Author Topic: Ewe a bit off colour (Read 6699 times)

JMB · « **on:** October 22, 2012, 02:42:48 pm »

Hello. I hope you can help please.
A few weeks ago one of our ewes was a bit off colour. Lying down and scouring a bit.
Anyway, she didn't want to be caught and rather than stress her out we left her alone for a bit.
As it was, she perked up by teatime, but we brought them all in and wormed them as precaution with Mebadown (fluke and wormer- they were nearly due it anyway).
As has been well for 5/6 weeks then another ewe was lethargic this morning. lying down , scouring a bit.
She wouldn't be caught, but I came home from work early to check and she's OK again now. By that I mean on her feet, coming to the troughs for a few nuts.
So- my question is please - do sheep just have 'off days'?
Or should I re-worm her (bearing in mind it was 5 and a half weeks ago)? Or should I being doing anything else?
My sheep are Hebs and hate being handled, so I'm loathed to stress her out by attempting to catch her and fix her if she's better left alone
Thank you
Joanne xxxxx

jaykay · « **Reply #1 on:** October 22, 2012, 06:02:51 pm »

Goodness, could be lots of things.

What breed, what age, what sort of stocking ratio, what feed, what minerals available?

Yes, it's possible you need to worm again. Have you fluked, they're particularly bad this year and earlier than normal?

No, sheep don't have off days, when you even get an inkling that there's something wrong, there is.

JMB · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2012, 07:43:17 am »

Hi. Ewe not much better today. She's a Hebridean, only 4. They were wormed and fluked a few weeks ago.
She currently grazing and has a few sheep nuts every day.
Someone suggested Heptavac again, although they were done before lambing in April. Afrer the 2 initial doses, I thought it was just once a year.
Worth a try?
J x

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2012, 07:53:03 am »

I would give her a good chelated mineral drench - Carrs' Ovithirive or similar. If no improvement, maybe try a faecal sample analysis - there are many kinds of worms and whatever wormer you used will not be effective against all of them.

Another thing - what flukicide did you use? Most are not effective against all stages - egg, larval and adult - so need to be repeated to catch, for instance, adults which were young larvae at the time of the first drench.

JMB · « **Reply #4 on:** October 23, 2012, 09:10:29 am »

Thank you. I fluked with Mebadown and that's immature larvae too.
With the mineral drench, should I do the others too as a precaution?
J xxx

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #5 on:** October 23, 2012, 09:49:12 am »

Quote from: JMB on October 23, 2012, 09:10:29 am

Thank you. I fluked with Mebadown and that's immature larvae too.
With the mineral drench, should I do the others too as a precaution?
J xxx

A mineral drench won't hurt the others.

None of the flukicides are 100% effective on all fluke life stages (or we'd all be using that one all the time!

), so I looked Mebadown up on NOAH. Partway down this page you will see the kill% for the various stages - Mebadown contains closantel, the same as Flukiver, which is very very effective on larvae from 5weeks old and up, between 23 and 73% on 3-4 week old larvae and not effective at all on eggs or on larvae 0-3 weeks old.

So either treat again now with Mebadown again, to get the ones that were too young before, or use Fasinex, which contains triclabendozole which is effective from 2 day old larvae. To kill eggs, you need albendazole, but though this is ovicidal and kills adult fluke it is inactive on immature fluke.

Check the packaging carefully - one or two of the flukicidal products (Albex for one, which contains albendazole) are not recommended for use during tupping or for one month after removing the tups.

JMB · « **Reply #6 on:** October 23, 2012, 04:15:16 pm »

Thank you for that- I followed your link.
I was using Fasimec Duo before and switched to Mebadown as part of rotation. Need to get to grips with this worming/fluking business.
The only thing I was concerned about regarding fluking again was that someone said if you over-dose it can make them blind.
I'm so stupid- I thought over-dosing meant giving them too much of the stuff in one go.
Not fluking again a few weeks later.
I have alot to learn...
Thanks again
Joanne xxx

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #7 on:** October 23, 2012, 06:14:57 pm »

Overdosing can mean too much in one go, and/or dosing again too soon.

Each of the meds will say on the bottle somewhere something along the lines of, 'repeat every x to y weeks' and/or 'do not repeat dose within xx days', so be guided by those. Generally you would never repeat a dose within the withdrawal period, either.

Also, if you are repeat dosing for one specific parasite, try not to re-dose for other parasites which are not causing a problem. So repeat doses for fluke should be plain flukicide, not a broad spectrum worm-and-fluke drench.

And don't worry, Joanne, this is hard to get your head around; you are not alone in that! Plus, veterinary advice on best practise changes from time to time... it's no wonder we all keep asking about this each year.

One thing that will help you with planning your rotation, and knowing which stages of which parasites you are hitting, is the EBLEX Better Returns Programme Parasite Control Guide, which you can download from here

It's best to always go and download it, as it changes from time to time.

Shout again if you have any further questions. If I can't answer them, I know a couple of other TASers I can call on

kanisha · « **Reply #8 on:** October 23, 2012, 06:56:51 pm »

just a question I know sheep are not supposed to be affected by schmallenberg virus only their foetus if they are pregnant but might there be something like this going through the flock?

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #9 on:** October 23, 2012, 07:08:08 pm »

Quote from: kanisha on October 23, 2012, 06:56:51 pm

just a question I know sheep are not supposed to be affected by schmallenberg virus only their foetus if they are pregnant but might there be something like this going through the flock?

It did cross my mind, too, kanisha, but Joanne's in Central Scotland. I suppose it is still just about possible if they've been having this Indian Summer... have you noticed midgies, Joanne? Have they been biting?

colliewoman · « **Reply #10 on:** October 23, 2012, 07:35:02 pm »

I am wondering the same. This year all my girls scoured for the 1st time ever a couple of weeks ago, not worms, no new feed, no different grass. I decided to follow my hunch and leave them alone,
Within a week with no special treatment all were dry again.
I read the symptoms in cattle can include scouring so wonder why it wouldn't affect sheep in a similar way?

Ina · « **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2012, 09:47:06 pm »

Midgies were biting here on Sunday...

colliewoman · « **Reply #12 on:** October 23, 2012, 09:54:57 pm »

they are worse here now than they have been all summer, I am not going to put the ram in till the orrible bitey things have been frozen

Ina · « **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2012, 09:58:01 pm »

I was helping a friend doing her wethers' feet on Sunday, and between those stroppy b*stards and the midgies, I had a fight on my hands!

Foobar · « **Reply #14 on:** October 24, 2012, 09:25:24 am »

I've had a battle with the midges this summer. They have made a right mess of a lot of my girls ears around the tags, and I think the orf that I had was unduely prolonged due to the midges too. Grumble grumble. More frost due later this week, hoorah!
The thought of schmallenburg popped into my head as soon as I read your first post, but I suspect that any symptoms of that would be fleeting.
Judging by the products your already used I suspect its not worms or fluke. How is she today? Could she have eaten something odd thats upset her?