[chickens]

Please can anyone help we have just been given a horned welsh sheep and have noticed today that he is standing on his own and not happy, upon closer inspection we can see that his curled horn is growing in to his eye - poor thing is really miserable and we need to act urgently.  Unfortunately financially we cannot afford a vet but wondered if we could trim his horn, we have kept sheep for  many years but not of this kind so therefore have never had this problem.  If we can trim it back what can we use please ?

Really appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Nicki

[cairnhill]

Poor sheep  haven't experienced this myself but have heard from others that you can trim the end off with something like hoof shears. 

[Anke]

They use cheesewire in goats, but probably not for horns growing into his eye... I have had ingrowing horns in Shetland boys, but have always been able to keep an eye on it and snipped the (fairly thin) end off with foot shears or garden secateurs... If it is very near his eye there might not be much you can do it - has the person selling him not noticed? If yes, and he did nothing about it - and sold the animal - then I think that is fairly cruel. In the long term, you need to do this clipping either regularly or eat him pretty quickly.

[chickens]

The lady gave him to us, I dont think she did notice as she was going through a very stressful time herself.  And she does not want him to get eaten a very difficult situation but I cannot see him suffer.  He seems to be just confused at the moment.  Has anyone ever had this problem before please?

[Anke]

If he is not a breeding ram, it may be kindest to put him out of his misery.... If he is a breeding ram I don't know if this is a fault that would be carried on, I probably wouldn't risk it.

However if he was given to you, you may want to contact the seller and ask her what to do, after all she wouldn't want him to suffer....

[chickens]

Thanks Anke, that is true I will try and get hold of her but she has gone back to england and we live in france.  I was hoping we could saw it with something, was thinking we could try and hold him but to be honest think he may need an anasthetic as it will be very frightening for him poor thing.  I will go and  ask the vet in the morning.

Thanks for all your help.

[Anke]

If he has come as an individual animal into an existing flock than he would be for a while apart from the rest of the flock, as he is an outsider...

But I certainly think that it would be cruel to keep an animal with this problem, as you would have to keep sawing the top end of his horn off regularly. If it breaks off entirely there will be loads of blood.... but it will heal (and the horn may regrow). My shetland wethers sometimes knock off their horns, but they don't grow strongly, as they are castrated.

But a difficult situation I agree!

[chickens]

Can the horn be removed completely to avoid him suffering like this again?  We are not worried about him being pure or registered as a welsh sheep we just don't want him to suffer and it sounds to me that even if we find a solution it will not be a permanent one and it may be kinder to take action now.  He is so lovely am hoping something can be done.  Do the horns grow very quickly?  I have just sent a message to his ex owner on facebook so am hoping she gets it.

[ScotsGirl]

Hi, if this is a youngster the horn should be hollow.  You may find a friendly local farmer will help you remove it as they do their calves.  If you can cut it low enough it may grow in a different direction.  My ram lamb (now deceased!) was always rubbing his off on the fence and they always grew slightly differently.

I would think you can get something to put on the stump to stop it re-growing. Can't remember what the farmer does, either applies something or burns them.

Hope you manage to get something sorted, seems a shame just to kill him for that reason.  Having said that, if you can't afford the vet, perhaps sheep are not for you as they are devils for getting sick for no reason.

[VSS]

Cut the end off. If you don't cut much off it won't bleed much, in fact it may not bleed at all. Keep an eye on i as the horn will keep growing through the animals life and will need trimming again at some point in the future.

Just use an ordinary hardpoint saw, taking care not to cut the skin on his face. You will need to hold him pretty still. Take of a good chunk though so you don't have to do it again too soon. No need to "put hin out of his misery". If you cut the horn and give him an antibiotic injection to cover while the eye heals, he should be fine.

Don't use him for breeding as he will pass on the poor horn shape.

[mmm]

you can buy wire specifically for de horning animals. It sealsany blood vessels as you saw ( quickly ) back & forward. Try asking a local farmer, they may have some

[chickens]

Thank you all very much for your help and advice.  The vet has been and he has given him an anasthaetic and sawn it off unfortunately it had pierced the eye so sooty is now blind and apparantly it could take weeks to heal.  I am hoping it heals quickly for him.

[Fleecewife]

Hi Chickens.  I posted a reply to this last night but for some reason it didn't come through.  Anyway, glad you have got it sorted out.
We had a ewe who lost her eye when it froze to the ground.  It took her a while to learn not to bump into things but she reared several crops of lambs and lived a happy life.  Her eye eventually came out leaving an empty socket - the slight danger here is that there is only a very short distance to the brain via the optic nerve which was visible, so if the same thing happens to your sheep, watch out for infection and deal with it promptly.
Well done for getting the ingrowing horn dealt with quickly.

[Hellybee]

Awww glad its done, when we tok on the flock at this farm, we found that we have a ewe with only one eye.  Shes very good, if a little lop sided when she looks at you,  causes her no problems  

[shetlandpaul]

we were told by a very old crofter never to keep them with faulty horns. they were saying that its genetic and any young will have the same problem. this was on shetlands so i can't say if its the same for welsh.