The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Fishyhaddock on October 25, 2014, 08:41:12 pm
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Hopefully someone can give me a few pointers. One of my glimmers is out of sorts.
Her sidEs appear to be sunken in and slightly more lethargic than the ewes she is in with. I plan to worm her. Should I be doing anything else?
Fishy.
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I'm not really much use for advice but if she's thin, I would be wanting to know:-
is she eating OK?
Can you see the 'rumen wave' on her flanks?
what are her droppings like?
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Fluke?
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VET
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If her sides are sunken then she hasn't enough food in there. Ruminants need to eat or their digestion goes wrong and they become ill very quickly.
Best option is vet, pronto.
If that isn't an option, as a stopgap I might give her a drench of yoghurt, honey, ginger, keep her in with some really lovely hay, and try to tempt her with oatcakes or whatever your sheep have as a treat.
If she's mucky at the back, then worming may be indicated.
If you get her in, put her on clean straw so that you can see what, if anything, is coming out the backend.
Lethargy and not eating could be fluke, could be lacking minerals. Maybe add some Lucozade to that drench, or give her a Twin Lamb drench.
Then vet on Monday.
Good luck :fc:
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Maybe a cobalt/selenium drench too. Hope she better soon and tha the vet can give you some answers x
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Vet, fec and in the short term a twin lamb drench and a few toothsome bits and pices from the hedgerow.
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You could be describing PNEUMONIA so VET
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I agree either that or theres a B/cobalt deficiency x
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What's her ears like?
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Any update on your girl?
:fc:
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If I have anything thats looks odd for longer than a day or two I give it a good dose of long acting alamycin LA, usually sorts it, or you could use Nuflor every day for 3 days, much cheaper than a vet and thats all the vet will give you anyway
Or worm her with a drench that does fluke
if then after all that she hasnt changed try a farmer friend or a vet
Hope she is better soon :fc:
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I'd hazard a guess though if its not pneumonia it s going to be her liver, abs could could make the liver work harder. IMHO, this is why I asked what her ears are like, if they're scaly, there is liver issues. Yes the alamycin would help with pneumonia, but this is why vets should take a look xx
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Thanks everyone.
To cut a long story short we called out the Vet and he diagnosed fluke. There is apparently a lot around and given she began lying down we all agreed that the best for the ewe was to let her go.
This is the first one we have lost to fluke. The vet said that a good indication is to look at the lower eyelids and if pale and the eyeball yellow at the bottom that is a good sign of fluke.
Always learning...
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thanks for sharing :hug:
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Did they have a look at her liver at all? Sorry you lost her.
Dans
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:hug: glad you called the vet. Not the result anybody would want but at least an answer. :hug:
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Sorry you lost her :hug:
Thanks for sharing :-*
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Thank you for the tip about fluke, always learning. :bouquet:
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Pants :hug:
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That's bad luck. It's hard to know if you have a fluke problem until they start to show obvious signs and then it's generally too late. This is our year to give the sheep a white drench and we've upped the dose to fluke strength as a precaution, although we run a closed flock and haven't seen signs of it before, but then last Winter everywhere was wet.
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Aww, thats very sad but thanks for sharing the info on what to look for in her eyes :hug:
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Rip ewe ewe,big hugs xx
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That's bad luck. It's hard to know if you have a fluke problem until they start to show obvious signs and then it's generally too late. This is our year to give the sheep a white drench and we've upped the dose to fluke strength as a precaution, although we run a closed flock and haven't seen signs of it before, but then last Winter everywhere was wet.
A white drench at fluke rate will kill adults and eggs, at this time of year it is immatures that kill so best to use one of the 3 flukicides