Author Topic: Re: poorly lamb (Read 3253 times)

kelly58 · « **on:** September 16, 2016, 07:45:40 pm »

Wormed Castlemilk sheep on monday night.
All seemed fine next day when l checked them.
Wednesday night checked them after work and one of the lambs ( 12 weeks old )
was in the field shelter away from the others lay down with her legs tucked under her looking sorry for herself

?
Rang vet next morning, he said sometimes after worming it can bring them down , especially if they have worms.
She was up and out this morning but not with the others, checked again when l came in earlier and went over to her, she was near the others but didnt walk off with them as normal. Walked into the field shelter and huddled up in the corner again.
Any ideas please anyone, vet said just let the wormer take its course.
She is the smallest lamb and l gave her 8ml like the others, did l maybe over dose her ?

shep53 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 16, 2016, 08:13:58 pm »

Could be anything PNEAUMONIA / WORM GUT DAMAGE / STRIKE / MINERAL DEFICIENCY (cobolt ) so you probably need to take to vet

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #2 on:** September 16, 2016, 08:28:11 pm »

I don't have a weigh crate but I get someone to stand on the bathroom scales, weigh them, then weigh them again whilst they're holding the relevant sheep (this is not a popular pastime on our farm). The usual advice is to dose for the heaviest lamb/sheep but I do ratchet the dose down for any appreciably smaller than the rest.

kelly58 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 16, 2016, 09:00:56 pm »

She hasnt got strike, they have a mineral bucket.
Will see how she is tomorrow and call the vet.

Fieldfare · « **Reply #4 on:** September 17, 2016, 09:29:08 am »

Have you checked her eyelids for indication of general condition? Pink? or heading towards white? This is a good guide to condition and worm burden (have a look at this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAMACHA).

It may be that she was already heading down due to the worm burden/possibly lack of milk from the mother (some Castlemilk ewes are not very milky). In both cases she will be suffering from malnutrition/dehydration- and if you can address that side of it in addition to worming/fluking(?) you should have a good chance of success. If she is down I would get some milk into her- I have had a lamb down this year (similar to how you describe- and with white eyelids!) and managed to revive/cure it with worming/fluking and 5 days of intensive force-feeding with ewe milk 'paste' (about 100ml 2x per day) plus a drink of diluted minerals with molasses direct into her mouth and ad lib lamb creep. Vet ASAP is of course a good move also in case the above does not apply.
Good luck!

kelly58 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 17, 2016, 10:31:29 am »

Thank you everyone, went out at 6am this morning and she wasnt looking good at all didnt want to get up.
Booked into vets for 9am this morning, have left her there to get fluids into her and do tests,.Vet thinks maybe coccidiosis.
Got to ring at 12.30 will know for sure then.

kelly58 · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2016, 09:08:36 am »

Brought lambie home yesterday afternoon from vets.
She has coccidiosis, got jags and other meds to give for the next 2 days.
My question is..... when l spoke with my brother in law about it who is a farmer he advised to treat the whole flock.
When l asked the vet would that be the case when l first took her in he said no, if the rest are not scouring they are coping with it and will then be immune to it.
Lambie on the other hand is so small and having been wormed too her gut could not cope.
Any thoughts please ?

shep53 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 18, 2016, 12:13:27 pm »

All your sheep ,chickens , dogs , you ,are probably carrying coccidia but they are all under control , your small lamb is weak and maybe has gut wall damage so the coccidia got out of control . So no need to treat everything , hope this helps

kelly58 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 18, 2016, 01:44:04 pm »

Much the same as the vet said, thank you Shep , just wanted to be sure