[Melaniesherman]

We purchased 3 lambs 2 weeks ago and they were somewhere less than 4 weeks old. We asked the farmer we bought them from about castrating and banding tails- and he said to do it in the next week or so when we got home and gave us some legit sounding instructions. We ended up doing it the next day and now- 2 weeks later we lost our boy lamb to tetanus and our two ewes still have their tails on (with the bands). I feel awful that we didn’t think to research after we asked as a double check, but I’m not sure what to do. I took our boy to the vet, but I was too late catching on to there being a problem. I got and administered the tetanus medicine to both ewes but I don’t know what to do about their tails still being on. Did we dock too late? Did we inadvertently kill these two lambs 2 weeks ago when I banded their tails wo the tetanus shot and now we’re just waiting for the inevitable? Do we need to remove the bands? Do I need to cut off the tails? I am so sad I have messed things up so badly so far.

[Bywaters]

Bands should be done within a couple of days so you wouldn't have helped

There are legal requirements as well - check out the other thread on banding ?  (sometimes called ringing)

Lessons learned - we all learn but sometimes it's harder than others

[harmony]

The farmer you bought them from should have already dealt with this. And giving verbal instructions to a new keeper on castrating a tup lamb is inexcusable. However sometimes both tails and testicles are dealt with outside the legal window and with no problem so don't beat yourself up.


It can take quite a while for tails to drop off so I wouldn't worry. It often takes longer for cade lambs to lose their tails. I'm not sure if it was a banding problem with the tail or testicles with the tup lamb but you can check there is no infection with the girls tails.


I got two cades nearly two weeks ago and one has lost it's tail and the other is still hanging on.

[Anke]

Which country are you in?


In the UK most farmers will booster the ewes a few weeks before lambing, and they then pass on passive immunity to their lambs which wears off by around 2 to 3 months old. If the farmer did not do this, then you have to be incredibly careful with rejected lambs and make sure they get as much (live) colostrum as possible. You can then administer a clostridial vaccine at 3 weeks old in the usual manner (double dose 4 weeks apart).


I would vaccinate the remaining lambs as soon as possible and if you can, feed them on preferably raw, but definitely non-homogenised goatsmilk (not cows) rather than milk powder.

[Womble]

Just to put a bit more detail in, the minimum age for vaccinating is 3 weeks (which yours are already, so that's ok). Yes, a good idea to do them now if you possibly can, though good luck getting hold of small bottles of heptavac this year - they seem to be in short supply!

The vaccine should be administered by subcutaneous injection in the lateral side of the upper neck observing aseptic precautions. All breeding sheep not previously vaccinated with Heptavac P Plus must receive two injections, each of 2.0 ml, separated by an interval of 4-6 weeks. Thereafter they must receive booster injections at intervals of not more than 12 months. In adult breeding ewes these yearly booster injections should be given during the pre-lambing period, 4-6 weeks pre-lambing, as an aid in control of disease in their lambs. On farms where the incidence of pasteurellosis is high, a supplementary booster injection using a Pasteurella vaccine may be required 2-3 weeks prior to expected seasonal outbreaks.


Heptavac P Plus should not be used in lambs less than 3 weeks of age due to the possible immunological incompetence of the very young lamb and competition from any maternally derived colostral antibodies. Lambs being retained for fattening or subsequent breeding will require a full course of vaccination. At a minimum age of 3 weeks these lambs should receive two injections, each of 2.0 ml, separated by an interval of 4-6 weeks. It should be noted that Heptavac P Plus is the recommended vaccine for breeding stock since it provides optimal aid in the control of the predominant clostridial diseases in adult sheep by active immunisation and in young lambs by passive immunisation.

[twizzel]

Just to put a bit more detail in, the minimum age for vaccinating is 3 weeks (which yours are already, so that's ok). Yes, a good idea to do them now if you possibly can, though good luck getting hold of small bottles of heptavac this year - they seem to be in short supply!

The vaccine should be administered by subcutaneous injection in the lateral side of the upper neck observing aseptic precautions. All breeding sheep not previously vaccinated with Heptavac P Plus must receive two injections, each of 2.0 ml, separated by an interval of 4-6 weeks. Thereafter they must receive booster injections at intervals of not more than 12 months. In adult breeding ewes these yearly booster injections should be given during the pre-lambing period, 4-6 weeks pre-lambing, as an aid in control of disease in their lambs. On farms where the incidence of pasteurellosis is high, a supplementary booster injection using a Pasteurella vaccine may be required 2-3 weeks prior to expected seasonal outbreaks.


Heptavac P Plus should not be used in lambs less than 3 weeks of age due to the possible immunological incompetence of the very young lamb and competition from any maternally derived colostral antibodies. Lambs being retained for fattening or subsequent breeding will require a full course of vaccination. At a minimum age of 3 weeks these lambs should receive two injections, each of 2.0 ml, separated by an interval of 4-6 weeks. It should be noted that Heptavac P Plus is the recommended vaccine for breeding stock since it provides optimal aid in the control of the predominant clostridial diseases in adult sheep by active immunisation and in young lambs by passive immunisation.

Heptavac is out of stock until mid May, at the earliest. Most stockists have sold out of what stock they did have. So if you’ve not got yours by now, will probably be hard pushed to get it