The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Little Landy Lover on April 01, 2014, 09:48:37 pm
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Evening all...
Right, a few days ago I spotted one of my Ewes, a Cotswold, was lame so the Next day I carried out the purple spray and foot shears. I caught her while eating, trimmed the rot off, picked it out, purpled it and sent her on her way a bit better then when I caught her.
Yesterday I fed them and noted one wasn't there, I went looking and found her lying down under a tree, unresponsive and un moving etc.
I've had her in since then, I believe it is Twin Lamb disease and so I've been giving her a syringe full of Lucozade (to broke for drench!) every half an hour. Her condition has improved!
Symptoms were, partially blind, unable to stand, rapid breathing, runny poop and reluctance to eat, since I have been giving the Lucozade she has become more responsive and has attempted several times to stand.
What do we think could he wrong, Am I right?
Cheers
Archie
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I am afraid I don't understand your "too broke for drench" - a bottle of twinlamb is not much more than a few bottles of lucozade...
But she will also need an injection of Calciject and ongoing TLC/drenching until (and IMO also afterwards) she lambs successfully)
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Symptoms are classic Twin Lamb disease. I'm sorry to say this, but it could well have been brought on by the stress of being tipped up and having her foot treated. Very pregnant ewes should not be tipped up for this reason. Their lameness usually improves as soon as they have lambed, and you can tip them up and sort out any ongoing issues once they have lambed and the lambs are settled.
You are doing the right thing giving her glucose. Lucozade is a reasonable alternative to a Twin Lamb drench but I agree that she will have a better chance if you can get the right stuff into her. You can get a 2 dose bottle of Collate MultiLamb for less than a tenner - and it may save the ewe and her lambs. If you can't get a TLD drench, at least get some vitamins into her - Combivit or similar. The vet may be able to sell you a smaller amount than a whole bottle to reduce the cost. They may also be able to supply you for little money some glucose solution, which would be cheaper even than Lucozade. ;)
You could also give her some probiotic yoghurt - Yeo Valley or similar, a natural one not a fruity one - and try other things to tempt her to eat - hay, straw, ivy (just a little, they often like it when they are poorly - but too much would be poisonous), digestive biscuits (again, just a little), some people make up porridge for them!
If she's down, you will also need to make sure she is getting enough water to drink. She also may need you to lift her backend up so that she can pee.
I would give her calcium - Calcijet or similar - too. It's less than a tenner a bottle. You have to warm it to blood heat before injecting.
:fc: she continues to improve.
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Archie - will your parents loan you some money to be able to get the required drench your ewe needs? In the long run it is likely to save your ewe and lambs. Twin lamb disease is a huge killer if not treated properly and if she is an aged ewe (as your other previous post suggests) then she will need that little bit of extra TLC to make sure she has enough reserves to feed her lambs and that her milk quality is sufficient for them. Good luck with her and your other ewes.
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A cheap alternative to a proper twin lamb drench is a mixture of milk, molasses and egg yoke. If you dont have molasses treacle might do?
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None of the suggestions above are a cheap alternative to twin lamb drenches. Tipping sugar into the rumen in different forms can only do so much good before it starts doing harm - ph drops and you cause acidosis, the rumen works less efficiently and you compound the problems. Treating for other problems such as vitamin deficiency may make you feel better but wont help her.
The chemicals in the twin lamb drench that you need are metabolised in the rumen to sugars slowly, my suggestion is forget all the pick me ups and drench with ketol (same main chemical to twin lamb formulations), add a little sugar and coffee if you wish to make it into a home made formulation - not as good maybe as the bought ones for £40 but you have a genuine alternative to collate for a fraction of the price - approx £10.
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If this continues I suppose I could try and get her some drench, besides, any spare could be useful for the others!
Pleased to say she is now eating, if a little slowly, both hay and Corse mix, her water bowl is gradually being drunk aswell. Muck wise, it's liquid and constipated! She looks like she trying to lamb, then PrrrrrrbP! I do also like the idea of the probiotic yoghurt, seams very logical given her obvious gut upset. It is of note that when I moved her earlier to a cleaner patch of straw she very learly stood by herself but overcame to shaking and falling back down :(
I'm optomistic for this Ewe, she was allways one of the easy ones to Worm and is not oposed to being treated for these things. At least this is a sign she's in Lamb!!
Arch
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CALCIJECT
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She really does need calcium and it's not expensive. Probably cost you more to have her body removed if she dies! An if it saves her and her lambs it's an investment not an expense :thumbsup:
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The partial blindness mentioned makes me wonder if there might be something else/different going on, such as Listeriosis?
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The partial blindness mentioned makes me wonder if there might be something else/different going on, such as Listeriosis?
Blindness is a classic twin lamb disease symptom though.
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Quote from: Marches Farmer on Today at 08:13:03 PM
The partial blindness mentioned makes me wonder if there might be something else/different going on, such as Listeriosis?
Blindness is a classic twin lamb disease symptom though.
It certainly is.
Your ewe needs Calciject, as Anke says, as well as twin lamb drench. You can get it from the feedstore as well as the vets.
As well as the moral obligation, treating her well now will pay in the long run, as you should make money from her lambs, if she rears them herself.
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Hi Archie, :wave:
How is your ewe?
