The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: ladyK on May 30, 2014, 11:51:49 pm
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To my great horror I found my twin Soay ewe lambs (only born on Monday) flystruck this afternoon...
Everything was fine this morning, lunchtime OH noticed noisy ewe in the hedge but forgot to tell me ???
It was about 4pm when I checked them, lambs hiding in hedge , mum 'clucking' around them in a very concerned tone. Once close I saw the flies immediately, and the maggots wriggling once I grabbed the first lamb (YIKES! - my first time with everything, lamb and maggots...) Patches of wriggling maggots on her rump, one patch wet, and loads and loads and loads of egg clusters.
Took her to the bathroom... sprayed with Barrier blowfly spray (non chemical) which erupted maggot patches into wriggling hell, then washed it all down with warm water, then clipped the rump as close as I could (not that much wool on her yet) cleaning out maggos and eggs as I went. Cleaned egg sized patch of raw skin (looked grey rather than red so hope it's broken skin not flesh yet?), another wash with dog's neem oil shampoo, then doused her in the repellent again. She had a few hard caked bits of feaces on her tail and legs, tried to clip those off as well as I could but many bits were so hard and so close to the skin it was really hard to clip. Then returned to mum - then the same procedure with the other twin (this one no wet patch or broken skin, just loads of eggs and maggots wriggling).
Will be checking them a lot more closely now. Though I always had a 'general eye' out for flies all the time, and their mum seemed to be the only ewe so far that attracted flies to her slimy bum after birth (as mentioned in other post - I caught her and doused in repellent, no flies seen near her since - should I be checking her more thoroughly??) - so much for genetic predisposal on fly strike...
The questions that will keep me up at night:
Anything I done wrong?
Anything I missed?
Anything else I should be doing besides checking even more? (surely hard chemicals should not be applied to tiny lambs? I think Crovect stipulates a min weight of 12.5 kg)
Should I douse all lambs in repellent?
What should I look for - if I can't see flies buzzing or signs of discomfort externally could there still be maggots under the fleece?
Grateful as ever for you advice!
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Jeez how awful. That's REALLY young! I'm sure these bloody blowflies are getting worse each year. All happens so quickly doesn't it? Sounds like you've done a pretty thorough job. I certainly wouldn't be happy putting Crovect on such a baby but see what other, more experienced people say. Good luck.
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<<... so much for genetic predisposal on fly strike...>>
??? ??? Soay get fly strike just as much as any other breed, especially the 50% which have a tendency to sticky bums. I so wish there wasn't this misinformation doing the rounds about primitives.
I wouldn't apply Crovect until the lambs are at least a month old, and then sparingly around the tail area only.
Meantime check every day until you are sure they are maggot-free. Search right down to skin level all over them as new tiny maggots can be hard to find. Check over the mother too, as she may well have some.
The flies and maggots are disgusting as you've found, as once one fly has laid on an animal, all its chums will come to add to the party, until the animal is dead. Well done for removing them all so thoroughly.
You may want/need to apply a soothing cream such as Sudocrem to the affected area if the skin is damaged. It's possible they will need an antibiotic - in fact after that degree of strike I think they will. Watch them carefully for adverse effects.
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Would battles maggot oil be ok on them Fleecewife? I know I got away with using just this last year on a struck wether (it soothed and got shot of the wiggly little beasties and seemed to have an element of deterrant too)
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Lambs seem fine this morning, lively and apparently unaffected by their ordeal. :fc:
Will be keeping a very close eye on them for now, and check them over again later.
FW - with 'genetic predisposal' I wasn't referring to Soay genes generally, but to the fact that sure enough it's the one ewe who attracted flies after birth that has the only lambs affected by flies, and both of them too.
The other lambs had mucky bums for the first few days too, and ewes had slimy backsides too but no flies attacked them...
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Nature can be so cruel at times.
I am so pleased that both lambs seem to be ok LadyK. :thumbsup:
I had a lamb struck last year but at least she was 6 months old. I was horrified to find the maggots and her skin was broken in several places. She had clik applied earlier on but by Oct it had worn off and I thought the risk was over >:(
After getting as many of the nasties off as I could find I put crovect on her to get rid of anything else. It worked really well, and apart from looking awful where I cut her fleece back and the sores were, she seemed to be pretty unaffected.
I clik'd this years lambs a couple of weeks ago as they weighed the minimum 10k, but the local farmer was surprised I had done it so early. It means I will probably do them again later this year to risk a repeat of last Oct.
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OMG - so sorry LadyK. The thought of strike horrifies me and I'm really scared I might miss it or won't be able to catch one of my girls if they are struck. Our Soay have never been struck (had them about 4 yrs) but when we went to collect our girls the breeder had a lamb that had been stuck in a fence and had been struck. It looked awful.
