[Hillview Farm]

Hello

I've got a 3 month old ewe lamb that I had to bottle feed from four weeks old as her mother was victim to a dog attack and she was destroyed due to the damage they were all weaned from milk about 3 weeks ago (been outside since 3 weeks old. she is now looking slightly bloated, about an inch to an inch and a half larger than her sides if you look down on her.

she is on nuts (do I stop feeding this??) which she eats twice a day but she is hot to touch and breaths fairly hard. she had this before when she was on milk so I cut her milk back and was fine.

Is this bloat?? (never seen it before)
How do I help her?
would she have to go for the chop?
would it be fair to keep her? (if no to the question above)

[SallyintNorth]

If it's bloat then her sides will feel hard, like a very well blown up / overblown balloon. 

And you won't see her chewing the cud, nor will you see her rumen working (the 'rumen wave' every 30 seconds or so) nor see/hear her belch.  If it is bloat, she'll become increasingly uncomfortable, and may even start kicking at or head-butting her stomach.

Chances are she's just got a gutful of grass making her tummy look big

Don't let her have too much cake in one go, but if she's just getting a handful at a time, that shouldn't cause her any harm.

[Marches Farmer]

Is she on long grass?  Is it covered in dew in the mornings?  One or both can cause bloat, especially in lambs.  Can you keep her inside and on hay until the grass dries out later in the morning?

[Hillview Farm]

It does seem to vary on size day to day. I will monitor her as I can't say I've seen her cudding etc

It seems to go down to the underside of her belly?!?

Grass is fairly short and sadly I dOnt have any grazing near my barn ATM :/

Hope your right Sally and she's just pigging out too much!

[OhLaLa]

I've had Podgy midriff lambs before that have been fine, but have just gone through Bloat for the first time with one of mine.

First sign here was lethargy and larger sides to his tum. Check your lamb over, watch her in the field to see how she behaves compared with the others. Look down on her back and see if she is larger on one side than the other. Our chap's Bloat came on fast.

To make things trickier I have never heard any of my flock belch or pass wind, ever. Proper little poshies my lot are........

[Hillview Farm]

Right, I've been to check her and put my head to her gut and listened and I could hear a ripple sort of noise every 30 ish seconds. Her gut has been larger on one side a few times and I spoke to the herdsman at the dairy and he recommended I give her some yogurt to up her 'flora' levels, Does that sound ok?

[SallyintNorth]

Yes, absolutely.  Live / priobiotic yoghurt. 

[Hillview Farm]

As ever, thank you very much I will get her some! Just been out for an evening stroll after a stressful day and went to see them and she was having a good old cud!! 

[Hillview Farm]

So last night I gave her 60ml of my mums homemade live yogurt and this morning she looks normally sized in the gut.

Thank you Sally once again for your advice! And thanks everyone for educating me some more!