The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Hillview Farm on February 14, 2014, 10:00:39 pm
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Hello all,
I have had the worse 36 hours ever in my life! Checked some sheep I have at 10am on Thursday morning. At 11.35 I had a call saying there was a dog attacking my sheep. I raced up there as fast as I could and the bloke who had seen the dog (a boxer dog) pointed me in the direction of the injured sheep, went over and not only was there one attacked sheep but there was four.
Vet rushed over while we collected the sheep from all four corners of the 13 acre field, police called etc. The Police went to a very local house to see a boxer dog inside with red around its mouth, photos taken and a statement given today as to the description of the dog by the witness, at the moment the police wont say if that dog matches the witness's statement but they are having a meeting with some very high up people of the police, dog warden etc etc .
The injuries are awful! I have a Shetland ewe who I thought was in lamb (confirmed this evening by the vet when he scanned her) She may loose her lambs. The dog has nearly ripped her ear off, slit her throat open and is very weak on her feet.
The rest have extensive damage to their noses. One is not so bad but two are serious. The dog has ripped there noses down to the skull and ripped another's ear nearly off (hanging on)
The vet has said to leave the ears as they are at the moment and they will die off naturally. There are some really bad bites to their legs which are starting to get a bit weepy so we are now having to clean off daily with hibi scrub. They are all apart from the Shetland trying to eat as best as they can and are drinking. All on Metacam for the swelling and pain and on antibiotics daily. The vet said they are likely to make it but only to be slaughtered. I will do the best thing by them and I wont keep them going if there in pain but I cant help but think he is thinking in a commercial farmers way.
My questions are:
How long would it take if the Shetland was to abort? Vet said it was too early to tell.
Does anyone here know of or have any sheep that cope without an ear? Do flies bother them? I think this is the main reason the vet thinks they should be slaughtered when fit.
Sorry for the long post and thank you to LadyGrey for her support over this heart breaking time!
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Sorry cant get any photos to load atm
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I have no answers but just wanted to say gutted to hear this. Totally awful news.
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cant help don't have sheep but saw the pics earlier that rosemary linked to on FB and i have to say i feel for you and your sheep...
i hope it all gets sorted and the sheep make a good recovery...
:bouquet: :sheep: :bouquet:
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I have had sheep get by without ears but they are not always happy --flies/sense of balance seems to be affected?
But sheep are very resilient ---I had one injured in a dog attack a couple of years ago who was gashed across the face as in your pics and had its front leg almost severed. The dog had slashed it under the 'armpit' and cut through much muscle, she was heavily pregnant
I stitched her up as best I could and she slowly made progress (left in the field) --she lambed and raised 1 lamb before I culled her
Good luck, make the dog owner pay---cost your time @ £20/hr as you are a professional, cost the vet at emergency rate, cost stress and loss of income etc etc
I have made successful claims before and never had to go to court-- a quiet word from a policeman usually makes the owners see sense
Good luck....
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Hi sorry to hear this dog attacks are horrific. I am a vet and have attended several similar attacks and have found that in the main injuries such as those described heal well. I have seen many sheep with various degrees of ears missing and most have coped well. The facial injuries again usually heal well, I have attended ewes with the skin from the ears down, all hanging like a curtain at the nostrils - stitched back on - fine. Persevere, keep everything clean and keep up the antibiotics and pain killers.
If the Shetland doesn't abort in the next 12 hrs or so she probably wont. If you are able to take particular care over a one eared sheep with strike treatments etc in summer I'm sure she will be fine.
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Hello there. Sheep are amazingly good at healing, especially as there is no risk of maggots at the moment. If they are used to being handled then cold hosing the affected areas for 10 minutes 2-4x daily will greatly increase the speed of healing. A garden sprayer works if you have no access to a tap. I've healed horrific horse wounds this way with minimal scarring. As the tissue will be bruised & torn expect the wounds to get bigger and the edges to go green as the damaged tissue dies off - and smells dead - you may need to get the vet to tidy this up. Then in about 10days time it will start to look pink and in another few days start to contract rapidly to be nearly healed in 4weeks.