Have you put the ewe and lambs in a pen? ...... so you can catch them if you need to check them out. Can't catch some of our lambs by a few days old even with children and OH helping. :fc: you won't need to though.
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Would battles maggot oil be ok on them Fleecewife? I know I got away with using just this last year on a struck wether (it soothed and got shot of the wiggly little beasties and seemed to have an element of deterrant too)
Hi Plums
Sorry but I've never used Battles maggot oil - always makes me think of snake oil :D so I know nothing about it. I'm all for avoiding harmful chemicals where possible, as long as the animals still get the best care. When you have only a few sheep it is far easier to keep a close eye on them and not have to rely on the chemical option. Do you know what the active ingredients are in maggot oil?
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Lambs seem fine this morning, lively and apparently unaffected by their ordeal. :fc:
Will be keeping a very close eye on them for now, and check them over again later.
FW - with 'genetic predisposal' I wasn't referring to Soay genes generally, but to the fact that sure enough it's the one ewe who attracted flies after birth that has the only lambs affected by flies, and both of them too.
The other lambs had mucky bums for the first few days too, and ewes had slimy backsides too but no flies attacked them...
I'm so glad the lambs are full of beans this morning - your treatment yesterday was clearly good.
I see what you mean, but I think it's more likely that the ewe having been struck meant that her lambs perhaps carried the smell on them so would be targeted by more flies. It sounds as if the maggots had hatched a few days previously. It's definitely worth watching both this ewe and her lambs for a tendency to be the one who gets struck in future years.
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Hi, my pet ewe ( one of 4 pets) first got fly strike 3 years ago, this is my first wee flock and just learning so I was virtually sick when I saw the wriggling mass. unfortunately by the time I knew what it was it was fretty bad and a wound about 2 adult hand sizes, really nasty. I didn't have crovect but a neighbour vet told me to rinse thoroughly with dilute savlon, not detoll because that stings,but savlon does the same without hurting apparently.Well you should have seen the little critters jump ship. The wound healed a treat, and the strike was completely eradicated. I used crovect the following year and she still got struck. I cured it with savlon again, crovect seems to have done the trick this year. I would be interested to know if anyone else has used savlon.
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We ve had one struck lamb, he's now recovering, all lambs going to be crovected today.
My biggest concern when touching the sheep in this weather be they big or small is that they will sweat where they ve been touched, as well as when they have damp bums, it's a horrible thing, hope your bubs continue to mend xx
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Would battles maggot oil be ok on them Fleecewife? I know I got away with using just this last year on a struck wether (it soothed and got shot of the wiggly little beasties and seemed to have an element of deterrant too)
Hi Plums
Sorry but I've never used Battles maggot oil - always makes me think of snake oil :D so I know nothing about it. I'm all for avoiding harmful chemicals where possible, as long as the animals still get the best care. When you have only a few sheep it is far easier to keep a close eye on them and not have to rely on the chemical option. Do you know what the active ingredients are in maggot oil?
I don't unfortunately, I can't find it online and I've run out - It smells of lemons though so probably essential oils like lemongrass? not sure. I've used crovect on all of mine this year as we started to get a lot of interest from blowflies a few weeks back.
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I've read that the active ingredient is citronella
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It's P-menthane-3,8-diol.
Comes from some sorts of eucalyptus trees.
Has some antiseptic and insect-repellent properties, poisonous to some aquatic beasties.
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If the maggots are entering the skin they've chomped through the muck and are several days old. Citronella oil, on unbroken skin, can mask most smells but will need to be reapplied if they get wet. Most lambs have some muck around their backsides at some point over the first couple of weeks, which is why lambing in March/April is a good idea - the flies haven't usually got going that early and it gives the muck a chance to firm up because they're eating a fair amount of grass by the time they do.
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Thank you all for the support and advice - I really need it...
You are right of course, the more often you have to handle them the harder it gets to catch them... Haven't been able to catch them again to have a real close look, damn!! (caught the other 2 lambs though and doused them in the Barrier repellant (which has the same repelling ingredient, among others, as the Maggot Oil, btw)
I have a moveable pen made of hurdles, but I know that an adult Soay can jump them no problem if panicked, so not sure how safe it would be to pen them there for a longer period? :thinking:
Both lambs are still lively, and no flies to be seen anywhere near so they do seem fine BUT the do turn and nibble their backs somtimes, just now and then, but it worries me. So I'm in for another lamb catching session - it's feeding time soon so maybe more luck this time around.
If I do find more eggs/maggots on them can I use Frontline on them? If it's OK for cats it might be OK for tiny lambs? I think I read somewhere it would kill maggots but can't find that reference anymore - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Sorry can't help with what to put on them. Maybe if you give your vet a ring he/ she can give you some advise on the phone.
