lambs soon, fingers and everything else crossed. Let me know when you are free to come and visit :wave:
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Sorry to hear about poor lamb. I think it's a bad year for us all. I would recommend getting some Staldren disinfectant powder as it kills everything externally. Great for hens, sheep and pigs.
Hope the rest go better.
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Wellies i know how you feel i will never forget years ago holding my first two orphan ewe lambs through the night as they died from watery mouth, it was a very steep learning curve. I really feel for you, it does get better and you will learn more and more to prevent these things from happening.
We dose our lambs with a product called Spectam and this works a treat though I don't think it's cheap.
But i think there are other products on the market that are just as good. In this sort of thing prevention is the key, just like keeping up with all their vaccinations all very important.
Dont give up you will soon have healthy lambs to look at :hug:
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thank you again for all your replies.The ewe lamb was taken to the vets this morning as I felt she was suffering too much to continue. I think possibly in hindsight she probably didn't get enough colostrum as she could have; she was weak and obviously required splints when born unfortuantely my attention was taken by the dead lamb born at the same time and trying to skin and foster another lamb on to the grieving mum. Oh in hindsight I should have paid more attention to the little ewe as well but once I had latched her on she was suckling fine and seemed to be at regular intervals throughout the afternoon and the proceeding days. More vigilence required by me :'( . I have picked up some Spectam from the vets as I am now absolutely paranoid about the next ones. I do have a question though (perhaps fsmnutter could help here) we normally give 0.5ml of terramycin by intramuscular injection at birth, will the dose of Spectam replace this or do I give them both? Thank you all again for your help :)
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The injection of terramycin and the spectam both are an antibiotic to help prevent these diseases.
You should really do one or the other, because if they got both, and then had disease later on in life, anything in their system has been exposed to two different drugs, and may be harder to treat.
As such, I would go with giving the Spectam and see how it pans out, that way you have the Terramycin if any turn ill later.
Sorry to hear about the little one, but it sounds like it was for the best, she tried, but with more than one thing to fight (legs and watery mouth disease), it must have just been too much for her, and you gave her peace.
Sometimes these problems come along to give you something to learn from, and I think you're absolutely right, making sure that they have something preventative like spectam and plenty colostrum will help the others yet to come into the world.
Hope the rest don't give you as much trouble
Suzanne
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So sorry to hear of the little lamb :bouquet: . I can sympathise so much with you, sometimes no matter what you do you will lose them and it's not for your lack of trying. Hoping the rest of your lambing is stress free! :fc:
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If the lamb is a little 'un, and doesn't suckle within half an hour (fussy or first-time ewe, for instance) especially if it has a much larger twin, I generally give good quality powdered colostrum or gently warmed frozen colostrum (I milk from a good ewe with a single, on her second to fifth lambing, that will have good quality colostrum). This seems to see them through for a couple of hours to the point where they can suckle for themselves and saves them getting too cold and weak because the energy from their brown fat is running out.
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Tim Tyne recommends Thermovite, Dot says she gives a squirt to anything she's dubious has had enough colostrum and it keeps them going until Tim can get on and tube them if they need it.
Never assume that because you see a newborn lamb under its mum, even if its tail is waggling, that it's suckling proficiently. Nor that, even if it is definitely suckling, it is getting enough colostrum.
Checking for a plump belly is the only sure-fire indicator. An apparently happily sleeping lambie isn't a sure indicator, either - get it on its feet, it should stretch and not look hollow.
The first bellyful of colostrum is the most important, but they need to be checked a minimum of twice, preferably three or four times a day to check that they are still getting what they need.
Grizzling lambs, hollow-looking lambs, lambs with cold ears and/or droopy ears - all warrant investigation. And if you ever see a very young lamb drinking water, be very alarmed. (Ask me how I know...)
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Life is a learning curve and you will not make the same mistake again. We all start off much the same, looking forward to breeding our own livestock but nature is not always easy and no matter how many books you read or how much advice you get nothing works better than hands on with the job.
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I will definately be more vigilant in the future but I must say when the vet came out to check and splint her legs the day after she was born he too thought she was suckling and had a full tummy, he wasn't concerned at all about her. She never looked depressed or hollow, just very small and obviously had a few wobbles with her splints ??? I always look for a good stretch on waking and this is something she didn't do very often; I put this down to the splints and having to control those out stretched legs when she got up. Again in hindsight she probably should have stretched even with the splints on. I have frozen colostrum and synthetic for such eventualities but really didn't think she needed them. It was only on day 5 that she very rapidly went from suckling to being lethargic and from that point despite the efforts of the vet went down hill rapidly. when I spoke to the vet this morning he was quite saddened she had continued to get worse as he really thought we had caught it in the very early stages and she had shown some improvement after the initial treatment. I really appreciate all your comments and suggestions and will be following them all up. Hopefully the rest will be a bit more successful. Off to check on everyone now. Thank you again everyone
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Wellies - I break my heart over any lamb we lose, but when I see the others skipping round the field in the sunshine (?!) I remember why I keep on coming back for more. You did everything you could and far more than most commercial farmers would do. Have a hug.
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Wellies it is always hard losing a lamb but knowing when to make that decision I feel is perhaps even harder. thank you for being brave enough to call it quits :bouquet: