Author Topic: Sheep off colour (Read 5063 times)

moprabbit · « **on:** February 12, 2012, 10:14:02 am »

I wormed my 4 non - pregnant ewes on 7th Feb (Tuesday) with Panacur - stupidly mis read the instructions and slightly overdosed them. Rang the vet and told her, she said it shouldn't be a problem although they might get diarrhoea. They were all fine - Wed, Thurs and Fri. With the snow covering the ground, on Thurs and Fri I gave them 4 sugar beet cut up. They've had this before in small amounts in a bucket mixed with carrots, but I've never given them whole beet in the field before. On Friday night I noticed one of them had loose droppings and thought it was probably the sugar beet, so didn't give them anymore. On Saturday night she didn't eat her carrots as she normally does, but did eat a bit of bread. Today (Sunday) she's still got loose droppings, wouldn't eat any carrots or any bread. She's quite bright, although didn't get up when I walked into the field, but did when I got up to her. She's eating a bit of grass that's showing through the snow and last night ate a bit of hay.
All the others are fine! As she's eating grass I wondered about getting something I used to give my rabbit - I think its called Redicut,small pieces of dried grass, to try to interest her.
I'm a bit of a worrier...and just wondered if anyone has any advice? Thank you

feldar · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2012, 12:17:20 pm »

I expect she's got a bit of a bellyache. I doubt the wormer would do her any harm but if she had a high infestation and she loosing a lot of dead worms she probably feels a bit under the weather. The fact she is still eating something is a good sign. Personally i would give her hay rather than introduce something new to her diet. Hay is very good at binding up loose droppings and if she is used to it she will eat it.
Keep an eye on her and if she stops eating altogether you may need to introduce some thing else to tempt her to eat.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2012, 12:41:45 pm »

Good advice from feldar.

Keep an eye on her - and a nose. If her breath starts to smell odd, particularly if you can smell ketones, and she isn't eating well there could be a metabolic disturbance. But while she's eating and will get up and walk about, I wouldn't be over worried.

moprabbit · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2012, 08:56:23 pm »

Thank you Feldar & Sally for your replies.She's still not back to normal but has continued to eat a bit of hay. Tried digestive biscuits, rich tea biscuits and oatcakes as suggested in another reply but she waasn't interested.
Sally, I was wondering what ketones would smell like? Thank you

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2012, 09:16:17 pm »

I had a horrible feeling you would ask me that, mp! How to describe a smell...?

People variously describe it as like pear drops, or like nail varnish remover. To me it does not smell like either pear drops or nail varnish remover, but having heard those descriptions, when I did smell it on a ewe's breath, I was quite sure I knew what it was.

HTH!

moprabbit · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2012, 09:07:11 am »

Thanks Sally I'll keep a 'nose' out for that! She's still no better today - looks the food, sniffs it, but doesn't eat it, but the good thing is she's still eating mouthfuls of hay. I've rung the vet today and someone's going to give me a ring back.

Anke · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2012, 09:34:26 pm »

Panacur is the one wormer a lot of sheep (and goats) worms are now resistant to, so it may be that your girl despite a good dose is still struggling with worms. The normal procedure would be to take a sample of droppings in for a worm count 10 days post worming, and if significant numbers of worms/eggs are left you will have to administer a different wormer, most likely an invermectin based one, like Oramec for example.

Another thing could be fluke, this could also be detected by a worm count (tell them to cound for fluke as well), and would have to be treated with a flukicide, llike Fasinex for example, or a combined wormer/flukicide.

Remy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2012, 09:04:29 am »

I also read that about Panacur $:-\$ , I don't use that now. When mine were ill they got drenches for just about everything, although the initial sample that was taken from one of mine that died showed a very high strongyle count - so I assumed that was the cause of the problems in the others too. I wondered whether the worms could have been resistant to the wormer I used (Cydectin) but I haven't (touch wood) had problems with any of the other sheep, and I suppose if that were the case my little Gotland wouldn't be recovering.

It is recommended to change wormer groups every so often to try and avoid the risk of resistance.

Hope your little ewe recovers MP

moprabbit · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2012, 09:46:03 am »

Thanks for the advice about the wormer. I got the vet to see her yesterday - he gave her a thorough examination and all he could find was a slightly raised temperature. He gave her a shot of Metacam to reduce the temp. and act as a painkiller (I think) and a long lasting antibiotic. Today (Tuesday) I was hoping she'd be back to normal.. she isn't.. but has eaten a few chopped carrots, which she normally loves mixed with a few ewe nuts, which is better than before. So I'm hopeful that she is slowly getting back to normal.