[kanisha]

Any suggestions? a three year old ewe who is very thin was wormed and fluked six weeks ago not noticeably out of condition then.

She is heavy ( ouessants are easier to carry  when moving them around singly) and has a weighty belly the ram went in six weeks ago and she could be up to six weeks pregnant but it seems very early to be showing much development.

I would class her as very boney ( so much so you can see it through the fleece) I am concerned that any attempts to feed her up may just increase the size of lamb ( they usually only carry singles) or that she is carrying twins hence increased development which till leaves me with a problem for feeding.

what would you do?

[YorkshireLass]

I'm not very experienced so don't take my word for gospel, but....

- any sign of persisting worms or other illness? Fluke? Does the wormer you used cover all kinds?

- is she lame? Can she physically get to the food, water?

- if not, and she's just losing condition from being in lamb, then I would carefully add food for her. Yes the risk is the lamb gets too big; but on the other hand a starved - or worse, dead - ewe won't be much good for lambing/mothering 

HTH

[humphreymctush]

Are her teeth ok?

[Fleecewife]

Yes. although she is young I would check her teeth esp the molars and for abscess.
She could be being bullied so not getting to the food - try feeding her separately.
As she became thin following wormer and flukicide, it could be that she had a heavy burden then and killing them off has damaged her gut.
She could have a cancer.

[kanisha]

Hi thanks for the replies teeth look good and she was able to munchy down several dried apricots ( rather like a rowntrees fruitgum they require lots of mastication) no problems apparent. she also has a good appetite. I watched her eating in the field where she was less enthused but she has been in since yesterday and has eaten well.

Fleecewife you raise some interesting points would the weight loss occur after worming / fluking due to gut damage or  be apparent before?  she has no problems with loose bowels etc.

cancer possible but she is looking bright and alert.

I wondered about being bullied when up in the field she was eating with the other sheep and when thrown some windfalls she did look at them and followed one infront of her to eat. I wondered about her vision as she seemed to loose sight of those not immediately ahead of her.   does anyone know if sheep get gestational diabetes?

I find her weight  loss quite dramatic for a sheep that has a good appetite

she will  go out with one of my older ewes for special attention if nothing else shows itself but i do worry that her  current lack of condition may make winter hard for her.

[VSS]

It might be worth giving her another fluke dose - some doses only kill mature fluke so if the immatures are left you can get another flush of adults a few weeks later

[darkbrowneggs]

Just a thought - it wouldn't be cobalt or selenium deficiency?

[kanisha]

Hi DBE I checked he symptoms of both deficiencies neither fits with this ewe.
Thanks VSS will try fluking her again.

would you feed extra to  try to get her to gain weight..... I am mindful she is likely to put all of it into the lamb but on the other hand has nothing to keep her warm.

[woollyval]

Have you local facilities for a worm count? What is the chemical content of the flukicide? Are you under dosing? Does , like VSS said your flukicide kill adult AND immature? Are you rotating pasture? what length of time are you leaving the pasture empty?.....
Lots of questions but really important ones.
Damage caused by a worm burden will cause lack of absorption of nutrition and this is permenant.

Regarding feeding, I don't really believe that feeding ewes has a huge bearing on size of lambs.....just like feeding of human mothers has little effect on the size of baby, more likely it is the effect of the ram used that often in my humble opinion leads to large lambs!

My ouessants are well fed and I have never had a lambing problem with them as yet.....

[kanisha]

pasture being rotated and I checked the other ewes today all have nice body condition and are exactly where I would expect them to be at this stage. have been using fascinex to treat for fluke and on occasion valbazen. it wouldn't explain a rapid weight loss in one ewe unless there is something particular to this ewe ie immune compromised for some other reason.

doing a worm count is easy I've done hundreds of them and all that I have had done  by outside lab  have been negative that said I don't place a huge amount of store in them ie if you have wormy looking sheep worm irrespective of a worm count;

theres no problem with the size of the ram hes a little one and his pedigree is all measured  relations who are well within standard. I guess i'll be feeding her extra then.

[jaykay]

And maybe try a mineral drench, the Formula Co + B12 one by Cox agri worked wonders for my milking goat who was getting thin.

[SallyintNorth]

Yes, I agree with jaykay - it's always worth trying a mineral drench when an animal is failing to thrive after correct worming and fluking.

Farmers around here drench several times a year as a matter of routine - I am picking up that it's not something smaller-scale sheep-keepers do?

[jaykay]

I used Coppavit regularly with my Rough Fells when the sheep were on grass as we're badly copper deficient here. My big-farm neighbours recommended it. The vets said Mallerstang was bad for no copper but other areas less so, so since our hay is made elsewhere I didn't drench once they were on hay.

I don't know what my new Shetlands need yet but will try yellow Rockies I think. Mind you, my milking goat has access to red Rockies and hard feed everyday but the cobalt/selenium drench still makes a difference.

[kanisha]

thanksall  will follow up in a couple of weeks

[Dougal]

unless your ewe is less that 6-7 weeks from the lambing you'll find that she'll put almost none of her feed into the growing lamb and all of it onto her own back. It's only in the last thord of the lambing that the lambs start to take a grip of the ewe. If she has only been tupped a few weeks back then you'll be safe enough to hold the feeding to her. It could have been that she has had a bit of an infection so didn't eat for some time but has now overcome it and is pushing on for improving.