For the ears I would just spray with antibiotic spray. They wont look beautiful but will be fine!
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So sorry to hear this :bouquet: must be an awful site.
Wounds heal quickly. The biggest factor in any animal with bites is infection so flush, flush , flush with salty water and/or hibiscrub. Don't be frightened to give the wounds a good rub each time to take away the dead cells and exudate and leave room for new cells/skin. The ear flap is only there to help protect the ear bits inside so don't worry too much about how they look. :fc: for your pregnant ewe to hold. And good luck with them.
Edited to correct autocorrect ::)
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OMG. How awful for you and the sheep
:fc: that they all recover
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Sorry to hear about your truly AWFUL news. :hug: :hug: :bouquet: :bouquet:
Very encouraging words from Tim W and others.
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How horrendous, so sorry to hear this. We had a lamb last year lose half an ear after getting stuck in fencing, she was ok in the end once the ear had healed. She did it in the height of summer so sunburn etc was an issue as were flies, but kept it covered with sudocrem. She went for slaughter in the end but the half ear didn't affect her. Hope all your sheep recover and the police can help prosecute the dog owner :(
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Feel for you
As well as the issue of compensation I think there's also the issue of the dogs long term future especially if it llives locally bad enough to happen once but I think you need to be re assured in what ever way that it won't happen again
Hope all goes Well
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Terrible news, I hope your sheep recover I would be so so mad if this happened to me
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Thank you everyone for your kind words. It is encouraging to hear that others have had ears missing and coped but equally if they suffer I will do the best thing by them. Extra fly prevention is not a problem.
Thank you vets for your advice, will get a spray bottle today as I don't think they would stand for a hosing. Would a mix of salt water and hibiscrub be ok?
Tim, if it's possible can I contact you at some point this weekend to have a little chat. As the vet will write in the report that they need slaughtering I will want to claim the loss of use of these breeding sheep as obviously they are worth more to me by breeding than to slaughter.
Things are looking a lot better this morning and the shock has passed them. Will keep everything crossed!!
I will be going to all the local papers, radio station, it's all over Facebook with a lot of positive comments and I will be making leaflets to put through the locals doors including the owners door with all the pictures. Very positive the police have enough evidence against this dog. Should know more on Monday!
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Give me a bell---details on website
Also try NSA as they have a publicity campaign about this issue and may be keen to help in any prosecution
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Thank you very much tim! Will contact NSA during the week!
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awful :bouquet: Hope things improve soon. Re pinning the blame on a particular dog and too late in this case here the police can request a vet to induce the accused dog to vomit if found shortly after an attack but there is still some doubt over liability. Evidence of fleece etc brought back can be considered definative especially if a destruction order is requested.
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Utterly horrendous for you and the sheep - but as others have said, they are resilient creatures and many survive perfectly well with pieces missing from ears etc.
Shock and infection are the main things to worry about now and you're doing all the right things there. Make sure they are eating and drinking - if any are listless get some water (with a bit of glucose in if you like) into their mouths. They must drink when they've had injuries like this.
