Author Topic: Ewe just lambed - stinky scours (Read 8755 times)

morri2 · « **on:** February 14, 2014, 04:51:34 pm »

Hello all! Here I am again, long absence from the site and a problem as usual.

I have an elderly ewe (she's about 8 or 9) who has just lambed. She has had watery dark green, very, very stinky scours since. Nearly a week now. She has no milk so we are feeding the lamb who has had sceptecemia, watery mouth and constipation but is now doing well (not sure how relevant the lamb's problems are but I thought I'd mention them). Vet has given pro rumen, twin lamb drench (there were two lambs, one did not survive) and some dark grey powder which was mixed with water. We have administered antibiotics. There is no improvement irrespective of all these treatments. She has been wormed and fluked.

The ewe is well in herself, no signs of illness/temperature/lethargy etc, but she is, naturally, getting very thin. She is off her sheep nuts, picking at hay and drinking water. The only thing she is eating (and can't get enough of) is bread. I'm afraid that might not be doing her any good. I am just about to start on natural yoghurt provided OH does not forget to call into Tesco on the way home! Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be wrong with her and perhaps something I can give as a safe high energy tonic before she goes rapidly downhill?

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2014, 04:56:10 pm »

What breed is she? After two poor years' grazing one more pregnancy may have taken it out of her too much. Could try coarse mix or grass and dandelions cut from verges to tempt her appetite.

morri2 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:08:04 pm »

Hi! She's a Polled Dorset. Grazing has actually been good here in Wales this year, although the year before was awful. I did think it might be her age. We weren't supposed to be lambing this year so this was all a bit unexpected. We had an escapee ram last autumn, and this appears to be the result. I will cut some of the long grass from the lane and try her with that. Thank you!

Foobar · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:11:42 pm »

Questions that spring to my mind are:
Does she have a temperature?
Is her rumen working?

How come the lamb had septicaemia?

And when was she wormed & fluked? (After lambing, or at some point prior (and if so, how long ago)?)

Foobar · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:13:02 pm »

Try other things to to tempt her to eat - digestive biscuits, ivy ... there are some threads on here with some other suggestions too if i remember correctly...

And you could continue giving twin lamb drench or glucose solution too...

fsmnutter · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:28:04 pm »

Has she been treated for coccidia? Green scours can be due to coccidia, and having been weakened due to having lambs later in life (not the oldest, I knew a ewe who raised a single lamb at 16!) this may have caused a problem, where healthy ewes often are not bothered by coccidia.
The lamb may well have had infections because the ewe had something that passed across the placenta/in the milk.
Did the second lamb die after birth, or was it stillborn? May it have had an infection or rotted inside the ewe?
Another thing that can cause scours in an older ewe is Johne's disease. If this is what it is, it can be diagnosed by a combination of blood and faecal tests (they are fairly insensitive tests, so a combination will give you the best answers). There is unfortunately no cure, and affected animals should be culled. They pick it up from faeces of affected adults while they are lambs, and it has a long incubation period, so they are over 2 years before they show signs, often later.
Worth continuing with all the symptomatic treatments you have mentioned, the likes of the pro-rumen will give nutrients, vitamins, probiotics, and administered with water, keep the hydration up.
TLC is also good for invalids, and hopefully will pull her through, but after a few days, it may be time to make a difficult decision, with her age and signs, she may not rally, and you may have to relieve her suffering.
Hope she feels better
Suzanne

Foobar · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:30:28 pm »

I was thinking coccidia too, and my thoughts about the septicaemia was did the lamb pick it up from the mother?

Good luck anyway, I hope they both pull through.

morri2 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2014, 05:41:04 pm »

Wow! Thanks for all the replies - to response to the queries:

Foobar: She has no temperature, she appears perfectly fine apart from the stinky, watery poo. How will I know if the rumen is working or not? Haven't a clue why the lamb had septaecemia, might she have caught something from the mother when she was with her (she was penned with her for one night even though bottle fed)? She was wormed and fluked two weeks ago, before she lambed.

fsmnutter: She was tested for Johnes three years ago. I had the whole flock tested when I lost a ewe to this awful disease, fortunately all were clear, although I do appreciate the tests are not considered to be one hundred percent foolproof. She has not been treated for Coccidia, but she's not ill either which I believe to be one of the signs of Coccidiosis.

She's just gobbled some long grass, cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks with great enthusiasm - no problem with her appetite - even though she's picky. Will continue with the treatments and tomorrow I will be off to buy some digestive biccies (for the sheep, of course)!

Foobar · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2014, 06:53:56 pm »

Oh, good news that shes eating something. Getting food into her is the primary concern. I would be tempted to continue with a twin lamb drench, a little bit a few times a day, just to keep her energy up, its cheap and cant do any harm.
Rumen function...check for cudding (once shes eaten more) and listen for gurgling in her tummy. Someone else might be able to give a better description on how to check...

Good luck! :-)

Anke · « **Reply #9 on:** February 15, 2014, 09:34:52 am »

I had an elderly (13) Shetland ewe that had great appetite, was very bright eyed and bushy tailed, but persistent scours and was getting very thin. As this was in spring going into summer (she had not lambed that spring as I had thought it would have been too much, she was in retirement) we had to cull her as I could not keep her behind clean and flies were going to be a problem. We didn't try and investigate but felt that unfortunately it was her time to go...

Can't really advise on any possible reason for this, just that a failing digestive system may be a sign of old age and if she is a) not feeding her lamb and b) not going to lamb again anyway, it may be time to think about culling her. Not immediately, but if you have ruled out anything that is infectious to the rest of the flock once flies become a problem again you may need to re-think. Once they are very thin they also easily succumb to any kind of infection that comes their way...

Let's hope the lamb continues to thrive!

morri2 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2014, 07:09:06 pm »

A quick progress report - ewe is much better last couple of days. She is no longer scouring and eating hay and sheep nuts again. I even let her out today in this lovely sunshine. Heaven only knows what was wrong with her but it lasted over a week and appears to be as a direct result of her lambing. The lamb is also doing really well. She has also been outside today, doing lambie jumps and learning how to be a sheep and not a dog or a cat!!
Thanks for all your suggestions.