[CornishFarmer]

.

[jaykay]

What are you feeding? Could it be listeriosis?

[Anke]

Any coughing - pneumonia caused pasteurella? Are yours vaccinated?

Listerioris would cause circling and the drooling/green stuff on the side of their mouths. CCN might not always have the characteristic signs, until it is too late. But you would notice they are blind, when they are usually still upright.

If someone would poison them I would have thought that it wouldn't be a sheep a month, as that would mean only doing it to one sheep at the time, if anyone would scatter some poison or similar it would affect more than one at any one time I would guess.

If I had a third sheep dying from the same symptons as two before I really would find the money to have a PM done - otherwise you may not have any left soon...

[Rosemary]

TBH, if I had a sheep that couldn't stand, I'd have the vet out pdq.

[Hopewell]

CCN is definitely top of my list, and it doesn't always cause text book symptoms. If it is it should respond well to big doses of B vitamins.
If the sheep continue to die you will lose quite a bit of money ie their value - that as well as the animal welfare aspect surely means it is worth consulting a vet. Being a sheep there is always the option of transporting it to the vet (probably with help to lift it) and saving a visit fee.

[Anke]

Even if you suspect poisoning by rat bait I would think you would a) have to prove through a PM that it indeed was the cause of death (and pay for the PM yourself) and b) would then have to prove where the rat poison came from - impossible! I would not go round shouting this theory - your neighbour can sue you for slander etc.

So if you are right about poisoning  there is almost no way you can prove this, and you are really between a rock and very hard rock... any reason why you think your neighbours may do this? Do they keep sheep themselves?

Anyway if another one dies you have no choice but to do a PM (and pay for it), otherwise you could have the RSPCA (or even AH) on your holding accusing you of neglecting your livestock. I personally would argue that they may already have a case against you, if you cannot prove to them that you tried to find out what was causing these animals to die. And a PM is the only way to do it. (If you already have lost three lambs you are more than a 100 pounds down at least - so maybe doing a pm on the seond one that dies of unkown causes but with similar symptons to the first one would have been a better strategy? Well that's mine anyway.)


PS.: I don't think there are many "proper" farmers in this forum, I don't get farm subsidies (not enough land) nor do I run a business. I have to carefully weigh up any of the costs, but getting veterinary care is the one which always has to be done quick and not thinking of the costs (and then a big groan when the bill arrives) - it's just the way sheep (and on our case goats) work...

[Old Shep]

I am no sheep expert, but my Mum was and had several Texels die due to a cow supplement bucket being thrown into her field (unknown to her) - with lots of copper in it.  Don't know what the symptoms were though, sorry.

[SteveHants]

Get the vet out, quick - round here it costs 60 quid and you are losing more than that money in dead sheep. Never mind their potential value - it'll cos you 20 quid to have the carcases dealt with.  Also - if people notice sheep dying all over the shop, somebody will call animal health.

Edited to add: an accurate diagnosis is always more cost effective than an inaccurate one.

[rbarlo32]

you have the animals you have a duty of care. you know this thing killed twice before and you have another sick with the same thing. you must get the vet in. your failer is an offence and if its something infectious you are risking other folks animals. have they been wormed and flukicided as your organic how do you treat them.
you mustget the vet out. even if your skint get the animal seen very soon.

[darkbrowneggs]

CCN was mentioned, but I have no idea what these initials stand for, can someone enlighten me please?   

[deepinthewoods]

http://www.nadis.org.uk/DiseasesSheep/CCNSheep/CCN.htm

[Fleecewife]

Going back to the original question, it is not possible from such a brief description to make any sort of diagnosis.  We can all guess at what it might be but without a far more detailed description no one here can say for certain - it could be any of several things.

It is very unlikely that the problem is poisoning by your neighbour - there are many far more likely options to work through first. It is probable that thinking about the poisoning has stopped you from seeing the real problem.

Your best bet Worzel has to be to take your sheep down to a large animal vet practice for advice.  If the sheep are dying that quickly then you may have lost the third one already. The rest of your flock will follow. We have found that our vets have a very reasonable rate for farm animals, especially if they are taken to the surgery.  Your animals may well be dying of something which could be treated if you dealt with it promptly.  A PM would show up what it is, but by the time it's done the rest could be dead too.

I don't want to add to the feeling you must have by now that everyone is trying to push you to do something you can't afford, but I really do think that you have to bite the bullet now and get your sheep to a vet.  Keeping sheep organically cannot be an excuse for neglecting them - they still need treatment if they are ill. 
There is nothing like the PDSA for farm animals - the SSPCA or RSPCA would treat your animals but they would also take them away and you would not be allowed to keep animals again.

When you decide to keep animals, you have to take on the responsibility for their care.  It's great when they are healthy, but once things start to go wrong you have to pay for help.  It's an inescapable part of animal keeping.  As someone else on here has pointed out, very few of us keep animals on a large scale but we all accept that when they need professional treatment, we have to pay for it.  You might be surprised at how little it will cost if you take the animal to the vet rather than calling her or him out.

[darkbrowneggs]

http://www.nadis.org.uk/DiseasesSheep/CCNSheep/CCN.htm

thanks for that - its always useful to know before the problem arises rather than having to panic if it does 

[Pasture Farm]

Post mortem    Skint or not

Ive had to and tighten my belt elsewhere   its not just about money its about welfare   nothing else to add sorry

[feldar]

Hi we keep sheep on a fairly large scale, around 200 and have had them die like this in the past.
Just like everyone else i recommend vet ASAP. our vets are a large animal practice and are very good when it comes to paying off bills a bit at a time.
Get them on your side and working with you to sort this problem out.It could be something as simple as minerals or potentially more serious.Believe me i know what it's like to loose sheep like this and it is very distressing.
Good luck