The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: country soul on April 23, 2014, 08:26:11 pm
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I would welcome some advise on how to tackle white muscle disease in lambs .this is the second year I ve been affected having had nothing for the last 13 years.I'm a bit more aware this year so I ve been giving the affected lambs 0.5 to 1.0 of vitsel.some seem to have recovered but others are still stiff.I ve been giving the later lambs a jab as soon as they were born so am hoping they don't develop it.
May be I should have jabbed the ewes I did give them yellow rocky blocks throughout winter but the paid little attention to them
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Speak to your vet. They may want to take some bloods to confirm selenium levels, or you may be in a high risk area, they will know the local situation. Its far better to prevent it than to try & treat. Usually injecting the ewes once a year with eg deposel, or bolusing with selenium boluses are the best way forward & help mitigate the other effects of low selenium eg poor scanning, growth rates etc. You may need to inject all this years lamb crop now as fast growing lambs are at particular risk of either stiffness or sudden death. You really need to get your vets advice as some forms of joint ill can look very similar.
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andy it sounds like joint ill to me, I've had it in 17 lambs so far. quick injection of betamox la(1 ml) and they have all been right the next day,
read you're other thread with lambs still eating and looking well, I might be wrong but there been a lot of it around our ares this year
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We have bolused the ewes in the past to help with this with good results. I think you are doing the right thing jabbing all lambs at birth for this year.