[milliebecks]

It hadn't occurred to me before - I've previously done vaccinations with a 19 gauge needle - but when I had a poorly lamb the vet gave me syringes, one with an AB and one with anti-inflammatory, and they had noticeably different gauge needles, one of which was surprisingly thick.
It makes sense that different liquids have different viscosity and might need different needles, but don't you need to take the size of the animal into consideration too?
What gauge should I use for Heptavac on lambs of 3 to 6 weeks (Shetlands) and what gauge should I use for AB, should I need to use it on adult sheep?

[shep53]

I have  18 g   12mm needles for subcutaneous   and 20g   25mm  needles for intramuscular  and for young lambs  21g  12mm

[Rosemary]

18g / 1/2" for subcutaneous in sheep

[Foobar]

21g 5/8ths for lambs that young

[Foobar]

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=55253.msg466191#msg466191

[milliebecks]

Thanks all. That's really helpful. I should have searched the site as that last link to a previous post answers the question.
Having said that, I always read every word of the product leaflet and it's surprising that no advice is given. Not just size of animal, but viscosity of liquid and speed of delivery, which I hadn't considered at all.

[CarolineR]

Hi everyone,
Here's a link to a leaflet that tells you all about sheep medicines, how to deal with them, including recommended needle gauges.

It's by NADIS so you can trust the info.

I use it when I am teaching beginners.

Hope this helps.

Caroline

link: http://www.nadis.org.uk/bulletins/sheep-medicines.aspx