They can't half move those Soay lambs. :o If mum will go with lambs into the pen, you can probably get close enough to pick up and check. Have you got a crook? Our neighbour gave us a small one of his ..... he said we'd need it to catch the lambs. He was right. Don't know much about crooks ... might be one intended for hooking back legs of adult sheep. It does work if they are in a smallish area and you can get pretty close.
Have you got a stock trailer? I know its not ideal but we popped a ewe and twins in one for a short while when one lamb needed treatment for a few days. She kept escaping from our field shelter .... you wouldn't have thought she could get out but managed it. It was only way of keeping her contained until treated.
Good luck :fc:
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Caught all three of them - mum and twins. I focussed on catching the ewe, put her in the pen, and then it was just a matter of waiting quietly until the lambs got close enough to catch too... took a while but I got them.
They are all definitely free from any maggots or eggs, I checked very very carefully. Relief!
I checked them all 3 times over, cleaned up the old crusty bits on her behind, treated the lambs sore patches with sudocrem (healing very nicely, all dried up), and doused them in more Barrier repellant.
Then I let them go. I really didn't think it would be a good idea to leave them in the pen overnight, if she tries to escape jumping (I know they can!) she might hurt her udder or something. I don't really have any better way to contain them at the moment. I also think being shut in, even in the pen, would stress them even more, and stressed animals are more suceptible to everything.
I feel much better just for knowing that my cleanup yesterday was indeed effective, and lambs look perfectly lively so I do think they are OK. Will keep a very close eye of course :fc:
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Things to look out for are, first of all, flies around the sheep. Nibbling, nabbing and sudden, sharp movements are all likely signs. I see the weather's supposed to stay mild and the nights not be as cold as of late - fly season is definitely here!
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A job well done LadyK :thumbsup: And you've clearly got the hang of this sheep psychology lark 8)
I agree, shutting them in a hurdle pen overnight would not be a good idea. If the dam jumped out the lambs would be left behind, and if the lambs squeezed out through a gap then they would be alone and vulnerable. It is a good idea to bring sick animals into a proper pen indoors, if you have one, just so they're available for treatment, but no point if you don't have one.
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:thumbsup: Good news.
Yes, far better out in the field unless they really need daily treatment. Only pen our Soay if it's essential for their well being.
Hope all goes smoothly now. ;D Enjoy ;D
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Quick thinking, well done. I would keep an eye on all the ewes and lambs, anyway it'll be shearing time soon.
You could spray the ewes and lambs with maybe tea tree and water, after you've clipped them, that should keep the flys away. I have never, ever encountered this problem before. :dunce:
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Threads like this are priceless…. well done lady K and its so nice to read the back up from everyone...
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Yes, thanks for posting this LadyK.
We were planning on lambing about this time next year .... quite a bit later than we have done previously. We hadn't considered possibly increasing the risk of fly strike by ewes with wet post-lambing bums and sticky bummed lambs (which we always get). So, are now re-thinking.
Thanks .... posts like this help everyone.
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We start lambing in feb, we did consider pushing them out further and lambing later, but glad now we stuck with earlier lambing, so glad they're feeling better xx
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??? ??? Soay get fly strike just as much as any other breed, especially the 50% which have a tendency to sticky bums.
It's the ewe's job to keep baby lamb's bums clean, so if ewe's aren't doing that job then cull them. Sorry :) . I've noticed that some ewes are just negligent in that respect, and will fail to clean their young year after year. Having to clean sticky bums has got to be one of the worst jobs ever, so that's why I've added this to my "reasons to cull" list. :)
btw, well done LadyK :)
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we have downs and lamb in about jan/feb so no flys.
and there getting used to the grass by spring proper.
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It wasn't my plan to lamb so late - it was the sheeps' own plan: my ram stays in with the ewes all year. So the ewes decided when their time for cycling was. If the ram had not been in before and I had put him in with them 'earlier' I doubt the timing would have been different? I realise this doesn't apply to many other breeds, and I know that cycling can be manipulated but this is not something I would want to do.
So I will have to live with having to be extra vigilant - in hindsight, when I saw flies on the mum after birth (she wasn't struck as such and I put repellant on her at once and the flies backed off) I should have recognized the danger of flies switching to her lambs.
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How are they doing now LadyK?
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They are fine! :)
Caught them again yesterday (it does get harder and harder...), trying to keep the scabbed skin moisturized, it's now cracking a bit but looks like there is healthy skin underneath, nothing oozing. So hopefully they will continue to heal well. :fc: They are certainly bouncy!
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Great news. certainly sounds as if they will be fine now :thumbsup: