[Sr142012]

Morning all,

Just after a little bit of advice.. I will be calling vets Monday morning but just wanted others views also.

3 of my ewes have developed a cough, quite a chesty cough and have had it for around a month or so. Two have lambs at foot and the other is a around a year old. All wormed with Rycoben SC around end of Feb by a local shepherd following his advice. My plan is to complete a FEC count moving forward for the others with regard to worming.

I have separated those coughing from the others in the flock ( the other two it’s a small flock 😂) who are absolutely fine. All are in good condition despite two having recently lambed. Anyone got any thoughts on what it could be? There’s only so much I can learn from books etc but hoping to speak to someone who has experience?

Grass is looking abit sorry for itself so they are having good quality haylage and ewe nuts for those with lambs.

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated please..

[shep53]

First guess would be lung worm which Rycoben  should have killed  , a FEC  should tell you if lungworm in the sheep and /or worms are still present ,which would mean either the dose amount was to small ,the product was compromised eg frost ,sun  ,out of date  or your sheeps worms are resistant to white wormer . If non of the above then it may be a more serious problem

[SallyintNorth]

Our vet told us that although lungworm will be cleared by a wormer, they can come back within 3 weeks.  So from your dates, it's possible that it is lungworm, the Rycoben worked, but they've reinfested.  In general sheep don't show much clinical sign of lungworm, so if they are affected it might suggest there is something else going on too, which is making them less able to withstand the lungworm.  Is it possible they got a bit of pneumonia in winter and it's left them with susceptible lungs? 

[Sr142012]

First guess would be lung worm which Rycoben  should have killed  , a FEC  should tell you if lungworm in the sheep and /or worms are still present ,which would mean either the dose amount was to small ,the product was compromised eg frost ,sun  ,out of date  or your sheeps worms are resistant to white wormer . If non of the above then it may be a more serious problem

I am also new to this forum so I hope I am replying right! Ah ok that could possibly make sense, it was one they brought with them from the farm so it could be a possibility it had been compromised without their knowledge. I will call the vet and complete a FEC Monday. Praying it is, it would be pretty unlucky for it to be anything else with such a small flock 😞 she seems really out of breathe today and was panting after I let her in the yard so my gut feeling is I am not going to like what the vet says but we will see. Thank you for your reply it’s really appreciated 😊 

[Sr142012]

Our vet told us that although lungworm will be cleared by a wormer, they can come back within 3 weeks.  So from your dates, it's possible that it is lungworm, the Rycoben worked, but they've reinfested.  In general sheep don't show much clinical sign of lungworm, so if they are affected it might suggest there is something else going on too, which is making them less able to withstand the lungworm.  Is it possible they got a bit of pneumonia in winter and it's left them with susceptible lungs?

Hi, thank you for your reply 😀 it could be possible, this may be a silly question but can they catch it because of the weather? It’s been really wet and we had to reduce their grazing because it flooded which was awful! They didn’t go hungry but they were more crowded than usual. There was only four of them however so they weren’t lacking space as such. I let her roam the yard this afternoon for a while and she was panting afterwards. I don’t know if this is because it was warm today and she was cooling down or if it was because she’s short of breathe. I never thought I’d say this but horses are so much easier! 😂

[SallyintNorth]

Horses are easier until they aren't. 

Yes they can get pneumonia because of the weather.  Most likely when it's cold and very humid : still wetness if you like.  And yes, if they have nowhere dry to lie, that's not good for them.  i usually feed excess hay, spread out along the ground, in those circs.  They eat what they want and then what's left makes a dry bed for their next sleep.

[Sr142012]

I suppose it’s the same with any animal. 😖

Ah ok, could be a possibility then for sure. They had two old pig arks as shelter which are boarded 3/4 round to allow the air to flow through, they did tend to use them in the sun for shade but in the pouring rain they would lay outside 🙄 I made sure to change the bedding regularly but you could see they weren't used much.

Will let you know what the vets say Monday. Fingers crossed it’s fixable 🤞🏽

[shep53]

Fingers crossed despite all the vet books and websites saying lungworm is very little to worry about it can lead to bronchial pneumonia or in rare occurances death from worm masses blocking airways

[Sr142012]

Update!

We called the vet out on Monday who checked them all over and jabbed gave the 3 coughing ones a jab - think was some kind of antibiotic and the lame one she gave me some antibiotic blue spray to use. Happy to report all doing well and the cough is gone! She advised worming with a different wormer in a few weeks and complete a FEC moving forward after that.

Thanks for your help xx