I hate to say it, but in my experience any abortion may not be immediate, and/or there could be dead or malformed lambs born downstream. Just concentrate on keeping her fit and active, nature will take its course. Hopefully a tough little primitive type will hold onto her lamb(s) and pop and rear it/them in due course :fc:
I know how upset I was when a good ewe with twin lambs at foot died of shock after what we believe was a minor run-in with a dog that was playing (no malice intended) with her lambs. And when a boy racer ploughed through some of our sheep on the road, killing and maiming five. It takes a long time to get over it :hug: :bouquet:
Fingers crossed your ladies recover and give you many more years. They are lucky to have an owner who clearly will put their welfare first. :-*
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When claiming compensation work out the consequential loss, particularly if they are home bred pedigrees. I once did this for a neighbour whose dog ran my sheep. On the basis that I can expect one of my home-bred pedigree, registered Southdowns to have twins for at least seven years, and assuming that half are rams, some of which will be suitable for breeding, and half ewes which will themselves have twin lambs from the age of two onwards the mathematics get quite interesting, specially when you apply the Southdown Sheep Society upset prices for breeding stock. When I told the neighbour he sheep, being from a closed, pedigree rare breed flock, were irreplaceable and I would be suing him for around £15K per sheep he went quite white and the dog was on a lead from then on.
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:bouquet: So, so sorry.
Did the police get a sample of the blood from the dog's mouth? If not, why not? Push the OIC on that one as it could be your actual proof. >:( .
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Sadly not as the owners were not home and the dogs were inside. If my witness in his statement matches the same dog then they said that will be good enough to do them for it.
Sally, Just gone to give the little ewe some glucose and the bloody mice have had a part with it and p**sed all over it :rant: And It was cleaned out on Thursday morning so they have done it since then. We gave her 90ml of water. Shall I get some Lucozade and give it to her flat?
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Yes, Lucozade :)
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Just had a look at your sheep's injuries and I think if you can keep them from getting infections they will recover. I found the pictures very hard to look at best of luck :fc:
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The poor loves. Wishing them all a speedy recovery x
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I am in tears seeing the injuries - how sad :(
Does you nieghbour have any morals and wants to help - law dont get far these days :(
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It took me 24hours for it to sink in, I went in on Friday morning and was just outside the pen on my knees balling my eyes out, Every time I see them I have a little cry. I try to run my flock as a business but I cant help but see then as my Pets.
There is a wether I got from Ladygrey. He has the worse facial injuries and is facing loosing his ear, He was to be slaughtered but I got attached to him and he became 'Nanny Jack' He looks after the ewe lambs as I find an adult in the flock helps. :fc: he can still be nanny Jack.
Will pop to the petrol station and get a bottle of Lucozade!
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Dogs are a big problem with us. Last year we had a number still born/aborted late in term which we believe to be due some lampers, although can never prove that. A couple of months ago we had a tup lamb get attacked who was never the sharpest in the bunch, so wasn't really surprising it was him that got caught first. He had one ear ripped clean off flush with the skull and the other one skinned. Most of the second ear fell off later on, He also had a hole in his neck which any grass he chewed came straight out of for a few days. He was a bit shaken for probably a week and spent a fair bit of that time looking a bit sorry for himself. All we did was keep them clean as best as we could and iodine them. Its amazing how quickly they recover as long as they are making the effort. We knew based on his normal behaviour if we couldn't catch him, he would be fine.
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Did he cope with only having a bit of one ear left? Do they act normal and was his balance affected? Is he still with you or has he moved on?
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He is still with us. He was a bottle fed lamb that never really gained enough to go in the autumn and this set him back a bit more so we decided to keep him until spring if it ever arrives. Now he's almost where we would expect him to be considering the wet weather, fits in well with the rest of the flock, is as normal as he ever was and has no balance issues whatsoever. The ear he had left was skinned from base to tip with the upper half hanging off. That fell a few days after and the rest rounded off. Must have been sore but survived fine, even though he as struggling with the hole in his throat as well. We have another two ewes with various bits of ears missing unfortunately for the same reason and they are also fine.
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How awful :hug: there but for the grace of god go us all. So sorry it was your turn so to speak but you sound really caring and the sheep have the best possible chance.
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Just seen this - OMG :hug:
You're getting good advice and doing all the right things. :hug: :hug: and one for the sheep too :hug: I hope they all recover.
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Did he cope with only having a bit of one ear left? Do they act normal and was his balance affected? Is he still with you or has he moved on?