I've got no experience with twin lamb disease but think it's probably best if you treat her as people on here suggest. Probably best to do it soon as often there's not time to wait and see. Might be too late then and you'll lose her and her lambs.
Is there a local farmer who could have a look at your ewe for you? Have I remembered right ... are you 16? My son is 15 and the local farmers love to show him how to do things and help him out with all kinds of things. I think they like it that he is interested in country life. He does jobs for them as well. You could try asking someone near to you to just take a look at her.
;D
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Mum's stopping in at country wide tomorrow at 9 on her way home from dropping me off... Calciject and Ewe boost are on the list :) I've given her some Lucozade for the night and will give her 2 more in the morning to keep her going before we leave. She has a bit of a shake going on which I pressume is down to deprived sleep (pain and sugar rush). Muck is runny but she's eating and drinking, breathing gently, responding well to waving a hand a foot or so away from her head and is now capable of shifting her weight from one side to the other by herself. Before she was much weaker.
I am 16, when she first came in we rang a friend of Mum's who used to be married to a shepherd and she told me that Lucozade would give her the boost and to make sure she had access to water and hay at least once every half an hour. It's kept her alive so far...
There is a farm just down the road, 400 odd sheep (and some normal ones.......... I'm sorry... I'll leave....) And they've offered me the chance to go down there and get some experience Lambing which I shall be doing at the end of the week! I can Ask Hillary tomorrow.
Thanks again folks! Very very useful Forum!!
Arch
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Well done :thumbsup: enjoy your lambing experience, you'll learn loads :)
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That's brill Archie. :thumbsup:
You'll learn loads from the farmers around you ...... I do ;D
Well done for getting the medication for your ewe. Let us know how she gets on and you might be able to post some lambing tips for us all after your lambing experience on the farm. :thumbsup:
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Brilliant that you can get some hands on experience, you will learn loads. Get them to show you everything they possibly can!! :)
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That's good news about the lambing experience. You will have confidence then to cope with your own ewes, and have someone to call if you need help. Fingers crossed that your ewe recovers ok once you can treat her.
There is always something with livestock - you need a stock of all sorts to treat various conditions, and a medical book stored in your head to diagnose what is is wrong and how to treat it sometimes!!!!
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Excellent - well done for getting the stuff for your ewe :thumbsup:
And you'll love the lambing experience. I lambed for a friend the year before we got our own sheep and I just learned sooooo much.
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Your doing grand, Archie, enjoy your lambing experience.
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Thanks all.
Mum decided to call the Vet out today as she wasn't convinced it was Twin Lamb. Vet came down, blood test showed Calcium deficiency (0.7) so is TLD. She is now on Calciject 4x daily and on Drench. Parents account has paid for it all :) Vet thinks she either has large twins or triplets. I hope twins... More likely to live! Her temperature was fine, as was heart rate etc. although she was getting skinny!
This will now continue until she either; dies, lambs (at least 3 weeks away) or gets up and runs away (let's hope!). I'm now preparing the sheds for Lambing!
Thanks for all the help peeps, I'll keep you posted!
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Glad you got the vet out. Its better to know what it is so she can be treated properly. :fc: for 3 weeks time.
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:fc: for her.
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She's looking better... All I'm going to say now.
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Good news that she seems better!!
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Well done Archie, sending good wishes, hope she continues to improve :)
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I can see the lambs moving quite clearly in her but she's still 2 weeks off Lambing... Why the heck can't she slow down feeding them, increase her udder and stay alive! They're going to be too big at this rate, how is that fair!
Ah well, at least the rest are spot on... For now...
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Well the last 24 hours in that shed have not been merry. She was on the road to recovery but alas she has been down since tuesday, and although the Calcium issue was on the mend, time was not on her side and thus the Lambs are now dead inside her. 2 weeks from Lambing.
She is not opened up at all and therefore cannot abort naturally as it is, the operation to remove the dead Lambs is rediculously expensive and simply not worth it for a Ewe with, at best, a few more years.
As a result of this the only course of action recommended by the Vet is to cease the Calciject to reduce the stess, continue with the Drench as was and hope the universe is on our side although the odds are against us. This is unlikely to end well for us, although the vet reckons the chances are great enough to save a bullet.
I have done all I can.
This is likely to be my first loss.
On a lighter note; I'm Lambing at said farm tomorrow.
Hope all is well with your Ewes.
Arch
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Sorry to hear this Arch. I hope she makes it :fc:
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Well she's dead. On her way to the kennels today.
That's the end of that :)
Arch
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:'(
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:'( Sorry
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Aww, so sorry to hear that :hug:
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Sorry to hear that Archie :bouquet:
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We had a little look inside her once we'd used the loader to get her in the land rover, not being a squeamish person I wanted to see what sort of size the Lambs were; A real shame as they would have been crackers had they been able to be born. Sadly they had begun to decompose even though the Ewe had only been dead a few hours showing that they had been dead a while.
On the lighter side I've been castrating, sorting, feeding and delivering a few Lambs today. Circle of life eh? :farmer:
Arch
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So sorry. Fingers crossed the other ewes lamb safely.
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Very sorry to hear that we had a very similar situation last week, young ewe so she had a c/s, totally unviable lamb, awful when these things halogen, but as you say, you shed a tear, never forget them, but carry on with the others that are coming thick n fast, yes very much the circle of life, take care Archie, big hugs x