The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: bigchicken on April 25, 2014, 05:59:46 pm

Title: mastitis
Post by: bigchicken on April 25, 2014, 05:59:46 pm

What do other folks do when you have a ewe with mastitis do you treat or cull, ewe has twins which are being bottle Fed

Title: Re: mastitis
Post by: SallyintNorth on April 25, 2014, 06:15:00 pm

Treat and cull.  She should recover, the affected quarter is likely to slough off but they survive all that.  Then fatten and away.

I have kept on ones that we treated and the bags seemed to recover.  But then we seem to find that these ewes struggle to rear even twins in the future, so even if the bag feels fine it would seem it leaves damage.  So now we get them fit and send them away.

Title: Re: mastitis
Post by: Marches Farmer on April 25, 2014, 06:54:58 pm

If we find the bag a bit hot when we first test for milk after birth we treat with a/bs and they often recover and are fine the next year.  Occasionally we notice the lambs looking hungry out in the field and check and it's late-onset mastitis and although we treat the ewe doesn't recover and is culled.