[wellies]

Well the little ewe lamb with the contracted tendons has taken a turn for the worst this morning  . She has a distended tummy, low temperature and a slightly wet chin but not a cold mouth & still has a suckling reflex. Although she was very small & had splints on she was doing well until this morning. Vet has been and given her meds and left more antibiotics to inject over a few days. It looks like the start of watery mouth but vet really unsure. She's also having some electrolytes by syringe. Feel a bit down hearted. Six more ewes to go and I'm just so worried about them all (although they look happy & relaxed). There we go just needed a little moment of feeling pathetic before I gave myself a jolly good shake & enjoy the lambs that are healthy & happy in the paddock

[kaz]

Do you give the lambs some Scour Halt or similiar at birth as this will help to prevent Watery Mouth.
Don't get disheartened. Lambing is a steep learning curve and you are doing all the right things by calling the vet to help.
I have been lambing for years and things can go wrong for me which they have this lambing season. I ewe with twin lamb disease, one prolapse prior to lambing, and a ewe lamb born dead, her twin o.k. and still have 14 ewes to go.
I'm going to keep everything crossed for your lamb.    Keep her warm as well.

[wellies]

Thank you for the post... Was having a bit of a wobble   Also thank you for you well wishes for the lamb. They all get 0.5ml of Alamycin at birth via intramuscular injection but we don't give them anything orally normally. Maybe I should look into it for the next ones? The lamb took her fluids ok and tried to suckle but it was a bit half hearted, off to see if I can get her to latch on a bit better. I've put extra bedding round her and we haven't got electricity for a heat lamp I'm wondering if a Warmish hot water bottle may help her. Again thank you very much for the post

[fsmnutter]

As a vet and long-time lamber, my heart goes out to you, I know watery mouth is a horrible thing to deal with.

If it is watery mouth (which it sounds quite like to me), the E.coli and similar bacteria that are responsible feed off the milk and multiply.
If you can just feed electrolyte/glucose solutions for 24-48 hours (Liquid life-aid do a good one, but there are a lot available) and withhold milk it might help her out.
If you can feed the fluids warm (body temperature for a sheep is about 39-39.5C, so anything up to 40C is comfortable to drink/be tubed), it'll help keep her from getting cold, as you have said her temperature is low already.
Lots of TLC, regular feeding of electrolytes and the antibiotics will help, and as she's a bit older than your typical newborn with watery mouth, hopefully her immune system will be better ready to fight it off.

Everyone uses a different prevention method, and it really depends on your farm what is best. I have known a lot of farms that have used the oral pumps previously, and after a while start to get a problem, which may be resistant bacteria. An intramuscular injection of Alamycin is also a very good option, and if this is the only lamb, or there are not many affected, I wouldn't jump ship and change to something else too quickly, it may just be that the particular bug she has is not responding, but you have prevented a lot of bugs getting into all the others. If you do have a problem with similar sorts of disease this year, it might be worth chatting to your own vet, and considering an alternative prevention next year.

Anyway, I wish you all the best with the lamb, and hope that some of this might be of help
Suzanne

[fsmnutter]

PS Hot water bottles are a great way of keeping sick lambs warm, just make sure there's a towel or a cover between her and the bottle so she doesn't burn anything

[wellies]

thank you for the info, very helpful for now and in the future. Unfortunately she seems to have taken a turn for the worse again and is very weak. I'm not very hopeful at the moment. Her mother is being a bit difficult with her too and just keeps swinging round, more interested in food than her poorly offspring but she's a first timer. Remind me to buy older ewes, so much easier 

[Marches Farmer]

You could try putting the lamb in a jacket - just a rectangle of old fleece or sweatshirt with two crosses at the front for the front legs to go through.  Keeps the warmth they're producing in.  We give Scour Halt 10 minutes after birth.   The abdomen will become distended if it's WM - the other name is rattle belly, with good reason.  Once they get to this stage the outlook is very poor.

[ZaktheLad]

I give all my lambs a dose of Col-late lamb kick start when they are born as it gives them a boost and seems to do them well.  Every lamb gets the recommended dose not just those that appear a little slow/weaker. One bottle will dose 25 lambs so it doesn't work out too pricey either. 

[kaz]

It might help if you tube feed her, as at least she is getting what she should.
 
I had one with watery mouth about 10 years ago, and she was a real struggle to keep alive. I tube fed her until she was strong enough to cope. With rehydration fluid for 24 hours then onto milk.  If she survives she will probably have to be bottle fed, especially if Mum is being difficult.

[wellies]

I think it will all be over soon unfortuantely. Haven't sobbed so much for ages, not even sure why this little ewe has got to me so much  Lets hope for better days and lambings to come 

[moprabbit]

Wellies - my heart goes out to you. It sounds as if you're having a really hard time and you've tried so hard by getting the vet etc. I hope that things may improve, but if they don't you can reassure yourself that you did everything that was possible for your little lamb- what more can you ask? 

[Pedwardine]

Oh bless you Wellies. You really are doing your best by the wee soul. Sometimes you just can't help these things no matter what you try but keep trying. 

[smee2012]

   Poor you (and ewe). If it makes you feel any better, I'd be sobbing too. One of the reasons I'd never make a commercial farmer and why I didn't pursue veterinary college! There's no shame in being upset over the loss of a life.

I hope this is the last of your bad luck and that the rest of your lambing goes smoothly. I might pop over soon and bring my girls to see some teeny babies, if that's ok?

[wellies]

oh yes do pop over, we'd love to see you and the girls are more than welcome to see and play with the little ones. Harry the pig also loves children, he's great to scratch and feed. Hopefully there will be more lambs soon, fingers and everything else crossed. Let me know when you are free to come and visit   

[ScotsGirl]

Sorry to hear about poor lamb. I think it's a bad year for us all. I would recommend getting some Staldren disinfectant powder as it kills everything externally. Great for hens, sheep and pigs.


Hope the rest go better.