The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Small family farm on August 23, 2019, 11:33:46 pm
-
Hi there, new to this so hopefully I'm doing this right.
So Monday morning our Ewe was attacked by someones dog, thankfully her lamb ran to the calf for safety and is ok. The ewes ears,nose,chin and neck got scratched up but nothing major. We were able to clean them up and they are healing up good. On the side of her face below her ears closer to the bottom of her jaw got chewed up pretty bad and pretty deep. We cleaned it up really good for her and trimmed her wool to clean up the wounds (on top of her head) and to try and minimize scent so it wouldn't attract the coyotes and moved her closer to the house. Poor thing was shocked from the trauma but we were able to cheer her up and get her to eat a little bit again.
Tuesday we got her and her baby lamb a big scrap bag of lettuce and celery. That day they ate it all minus they didn't eat much of the celery.
Last night we noticed a bit of green fluid on the ground and thought maybe one of them got the runs from eating all the lettuce (even though we do normally get them scrap bags often anywhere from numerous times a month to once a month to every other month) so we went and checked on them and they were good and up and eating and looking alright too.
This morning we woke up and there was green fluid all over the ground and all over the ewes mouth but she was still up and eating and walking around. I've double checked her neck and there are no wounds that would cause swelling or anything and she is swallowing her food and it is staying down and not coming back up right away or anything like that. It's when she sits down she spits up her cud like normal and starts to chew it and it all starts spilling out.
I did notice today when she peed it was darker yellow and less then normal but she doesn't look dehydrated. Maybe she's not able to drink much water if her jaw muscles or tendons are damaged from the wound ( but she is able to eat)? Since she was attacked she has self weaned her baby lamb but he drinks lots of water and eats lots of food so he will be ok but maybe she's gotten mastitis from weaning if that's possible or if it could have anything to do with her spilling cud? I'm not sure what to try or do or what's causing this if anyone has any ideas or advice it would be appreciated very much!
-
Useful answer from vet to similar question here :
justanswer (https://www.justanswer.com/veterinary/6ux0g-wondering-reasons-ruminants-sheep-spilling.html)
Re: mastitis, yes quite likely if she has weaned the lamb and has access to green food. How does her udder feel? Hard? Hot? Red? Lumpy? Sore?
How old is the lamb?
-
Have another good check around the corners of her mouth, towards the back. If there is damage there from the dog bite, then her mouth might not close properly allowing cud to dribble out. Or she might have damage to her tongue which would affect her chewing ability. Dribbling cud is often associated with losing a molar tooth, which changes how the back corner of the mouth closes. Have a good look inside and out for wounds, which might need suturing.