[shep53]

Have a look at SCOPS treating liver fluke ,it lists the products and their ability to kill fluke  .    If you are treating for fluke then do everything  lambs / ewes  and don't forget rams  as they are all susceptible to fluke and the products give no further protection beyond time of use

[SavageU]

I’ll treat everyone once I’ve spoke to vet about it and read a bit more SCOPS thanks for signposting.

He’s so much better but still regaining some muscle tone to his front legs and is a bit wobbly but otherwise upright and happy and far better than this time last week.

Cleaned up his back end today, but it’s so bad I may have to wait for his fleece to grow before I properly snip the rest. Just stood and let me and shouted me back when I left him 

He won’t have digestives but did read you can give them carrot and apple which I thought I could cube and put in with some course mix?

 He is having 2-3 little handfuls of coarse mix a day and is as of today out on grass.

Thank you everyone for advising kindly and supporting

[SavageU]

Aaand he’s scouring again.


Tail is wet through. Brought him in for some hay obvs with storm coming in and I’ll see how he’s going then.

What else can I do? Presumably it’s either not shifted it properly or he’s picked it up again?

The other ewe lamb is thriving. And eating and drinking alongside him.

[twizzel]

What made the vet say it was fluke? What was the worm egg count - how many eggs per gram for the different types of worms, and how many oocysts per gram for cocci?


I doubt it would have picked up fluke again that quickly. My gut feeling is there’s something else going on, worms, cocci, mineral deficiency, or gut damage from previous cocci or worm infection.

[SavageU]

I think the scouring and weight loss. Plus gums and eyes pale.

I need to get another fecal sample in as I forgot the last one and with him seeming to make such a good recovery…

He was on grass for two days with grain/hay and back to square one!

[shep53]

Get a poo sample in quick and talk to your vet about internal organ damage and gut bacteria as all the scouring will have depleted it  ,  the wet grass may have caused the scouring 

[messyhoose]

i feel your pain about the overwhelming information you think you need to collate to draw up a fluke plan for your property. hopefully you have helpful vets (i dont) I even sent poo samples to the moredun foundation who do free fluke tests as they are a research institute for the disease. They found nothing: BUT that does not mean you do not have a fluke problem! FEC for fluke are pointless, you will likely get a negative egg count (esp this time of year) but it still be adult fluke burrowing through the liver causing problems.
My sheep have grazed this property for 10 years. There was anecdotal evidence of fluke (ie sheep from here having condemned livers at slaughter) but it is not something farmers here treat locally- it is very site specific.
I bought ducks last year: ive still had sheep go down with symptoms of fluke so dont think they are the answer. i began a programme of treatments for my guys to avoid them getting sick before i treat (cos if they have symptoms then their livers are being compromised) but i still get sick sheep: ususally they present as having belly ache, but one ewe has had the very obvious bottle jaw, twice now. They respind to treatement within 48 hours. Thats how i know it was fluke and not something else. Trichlobendazole kills nearly all life stages of the fluke but there is a risk of resistance with over use so only use it if an animal is sick. If you are treating preventatively try to use a drug that targets the life stage most likely to be present- eg closental early in the seasonl, then albendazole.
Also non of my sheep have scours from fluke. And it is recommended not to use a combined fluke and wormer product: Lambs have more fragile liver than adults so probably are affected more, but note adults do not develop resisitance to fluke (they do to worms to a degree)
*hint to get poo samples from pet sheep: leave them to lie down. Whe you go in and disturb them the first thing they tend to do is get up, poo and wee!

[SavageU]

Sent off sample. Testing for parasites.

He is still very skinny. But up, bright and happy. I need him to put weight on now to feel more satisfied.

I’ve put him out to grass as he’s now been dry for a number of days and will monitor it.

Plan is grass during the day and hay at night inside.

So I know he’s getting roughage and just generally not his best and outside and exposed.

He’s been getting small handfuls of coarse grain a few times a day. Lamb nuts/pellets? Didn’t go for digestives as a treat 😄

What else can I do to help get calories in him?

[SallyintNorth]

Cabbage, swede (cut up), slices of apple

But decide what foods you're giving and give them routinely, don't fiddle about with the ration.  The fermentation flora are adapted to the food, so giving new / different things can be counterproductive if you're aiming to get max nutritional value from the ration.

[SavageU]

Thanks. He is really scouring again, his back legs are just covered.

I’ll try some of that tomorrow.

Hoping it’s just flushing him out with what the vet have given him 😩

[SavageU]

Also to update the thread…coccidisis!

[SavageU]

And high worm load.

[twizzel]

That would do it. Don’t feed him anything bar forage and nuts (if he’s used to them) for a while. Let him get over the worm and cocci burden before you change the diet. If you have treated the worms and cocci, then he should pick up now on just grass, hay and a few lamb finisher nuts added in gradually.

[shep53]

Now you know for certain and have treated ,hopefully he will make a recovery

[SavageU]

Yes feel relieved that I know what it is now.

Just want him dry, putting on weight and without a bad backend.

I’ll get some nuts Friday for him and see how we go weather wise up here. Relieved it’s not fluke.