The flap is superficial. The ear mechanics are within the skull. I know the injuries are horrific to look at but the hearing or balance will not be affected by an ear flap injury. Try to concentrate on the cleaning of the wounds and getting food and water into them. A glucose dose and multivitamin can help. The infection from bites and shock is what does damage.
Wish I could help more :hug:
Edited to say pain relief is essential to keep the sheep eating and wanting to carry on as are antibiotics and washing the wounds to keep flushing out the bacteria :hug:
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You Have all been a massive help!! Just waiting due my OH to get his back side into gear and we will go down to see them. Last night the little in lamb ewe was digging up the straw, I've prayed to god that she is just trying to get comfortable and she's not looking to lamb. :(
They are having Pain relief everyother day
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:hug: . Don't know if it is true, but I've heard that willow contains natural painkiller. Mine certainly like eating as many willow shoots as I can provide, they nibble at the bark and it keeps them occupied if nothing else :D . :fc: for a good recovery.
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Good point Bramblecot - yes I think the bark contains a precursor of aspirin?
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Willow does indeed contain the precursor for aspirin. Aspirin is salicylic acid, and willows belong to the family Salix .
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Update*
They are all now eating (well picking at food) Including the Shetland ewe. She has not lost her lambs as of yet so :fc: she carries them full term and they are healthy.
The Shetland ewe's ear has gone cold but seems to have bonded back together so we will have to have the vet out again to have a look. The other ear is still warm so it may be saved but it is NOT smelling very nice at all!! Vet is needed!
Feeling very Down in the dumps :(
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:hug: Try to keep your chin up and :fc:
Dog bites always look worse before they get better, the infection and dead cells are coming away as the new ones grow. Just keep washing,washing,washing and don't be shy to give the areas a damn good rub to get rid of all that gooey mess, there will be nice healthy tissue appearing under it in a few days.
Glad they are starting to eat, sounds like they are over the shock stage at least.
:fc: that your pregnant Shetland holds.
The ear flap that is back together may be fine. It may be that the hot ear is more infected so is 'heated up' while the fight on the infection is going on, so dont give up on either flap
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What a horrible experience for you and your ewes, I hope they make a good recovery and quickly. You've had so much good advice already that the only thing I can add to it is that meadowsweet also contains high doses of salicylic acid and if you collect and dry it in the summer it is safe for your livestock to eat. It can also be added to a lotion base or coconut oil to make a topical pain killer for soothing sores or injuries for yourself and the animals.
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They have got through the worst of the shock and are still doing well despite some terrrible injuries time heals :bouquet:
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It's amazing what TLC can achieve :bouquet: - for animals and us ;) .
My sheep all prefer coarse mix to nuts, and tidbits can be pickings from the hedgerow, or even digestive/ginger biscuits (ok, I know it is not good for their teeth in the long run). Anything to make them feel better and give them the will to pull through. And the meds will do the physical healing. It will not be quick but the signs are promising :fc: .
Whatever it costs, slap it on the bill for the dog owner.
Just heard the news that a dog has killed a 6 day old baby in Wales :'( . I wouldn't want to be dealing with that.
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Its been a few days. How are they Hillview?
I'm doing an essay on wound healing and I found a "wound healing continuum" which, if I can find a link I'll post. In short wounds heal quickest in a warm, moist (not dry or wet) environment. - not all smell is infection, sometimes its proteins in exudate breaking down. Puss probably is infection. As is heat (not warmth - that's good). Pain is hard to tell on sheep but if they are anything like people then, as already posted, getting rid of it is good for their overall wellbeing - in practical terms they feel well enough to eat and try to get better. People resist using antibiotics because the bugs build up a resistance to the antibiotics but that's for just this occasion - animal bites deliver lots of bugs deep into the tissue so (obviously take advice from your vet) but don't hold back the antibiotics - especially if they start to run a temperature.
I wish the essay was this quick. Now to find the continuum thingy link...