Author Topic: Dead lamb this morning  (Read 2785 times)

Kola70

  • Joined Apr 2011
Dead lamb this morning
« on: May 04, 2011, 09:16:29 am »
All was well last night after final check and went to the field this morning to find one lamb "missing". Went over to the creep feeder and found a very ill looking lamb on its side, hardly breathing and tongue hanging out. Before I could get a vet out it had died and I have not got a clue why. All the others look bonnie, but that does not seem to carry much sway when you experience something like this! Gutted and not sure what to do. Have the expense of a post mortem or mark it down to experience.

The lamb was three weeks old and as I say should no symptoms last night!

Any thoughts from you more experienced sheep hands? Would be much appreciated.

Fowgill Farm

  • Joined Feb 2009
Re: Dead lamb this morning
« Reply #1 on: May 04, 2011, 09:34:55 am »
Don't know where you are but sounds like dehydration brought on by exessive heat, have the lambs shade? Chances are it became disorinetated from its mum so couldn't get a drink and was by the feeder trying to find a cool spot to lay,  I know all the lambs round us take to the hedgeback in the heat of the day to get out of the sun, their mums do too as we've been have temperatures in the twenties and of course nobody shears up here until around end June.
Awful thing to happen.
Mandy  :pig:

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: Dead lamb this morning
« Reply #2 on: May 04, 2011, 10:24:19 am »
These things do happen, could be dehydration or may have bloated out on creep also are you vaccinated with heptovac-p, we lost lambs one year due to not vaccinating in time and correctly

humphreymctush

  • Joined Jul 2010
  • orkney
Re: Dead lamb this morning
« Reply #3 on: May 04, 2011, 10:34:12 am »
Lambs will always find new ways to die. This year for the first time I had one drown in the water trough. Over the years the turf has risen around the trough so it easily jumped in but the trough was too deep for it to get out. I chucked a concrete block in as a step up, so hopefully it wont happen again. Either way I to expect to loose a couple of lambs each year. If lots die the same way then its a flock problem that needs to be addressed. I had an out break of coccisidiosis once and lots died, but the odd one is always to be expected.

 

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