The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Pedwardine on December 19, 2012, 10:52:29 pm
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Hi guys,.
My little 8 month old ewe lamb Yoda (she looks like Yoda!) has been a little 'on the fringes' of the flock for a few days. I've kept up with going up to her, giving her some fuss and seeing that
nothing looks untoward. Today she didn't come with the rest of the mob for the hay delivery and upon examination she had a very greeny brown wet nose and around her mouth. Her breath also smelled rather sour. I tipped her on her bottom and called OH to come over. As I did so I found she weighed so awfully little and had no resistance in her at all. I'm cursing myself for not checking her CS before now >:( I did too much looking and not enough feeling. Stupid stupid person.
Her droppings are very healthy and she's peeing fine. All I've done so far is give her a drench of Farmer's Choice (think that's the name of it-it's a tonic anyway) and a 2ml jab of Oxycare. I'm checking in my veterinary books for what I may have missed (ie: what the spilled cud may mean. BTW her teeth seem just fine too) but hoped maybe someone wise on here may be able to shed some light also. I hate leaving wee ones for the night when they aren't right for fear of what I'll find in the morning. She's not off her feet but I know how quickly things can turn.
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CCN? - get some vit B into her fast, even if not CCN, won't do any harm
Listeriosis - vet, antibiotics, penicilllin I think.
Unless she is better by now?
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If her teeth are fine she may have an obstruction :( Vet may be able to help with a tube, worth asking. We had a cow eating well but losing condition, no problems at the back end, vet used a tube, after which she could eat normally and was able to put some condition back on. I'm afraid we sent her away as there was too high a likelihood of a recurrence, though :'(
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Still spilling cud this morning but enthusiastically eating some creep. :fc:
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She may just have loose (baby)teeth at the moment? If she is eating again then obviously nothing major wrong with her.... :relief:
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I hope so. I'm going to give a sneaky regular feed to her. Bag stuck inside my jacket with Yoda's head in bag! We get away with it for a little while! I did wonder about her teeth. Front ones look good but harder to exmaine back ones. Any advise on how I do that without losing my fingers? :o
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If the problem is on the outer surface of a tooth you may be able to feel it just running your hands along the outside of her cheeks - look for differences between one side and the other.
Otherwise you want to get inside her mouth - in a cow you'd pull the tongue to the side and flip it over, then you can inspect the tongue for sore spots caused by rough teeth, but I don't know that that would work in a sheep... If you're sure of your grip, you know they only have bottom teeth - no upper teeth - at the front, and a no-tooth gap behind that, so you can hold the lower and upper apart...
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Thanks Sally. Yoda has had a good couple of feeds today. 2nd time around OH held her whilst I held a baggy of creep for her to eat so other naughty sheeps couldn't get at it! She ate really well and is noticably heavier. She also followed us back to the gate in the hope of more. Her tummy made lots of lovely belchy sounds. All in all things are looking up. I'll attempt a tooth examination tomorrow. :thumbsup: