Author Topic: depressed (Read 8474 times)

shetlandpaul · « **on:** December 18, 2010, 11:27:20 am »

we have just had to have one of our best ewes put down because of what the vet thinks is fluke, whats annoying is that we wormed and fluked her in october/november and we thought she was safe. great pity.
it turns out that they are probably resistant to the fluke treatment. having the ram run off and vanish and now this im very much think are sheep worth keeping. still the vets yesterday was cheap 24 quid for a examine,fluke treatment for the flock bottle of sheep boost and three iv vit injections. the vet visited within the hour today in bad snow that should cost us another 30 quid but i should have insisted that she was put down yesterday.
this is our first loss of an adult sheep due to illness.

bamford6 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2010, 11:49:12 am »

shetlandpaul YOUV ONLEY DONE YOURE BEST iv not been Happy for a long time cost off feed etc wrong time off the yere try and put the sheep to 1 side get Christmas over and get back to it people are more stressed at this time off the yere minus 15 this morning can onley feed they will start to drop off iff this keeps up 3rd week off winter all the best to you and youre family

kanisha · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2010, 11:57:46 am »

really sorry to hear that

got a sick ram this morning not sure of exactly the problem but probably something he ate due to the snow covering up the grazing and bringing in down stuff they normally wouldn't have access to. bad time of year all round!

Fleecewife · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2010, 12:29:24 pm »

Hi there - sorry to hear about your ewe - that's a bummer. Didn't know about your tup disappearing - little b****r. Do you think he was stolen or just off to pastures new?

Keep a close eye on the others for signs of fluke as they could well be resistant to the flukicide you used as well. The animals will be under quite a bit of extra stress with this weather during tupping time, so she may have reacted more severely than if it had been sunny and dry.

Things will look up when you have lambs and the days are longer. There's only a few days to the Solstice.

Bright Raven · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2010, 01:27:30 pm »

so sorry to hear your sad news, hold on to the thought that the shortest day (21st) is nearly here and we will be on our way up and towards spring again soon. Best Wishes.

shetlandpaul · « **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2010, 01:38:16 pm »

thanks folks. we have treated with a new fluke treatment. just sad as we should have acted earlier. she was in a poorer condition than the others so that should have raised concerns. they get feed they have a lick and they get ewe nuts. very fed up we have pigs that are way over due for the freezer the animals have munched through 1/2 of the winter feed in the last month. if this keeps up its going to be way worse than last year. and to add to it the ground is badly churned up so a lot of reseeding come spring. oh yes and the chickens are costing us twice as much as we earn from them. still it can only get better. $:-\$

princesspiggy · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2010, 02:01:21 pm »

cheer up paul, dont blame urself, cos its obvious you care. everyone makes mistakes and accidents happen, and then bad things happen even when no mistakes r made. i lost a lovely lamb to barley poisoning once, my fault cos gave him too much and fermented inside him. had stomach pumped but cudnt be saved, was completely my fault so no excuses but have to learn and move on. chin up

morri2 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 18, 2010, 04:10:51 pm »

I lost one of my best ewes about this time last year too, so can wholly sympathise, its really hard to take when you think you've done your best for them. I hope your ram turns up - he's probably enjoying himself with someone else's ewes - lets hope their ram got to them first.

I've had this happen too, can be quite embarrassing! Still, vets bill was extremely cheap so one good thing at least. Hope matters improve for you in time for Christmas - have a good one.

shetlandpaul · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2010, 07:14:53 pm »

had the results from the egg count on the ewe. turns out she had a massive load of round worm. so the vet thinks she must have had something else wrong with her. i don't think two lots of twin and two hard winters have help either. she was wormed in late october with the others.

woollyval · « **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2010, 07:38:40 pm »

Don't beat yourself up Paul over this...sheep keeping is not so simple and things go wrong from time to time.
Can I ask which wormer did you use and what dose? Sheep are always heavier than you think they are and also you may have a resistance problem.
I would suggest worming ALL the others with a different family of wormer asap to prevent a similar problem.
What is your stocking density per acre and what is your rotation pattern on the ground? This will affect a lot of things in relation to their management.