[marigold]

One of my Shetland ewes (about 4 years old) came down with twin lamb disease on Tuesday.  Never having had it before we called the vet. He said that she had been made more susceptible because she has the underlying condition of jaagsiekte Or sheep pulmonary adenomatosis. A double shock  He thought that we had a minimal chance of getting the lambs born. He gave her a couple of jags one of which was calcium and left us a bottle of glucose to feed her slowly. He said that it was unlikely she would stand up again. She improved quite a lot and despite my fears she delivered the lambs easily and they are now 18 hours old. They are incredibly skinny and little. I am now concerned about supplement ing their feed. Vet said that we should and she does seem to be struggling to stand for long and she isn't eating yet. I've given her half a litre of ewe replacement milk twice as I figured that it has all of the vitamins that she needs and I have an open bag. She is drinking water. My concern is that if I feed the lambs too much they'll not get enough colostrum from the mother. Any thoughts folks?

[Moleskins]

If the lambs have suckled they will have had colostrum but if in doubt try to milk some off the ewe and give it them from a bottle, or buy and feed them some replacement colostrum. They should however have had it sooner than 18 hours old.

[marigold]

Thanks. I'm sure they've got some.  I sat and watched them suckle. It's the amount that I've been worrying about because the books say they need about a int each but the syringe I have from the supplier recommends 4 ml of that. It's a bit confusing. The book says that the quantity needed is as much for heat as anything else. They are all in a pen inside.

[Moleskins]

I've just Googled this disease and as it's contagious I would have thought that there's a risk to the lambs catching it from the ewe. Is it something to consider taking them off the ewe and getting rid of her sharp style. According to what I've read the virus which causes the condition is transmitted ( it's thought ) by the fluids which come out of the nose. Bearing in mind that this is a lung condition and that's where the fluids originate. The vet does a wheelbarrow test, lifting the legs of the animal to drain off fluid from the lungs as part of the diagnosis.

[marigold]

Think I might ring the vet and ask him. I read that too and he did the wheelbarrow test. But when he was giving us instructions he seemed very keen that we keep her alive long enough to mother the lambs a bit. He said that most flocks have the disease but that you don't often see it as they go off to slaughter before it shows. He said that there wasn't much risk to the rest of our flock.  It doesn't sound good though when you read about it. I wonder if it's another thing which we as smallholders need to think about differently from commercial flocks? It is horrible to see her so ill and know that there's a chance that she is passing it on to her lambs

[shep53]

I would advise get the lambs onto a bottle right away ,and get the ewe put down ,she is suffering and slowly dying . she is also passing out massive infection to her lambs any any other sheep in the fluid ( same  as a person sneezing )  IF you have jaagsiekte  in your flock belive me you know it  and by the time you are certain a ewe has it she is not fit to sell .  I used to give all my cases to the MORDUN INSTITUTE to collect fluid from. PLEASE don't under estimate it

[marigold]

Thanks - i'll think about your advice and phone the vet in the morning. I guess i am thinking that we have had her in the flock while she has been developing the illness and i have her lamb from last year. The stats say that outdoor flocks in Scotland are likely to have a 2 - 10% incidence following a diagnosis. So whatever we do just now we have a problem that needs to be dealt with in the future. Vet said that it is called 'driving disease' because farmers drive sheep from one field to the next and pick the 4-5 slowest ones for slaughter which keeps the sick ewes out of the breeding flock.
I really hope that our experience will be useful for others to read - I am posting this because i couldn't find any other blogs / forums on line where smallholders have dealt with this problem.
So - i'll let you know what the vet says - also my husband is away for a couple of days which means that all decision making is more difficult. ( Feeble eh?)

[marigold]

Hi shep - did you manage to eradicate the disease from your flock?
I'd be grateful to hear more. Went to see the vet this morning and don't feel very much clearer.

[shep53]

Sorry no.  The sheep used to develop full symptoms at 3yrs + but up until then had been spreading it to other sheep and their own lambs . In some flocks sheep as young as 18mths can develop full symptoms

[in the hills]

marigold- so sorry you have this disease in your flock. Very new to sheep keeping so thank you for posting and as you say helping others to understand it. It must be really difficult dealing with this on your own. Hopefully we can give you a bit of support.

[marigold]

update - Ewe and twins doing fine and all looking very healthy.
They are now all outside again. we created a pen for them away from the others with good new grass and mum is eating properly again. the lambs are suckling and we are supplementing the feeding.
Mum has no mucus and it is difficult to imagine that she is ill. The vet says that Moredun is developing a test for  Jaagsiekte but there isn't one at the moment. Advising us to send her for a postmortem if she dies (apparently it only costs £25) A postmortem would be conclusive - she looks nowhere near that now. She even ate a large piece of my daughter's 18th birthday cake today. - i was taking it to the hens and she looked interested so i gave it to her.
Goodness knows whats going on and i have my fingers crossed that the vet misdiagnosed Jaagsiekte.
The vet in the practice who is the sheep expert is back from holiday next week and will come and take a look.
Will let you know