The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Anke on April 15, 2013, 03:38:03 pm
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Just a rant...
And there I was thinking that it is going quite well this year, 3rd of the way through lambing. Weather ok-ish, camera in the shed so helpful for night time checks from the comfort of the house rather than disturbing the ewes, all ewes lambed by themselves so far (compared to last year where the previous texel boy produced massive heads and shoulders and I ended up pulling a lot of the lambs).... and then entropion in a set of really good sized twin boys...
So now have to check ALL his lambs (hopefully the shetland tupped ones will be ok), and sell Bru - as in Irn - (who is just 1 year old and really well trained/behaved so was going to stay for a few more years yet...)...
Maybe it's time to go back to primitives... (and I am one of the few people who actually likes Texel tups... sorry)
Anyone know what breeds are most prone to entropion? Looking for a new tup now...
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Regarding Entropion here is an extract from sheep101
Entropion (inverted eye lid)
Entropion is a heritable trait in which the lower eyelid is inverted, causing the eyelashes of the lower lid to brush against the eye. Entropion should not be left untreated. The constant irritation results in tearing and can lead to corneal ulceration, scarring, and blindness. It may affect one or both eyes.
Mild cases of entropion can be treated by injecting a long acting antibiotic under the skin of the affected eyelid. Sometimes, staples, sutures, or clips will need to be applied to the skin surface of the affected eyelid. Rams carrying this trait should not be used for breeding.
Although you probably know all that anyway
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If it is only the one set of twins, would the problem not be equally as likely to have come from the ewe?
Shame to get rid of a nice ram if it might not be him :-\
Never dealt with it before but seems strange to be just the 2 lambs if it was the ram.
Is entropion a dominant or recessive fault? Anyone know?
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Our vet injected the eyelid with something like Botox (I asked if he could do the same for me as well, but he declined!) It made the eyelid swell slightly and it turned out the right way.
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Considered a recessive gene but some experts consider slight dominance, if only one pair of lambs you could put that ewe to your shetland ram next year
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The vet put in clips today... so the bill for that and any possible future ones makes me quite sure that I do not want to take the risk and continue breeding from him... and vet's advice was to get rid.
I am a bit of a wuss when it gets to treating something like this, so I am now dreading the next few of his lambs and what to do if that happens again ...
Maybe just try and get an old boy instead of a tup lamb, hopefully less of a chance of getting this kind of fault...
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My Ryeland has produced quite a few lambs with mild entropion - but interestingly all of them have self-corrected with growth and without treatment. As I've not had a permanent case as yet, and he produces very good lambs I'm keeping on using him.
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I had a few cases last year one needed vet to inject but others were easily corrected. This year I only had one very minor which I actually felt I had caused in handling. Might be mad but I'm sure it wasn't there at delivery but appeared within 24hrs.
Anyway I'm not convinced its the ram as have tried a few and had the occasional problem. More likely the ewe but doesn't happen every year and I don't think same ones.
I'd give him another chance. The injection of antibiotics isn't expensive not sure how it compares with clips.
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It's quite an easy thing to treat, you just need a steady hand. You can inject penicillin, locain or just sterile water, just enough to puff out the lower lid. By the time it's gone down in a few days the lid has sorted itself :thumbsup:.
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we had two last year and one this year with entropion. One last year had the injection to correct it, wasn't expensive and was fine after. The others have corrected by gently pulling down the lower lid a couple of times a day. They were fine by day 2. Our ram who sired these guys has now gone but it happened so rarely in his lambs that I still used him. Now we have a young new lamb it will be interesting to see if we have any cases next year
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We get a few each year (Ryelands). This year, we had a few - mainly in the white lambs rather than the black ones. I've never injected or anything - I always check at birth, and if the eyelid is turned, I just flick it out. Do this a couple of times every time I go past the pen and it's sorted.
When I worked on a sheep farm 30 years ago, we had cases of it then and we were lambing Mules and Halfbreds to Suffolk and Texel tups.
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It can sometimes be sorted out just by giving the offending eye lid a good pinch - enough to make it swell a little and flick the eyelashes out the right way.
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It just seems another thing that needs sorting out... I am just annoyed that I didn't spot it, to be honest it never occurred to me to check every lamb at birth. But I guess that's how we learn.
Not sure on Bru's future yet, vet was very clear on his advice...
Any terminal sire breed known NOT to have this problem (and good doers in the north too)? Cheviots?
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I've kept and bred from females who had it as lambs (corrected by injection) and have NEVER had it occur in their offspring or subsequent descendants, so I don't believe it is at all heritable. I think it is totally random as the last 2 years I have not had any even though I still have the same breeding stock.....
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we used three tups this year, the older ,tested on produced no problems. The two younger ones produced about 90% of lambs that needed vet attention for badly turned in eyelids which caused ulcers.This was from ewes which had previously had no problem. The two younger tups have already gone.
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We get a few each year (Ryelands). This year, we had a few - mainly in the white lambs rather than the black ones.
Suggests a degree of heritability? Can you trace beck the ewes whose lambs have had it, to a single dam or sire? We had a couple of cases many years ago in our Southdowns and I just wiped the free edge of the eyelid with a clean tissue a couple of times a day. Haven't seen it since, and never in our Badger Face.
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One of my ewes had twins this year and both had to have injections by the vet at two weeks old. I have not seen it in her lambs before :-\ (her 4th lambing). Her daughter also had twins this year using the same ram, and both her twins are fine, as are all his other 7 lambs.
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I've had two cases this year in Ryelands and one from Mules. Pretty easy to sort, inject 1 ml Pen and Strep or maybe Engemyacin into lid. One case went after a day, the other in Ryeland lamb took much longer and needed 2 ml to sufficiently fill lower lid and roll away lashes. Much easier with a helper to restrain lamb for you. Clips,a stitch or removing a section can also be options if needed.