The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: lou995 on April 22, 2013, 07:43:54 pm
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One of my Southdown shearling ewes had twins 3 weeks ago, last week the ewe started dropping weight so i slowly upped her nuts, eating fine and eating plenty of hay(were still in then) Friday night she was picky about her hay and looking a little off. Gave her a twin lamb drench just for the energy content. Turned them all out saturday morning she still wasn't right but soon tucked into the grass. brought her and another in over night due to her being weak and having a large family of foxes causing mayhem with neighbours chucks, didnt want to risk her outside. Still not interested in hay but happy with nuts.
Sunday ewe goes out but only picking at grass, sunday night comes in and wont eat nuts, gave twin lamb drench again.
Had the vet out this morning and diagnosed as ketosis, now on Ceto-phyton twice aday. She still is refusing to eat! Stands in field with head on floor or lies down. She has literally let her twins suck the life out of her!
Any suggestions she is getting to the point of being skin and bone.
Tried different veg, mashed up veg into puree and drenched her with it.
Tried ivy tonight and she spits it out even when pushed to back teeth(they're sharp)
This ewe 10days ago would eat anything out of your hand so shes not the fussy type.
Am i fighting and loosing battle or will she pick up slowly.
Could take the twins away but don't want to stress her out and they are refusing point blank on the bottle.
Many thanks
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an old tip iv been told about diagnosing ewes that are poorly is to first check thier teeth. as they dont have dentist check up try n see if she maby has a rotten or loose tooth, that could be a problem but might not
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could it be milk fever, don't know about in sheep.
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If it were me, I'd definately take the lambs off - if she's that poorly, she probably won't give a stuff that they're not around.....and when they're hungry they'll generally accept a bottle. Lordy, no ideas on what else to suggest regarding the ewe though.......fingers crossed for her and for you as you've done a darn good job so far. :hug:
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Vet gave her a good check over, didn't think it was milk fever unless shes just being strong about it, she gets up and down ok and wanders around alright, just gone very weak and not herself.
Will pen the lambs up later they are picking at creep and hay and see how they go, even the vet commented on how well the twins are doing for 3 weeks.
Thanks
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I would orphan her lambs off asap then try and get some energy into her - beet, high sugar drench etc. Then think about upping the proteins.
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I would tend to agree but she might get depressed if lambs gone. Would it be worth penning next to her so she can see and smell them but bottle feed? Presume she didn't retain placenta? Mind she might be dead already if that had happened? Not sure how long it takes to make them poorly.
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One of my dairy goats went a bit like that a few weeks ago, not kidded this year but never completely regained weight after triplets last year, she was still eating hay and grazing though.
She's picked up atm after a vitamin jab, and terramycinLA each 4 days for 3 times,
She's eating well for now and I'm waiting to see what happens when the antibiotic wears off.
Would it be worth trying antibiotics in case, not much to lose by the sounds of it.
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Yes I would definitely take the lambs off her, put them onto the bottle. Ceto-phyton is magic, keep on drenching her regularly. I would also inject Duphraval - Vit B, as an appetite stimulant. And slowly on the proteins - so sugar beet shreds, some oats, ivy is great, and any treats she may like. It could take her a while to get back to normal.
My goats still like readigrass in this situations, but if you have fresh grass growing, that would be ok for her too.
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This is a ewe I would give a soup of digestive biscuits to initially, rather than veggies but in addition to the bought drenches. Mush up 3 or 4 digestives in about 100ml water. Put it in a 50ml syringe with a wide tip (for tubing lambs) then slowly drench it into the back of the mouth, over the tongue, giving her time to swallow. Digestives have plenty of sugar and a bit of roughage to get the rumen going again. You could add extra glucose or dextrose powder to the mix. You can also make a porridge of ewe nuts soaked in water. If either of these works and she starts to pick up, then gradually introduce some juicy, choice grass, a bit of cow parsley, the odd kale leaf from the garden and so on, and feed the biscuits dry if she'll chew them. If she's not eating she probably won't be drinking either so the fluids in the drench will help. If she's not eating then I think it's very doubtful that she will suddenly recover without help. Vets are perhaps not used to prescribing good nursing care to sheep and tend not to think of it, but for a smallholder it's easier to do than with a huge flock. The twins must be taking more out of her than she can produce but she will let them suck away until she dies. If you can't get them to take the bottle at first, can you tube feed them but keep them the other side of a hurdle from her, so she isn't stressed?
