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Author Topic: Problem ewe  (Read 8789 times)

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #15 on: June 20, 2014, 11:51:10 pm »
Good points, thank you.
Still need to get a bit ore milk into them I think even at Soay size. Or at least to a point they feel satisfied enough not to  run straight back to the udder after the bottle?
Sheep actually sharing fields with 2 donkeys - their FECs have been OK so far but should do one for her specifically now.
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2014, 11:53:35 pm »
Is she getting on in years perhaps her teeth aren't up to much, sounds like she s even giving her all to her lambs. I think 200 ml is very good, better too little than too much.   Maybe worth giving her some of the collate multi lamb tonic too, full of all sorts of goodies. Hope she mends well xx

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #17 on: June 20, 2014, 11:58:44 pm »
In answer to your post about them running back to her, the bottle will feel pretty alien to them if they ve gotten into the routine of running to her udder, and thy will continue that behvaiour until they get used to you and the teat.  it ll take a little time, they will soon look for you for the bottle, and either perhaps mum will start to produce more milk as she feels better and they stay on her or they come completely over to the bottle x

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #18 on: June 21, 2014, 09:15:53 am »
What is the name of the red worm that they caught from horses?

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #19 on: June 21, 2014, 10:15:08 am »
Theres a stomach worm they can both share.. Can't remember th proper name for it though.. Hope you are well Me :)  :farmer:

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #20 on: June 21, 2014, 10:34:33 am »


Oh and an FEC, I had a friend who had very lean soays and had wormed them for everything, an FEC identified, small red worm that they had caught from the horse they shared a field with, a cydectin dose cleared them straight up, turns out the whole flock was anemic,

thats really interesting as i didnt think sheep and ponies shared parasites. when my pony had a small red worm problem, it never showed in her FEC. im slightly concerned that my goats or cattle could have picked it up. what brand was used to treat the sheep?

SheepCrazy!

  • Joined Nov 2012
  • Dumfries and Galloway
  • www.hawthornsoaysandjacobs.co.uk
    • hawthornsoaysandjacobs
    • Facebook
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #21 on: June 21, 2014, 09:37:21 pm »

The horse in question had come back from a livery yard and had a large burden, the small red worms were strongyles, and the only thing my friend could treat the sheep with was a cydectin injection,  but the improvement in a week was amazing, as i said the sheep were anemic.

Even though they were thoroughly dosed, the dose was for the wrong parasite.

Hows the wee Soay today?

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #22 on: June 21, 2014, 11:28:35 pm »
Her appetite has picked up further today so I'm feeling quietly positive  :fc:
She will not touch hay though so I'm having to keep picking her bunches of fresh grass and twigs, worried that I may not be able to keep up with her.
Mixed success with getting milk into lambs, one moment I think they got the hang of it the next most milk ends up on me rather than in them. But they took more than yesterday so done progress.
So now the big question is: how long do I keep her penned up? (48 hours this evening).

She looks happy enough in her pen but the lambs are getting rather bored I think, and she might eat more grass than I can pick if out grazing. Should I risk not being able to monitor her and probably not being able to supplement the lambs? As said above, if I can't catch her she probably doesn't need me but I worry I might be to optimistic. Not sure anybody can advise on this but this question will keep me up tonight I think.

"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #23 on: June 22, 2014, 12:11:51 am »
If she were here I would make a large enclosure with her pen within it so that the lambs can loon about, and she has the safety of her pen/stable/barn at night for a little while whilst she recuperates.

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #24 on: June 22, 2014, 12:14:01 am »
What teats are you using with the lambs, I've found the couple of top ups we ve done in the past season took the small red and yellow teat best, the I moved them on to the nettex bottle n teat x

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #25 on: June 22, 2014, 07:32:48 am »
Using the red and yellow small teats - these seemed the closest to 'udder size' and still quite big for their tiny faces.
Good idea about the enclosure, but I would need an awful lot of hurdles, a lot more than I have (she's in the donkey's shelter so not much grass around that). Maybe I can do something with electric tape - I don't think the lambs will respect that (just slip over/ under) but maybe this doesn't matter, as they will always come back to her, if she stays within it, and I think she would. Might try that!
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #26 on: June 22, 2014, 08:59:43 am »
Goodo  :)  Oh I use all sorts, garden gates, old doors, anything and tie it all in, I can imagine she senjoying here BandB :) xx

Me

  • Joined Feb 2014
  • Wild West
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #27 on: June 22, 2014, 10:40:07 am »
I'm alright thanks Hellybee! Strongyles are a family of nematode worms more than a worm, if you could tell me the name of that specific horse/sheep highly pathogenic strogyle worm I would be very interested being the owner of both species! It doesn't ring a bell.

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Problem ewe
« Reply #28 on: June 23, 2014, 07:37:34 pm »
I did try setting up a large pen with electric fence lines - seems to be working!
The lambs walked straight through (had it on low output anyway) and then came back in straight away and then spent the afternoon in the sun. Then they went back into their straw lined shed for the night, and weren't bothered wh3en I shut the door on them. My little ewe seems to like it there  :)

She's munching with increasing appetite (unfortunately the outdoor pen doesn't have too much grass so still depending on me picking enough stuff for her). Still not much success with getting more than 100ml of top up milk into the lambs (between them) but they seem less hungry so maybe her milk yield has improved.

Need to figure out when she is well enough to let them all go.
Want to put her back with the rest of the flock on the big field with much better grass, but this probably means I have to bundle up in some way, as I don't think she will follow the bucket on her own without her flock mates (she is always last and more cautious/suspicious than the rest.)

While I can get hold of the lambs I wonder if I should take them for castration before they all go out on the field - will save me a lot of worry about catching them later. Lambs will be 3 weeks on Friday. (I have decided to let the vet do it this time, as I feel rather out of my depth with ringing tiny Soay bits for the first time - the learning curve has been steep enough already!)
Or would it not be a good time to get it done now, as I'm sure the lambs' system will have suffered too as a result of the mum being unwell. Maybe I should wait longer for everybody's strength to return? (I imagine taking her lambs away from her even for an hour or two will be rather stressful for her; we don't have a trailer so will need to make the vet trip with the car & dog crate.
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

 

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