[Ladygrey]

Hi there,

Not having a good year for flystrike this year, seriously considering wool-less sheep now..

Anyway 2 days ago picked up a lamb that didnt seem right and looked a bit thin from the distance, he had a large area of strike, down both thighs, all over his backside and underneath past his teats, fairly deep in

I scraped it all off and cleaned him up and covered him in crovect making sure no maggots were left, gave 1ml of alimycin and he seemed to pick up and I popped him back out with his mum and massive sister.

I have been keeping an eye on them but this morning he really doesnt look great, he is not following the rest of the sheep and was just stood with his head down and looks like a little skeleton now

I got a pen made up and went to catch him, however when I tried to catch him he did stand up and slowly walk away, I have put him in the pen and he is now stood there calling for mum

What else can I give him? flystrike area has dried up nicely now, but he just doesnt look good, and is it best to either leave him indoors and wean him off mum as he isnt follwing the flock outside (but I really dont like the idea of another cade) or should I just leave it be outside where he is happiest and if he passes away then he was going to go anyway but maybe has a higher chance of pulling through outside

[Fleecewife]

My first thought is was there something wrong with him before he was struck, which weakened him and caused the flies to attack in the first place.  In that case, that could be why he's failing.
That degree of strike, especially on a small lamb, will cause toxic shock, requiring intense support.
You haven't said how old he is and what you are feeding him in the pen.
He will be pining for his dam, so if he is young, the whole family should be penned up together, but it does sound as if he is past being able to follow her and feed.
Not very helpful, but you will get more suggestions........

[Ladygrey]

Thanks Fleecewife,

Just looked up his tag and he was born on the 22nd April, so that makes him just over 7 weeks old
I do agree with maybe he already had something wrong with him, his sister has thrived and grown up well from day one but he really hasnt and has always been weaker and smaller and not kept up so well

I have put some leafy hay in the pen with him, I dont have any cake on farm as I dont feed it

Mum is a first timer shetland who was meant to go to the shetland ram but she ended up being tupped by the hampshiredown/charollais tup, although she lambed fine on her own outdoors I think having two big lambs ran her down a little and she is a little bit thin but coping fine, I would like to move her on to better grazing but can't with a weak lamb.
however over the last few days of having only one lamb drinking from her she has already picked up, his sister is huge and looks good, so I am tempted to keep him off as his mum and sister do have priority over him....

I am sure he is past being able to feed off her, and I dont really have space to bring the whole lot indoors and not sure how mum would cope as she is flighty and never been indoors before

[ladyK]

So sorry to hear you have problems with flies too, it really is awful...
I would tend to agree with you that bringing mum and sister in might do more harm than good at this stage but then I'm not very experienced so others will have more founded advice.
Feeling for you 

[Ladygrey]

Thanks LadyK, yes it really is horrid when dealing with flystrike, I think this lamb is the worst case I have had as all of the others have been on shoulders, sides, rumps and not into the backside and underneath

I am going to re-spray my lambs I think as it has been a whilst since I did them anyway, going to rub cream into the lambs sores and then put him back outside I think, he has eaten some hay but I think he would prefer to go back out, he must only weigh around 13kilo compared to his sisters 20kilo

[Ladygrey]

lamb is doing much better thought he wouldnt pull through but he did, I put him back outside the same afternoon I brought him in and didnt give him anything else apart from the alimycin so I guess it must have worked