[Vinnie]

Hi we have a bottled fed lamb that is just over  a month old. He is eating some green grass and hay. But his poop is very running and green of course from the green grass. Any suggestions to help firm it up to become pellets?We have cut down on the strength of his  formula and he is drinking water.

[Vinnie]

Just an update well the lamb seems to have less diarrhea, still loose though and dark green. It snowed again so he hasn't had any more green grass just hay and his milk formula. Is it normal for it to be dark green? Should it be pellets soon? Just asking because I have read that dark green poop it can be a coiccidioss (probably didn't spell that right) he is very active though and eats and is acting normal in every other way. So probably worried for nothing but any opinions would be great 

[shotblastuk]

should imagine it's just his digestive system adjusting. stick back to just hay to harden him up.

[Dogwalker]

You could take a poo sample to the vets to check for cocci, worms etc.

[twizzel]

Is he on any creep? I would bring him in on hay and straw and see if that helps. He should be eating creep by now too.

[fsmnutter]

Take a sample to the vets, diarrhoea in a young lamb can cause them to go downhill fast if not corrected, and if coccidia etc, then he needs treatment.
Hope he feels better soon.

[Vinnie]

Thanks for all the suggestions   :thumbsup:He eats dry hay which has a variety of grasses and some alfalfa. He doesn't show any other signs  very active and eats his hay and formula. So hopefully it is like shotblast said that is it his system adjusting. We will add some straw too 

[Vinnie]

Hi again everyone, I left this post because he was doing great. Then just tonight I hear him banging around so I check on him. He is floppy around walking, hopping and pooping every where. So I massage his belly made sure he didn't hit his head and put a warm cloth on his butt (which really seem to help). This went on for an hour now he is back to normal now.  So did he just have some poop stuck ? Because he definitely doesn't have any stuck now.

[Vinnie]

Another question he is 42 days old can I take him off his milk ? He drinks water from the bottle but won't drink it from the trough yet. Just asking because in the past we never have had much luck with milk replacer. So hoping since he eats a lot of hay, and green grass that we could switch to just giving him water instead of the milk replacer

[Marches Farmer]

What you describe as banging around and being floppy could be the fits lambs sometimes have before they expire.  If that's the case there's nothing to be done.  Have you seen him lying on his side and "paddling" with his legs?

[crobertson]

I personally would get the lamb vet checked seens as it's been going on for 10 days just to make sure theres nothing else going on.
Whether or not we're lucky but we dont have any problems with our bottle fed lambs, they drink their water from a bucket, they eat hay and creep feed alongside their milk bottles and we've never had one even runny poop and this lot have just turned 5 weeks old. If it were one of my lambs I would take a sample or take the lamb to the vet but thats just what I would do and others may vary.

Hope he gets better soon

[fsmnutter]

He may very well have 'poop stuck', an obstruction, a bloat or infection in the gut may cause symptoms like this. All of these can be fatal, especially in young lambs.
I still think getting a poo sample to the vet may help you, as it does not sound like normal healthy defecation at all.
Then it may be the case that the vet recommends feeding electrolyte solution instead of milk for a period. After that, it may be time to wean, providing it is eating enough hard feed to compensate for losing the nutrition in the milk.

[Vinnie]

Thanks for your replies. No sorry if I wasn't clear it hasn't been going on for 10 days just a few hours ago. When I started this post it was that his system was just adjusting to hay and a little too much green grass. The lamb is fine now  :relief:it must have been an obstruction in his intestines, because now you wouldn't even know he had an issue about 6 hours ago. But when he was flopping around I thought right away like marches farmer said that he was dying. Because we have seen those death type throws and there are horrible but this was a little different. About the vet unfortunately we don't really have a good one around here for livestock, every time we have taken an animal or called them the animal died after they did whatever. Whether it was for simple thing or something complicated. Very frustrating 

[twizzel]

Where abouts are you- maybe someone close by can recommend a large animal vet. Bottle fed lambs do need more than grass and hay especially for the first 12-16 weeks of life hence why lamb creep is available, normally 18% protein which helps them grow. Ours are off milk by 6 weeks as said previously but fed creep twice a day until 3-4 months old along with good grass once they are accustomed to it.

[Vinnie]

We live be in Alberta Canada. The large animal vet here is more concerned about making money doing AI for cows, so he doesn't have the time for smaller livestock he says. In a few months though there is a new large animal vet opening up , that will be soooooooo great. Whats is in lamb creep? We have never had to give it to them, when I look it up it I can't seem to find out what's in it. There hay is a mix of grasses and some alfalfa and they have a mineral block they nibble on. The lamb is 6 weeks so that's good we can take him off the milk but we are going to town later today we will have to see if we can buy that lamb creep