Good luck and keep us updated.
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Don't know if any help but we've given a VERY poorly ewe antibiotics and steroids and effect was nothing short of miraculous on a ewe who was certain to die. Always risky if pre-lambing as likely to abort when not full term but with post lambing as with yours then I can't see what harm it could do. Every other day for six days might turn her around. I'd agree in taking the lambs off her but having them near, say the other side of a hurdle so she can see/sniff them and bottle feed them. If they're hungry enough hopefully they'll accept it.
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Sorry to hear... Does she have a "dirty rear end". We recently had one that went down hill after lambing and we took a poo sample to the vet (she had worms badly) even though all were wormed pre-lambing. We have a strict worming policy - subsequently we have had to do the whole flock and lambs. Move to fresh ground.
Ours were all low on magnesium too (2 dropped dead with stress) whilst moving the flock!!
Hope your ewe makes a recovery.
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Here in NZ farmers seem to be extremely careful to have enough green good quality grass whenthey are lambing to avoid milk fever I think and ketosis. Last year one of my three year old pet sheep (cast. male) unexpectedly went down hill, and unfortunately died. But the vet gave me a drip bag that i had to inject so many ml under his skin to get him rehydrated and some energy. This medication I understand is what people use for a sheep with lambs that has gone down hill. (made for ewes not pet boys normally) It is called Glucalphos sterile metabolic solution and is for sheep and cows. Sheep they say it is for milk fever, and cows that and ketosis which i understand is an imbalance of cell mineral levels or salts. Dont quote me! Each litre contains Calcium borogluconate 250g, Dextrose 250g, Magnesium hypophosphite 50g. I suggest you talk to your vet about this they may have something similar. However it sounds like your sheep is very sick, and the stress of injecting this beneath her skin may be too much (it is not pleasant doing it). I cannot remember how much the vet said to give, so you would need to find out. If your giving sheep pellets or she has gone onto very lush new grass suddenly make sure that she does not get bloat from too sudden a change. B vit sound good and maybe antibiotics. I have a very good vet, who accepts I want to do everything i can for my sheep, your vet may need to know that.
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Thanks for all the replies, :thumbsup:
Have put the lambs in a pen next to her, to :fc: reduce the burden on her.
Given her a good dose of pen and strep last night.
She looked perhaps 1% brighter this morning and doesn't rest her head right on the floor now.
Given her a biscuit drench this morning(secretly i think she may have liked it)
Also wormed her with Fasimec Duo wormer and she had her ceto Phyton as normal. Still no interest in eating anything though.
Only thing she is doing which is strange, although there may be the possibility that she has always done it and i've never noticed, she snorkels in her water bucket before drinking ??? literally nose under water and blows bubbles then has a drink. This is soaking her under her jar so isn't easiest to tell if its just water or saliva indicating a tooth problem but theres no lumps bumps or tenderness when poked and prodded around her jaw.
Tempted to go down the vets and get some metacam for her and vit/min jab. Sods law says if i spend £££'s she'll be miles better this afternoon. :-\
Thanks all
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Lou, I use alot of equnine herbs on my sheep, and have a product , pm me ur number and I may be able to post some stuff to you from opened packets
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Have you found any wads of half-chewed cud where she's been lying in the past? I agree with the earlier post that a tooth problem can cause them to go downhill very rapidly.
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Can we have an update please, did she make it?
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by some miracle she is still alive!
From further advice i gave her calciject Wed pm. Wed evening she started to pick at grass ;D
Shes progressing more each day now just slowly. Eating hay and grass now and picking at nuts!
Twins are being bottle fed and are kept in a pen next to her.
Whether she had serious lack of energy as vet suggested or was actually borderline milk fever, who knows!?
Shes been treated for everything and i'll probably never know the exact cause of what was wrong with her.
Just glad shes now on the mend!
Thanks for all the advice and support.
:thumbsup:
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What wonderful news. Hope she continues to improve. Well done.
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That's great news, can you get her out in the sunshine, I find that perks everyone up.
My skinny goat has made a complete turn aroud after the antibiotics, hope it's permanent. :fc:
Speaking to the vet about something else at end of business yesterday, I updated her on Gertie's progress and she said it had cheered a difficult day to get some good news.
Always nice to get updates, even if the news isn't good, we can all learn something from it that way. :)
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Fabulous that she is getting better! Good luck