Hello all,
I am new here and more of a "pet sheep" person than for business. I got a bottle baby from my best friend about 11 years ago now, and he is still with us and he is great his name is Harry and is a wether. The problem is I went out yesterday to feed and noticed he was not putting any weight on his right front leg, he is also turned out with my bottle calf who is 9 months old and I'm pretty sure she kicked him. Harry seems to have a broken leg above his knee about two to three finger widths down below his breast bone in the inside. It is swollen, i gave him some dexamethasone IM I had on hand last night to help the swelling. He is still happy, eating, upright, non weight bearing on the right front. Last night he had the injured leg reall drawn up where the tippy toes were not even hardly touching the ground , this morning he has relaxed it some more although I am unsure if this is a good thing or not, his hoof is more buckled over at the ankle so his muscles have relaxed some, which I am thinking will make it easier to plaster/really splint in (I am undecided on which to do). He is 11 years old and my buddy, our vets do not do anything with sheep.... we have beef cows and whenever a calf breaks its leg at random it is generally the lower leg so it is a pretty simple splint, plus they are babies so they heal faster. I plan on after work today making him a sling to keep the weight off of that one leg but still allow him to bear weight on the other three, because I know once sheep get down and is not good. And I'm hoping someone here can give me directional which way to go with this should I plaster the leg with some gauze plaster that I saw someone recommend on another topic, or should I get a PVC pipe and pad and wrap and splint that way? Obviously he is not growing anymore so that is not a concern. Also what can I give him for pain I am unsure if dexamethasone is the best choice, but I did not have anything else to give him I am out of banamine. No matter what I do split or plaster I plan on doing it below the knee and up as close to the shoulders I can get and at least right around his stomach to try to hold everything up. I'm just thinking a sling may keep him he mobile the best as he still hobbling around and laying down and getting up and I do not want him to accidentally do more damage to that leg or end up with a compound fracture. I'm hopeful that someone here you can give me some sort of Direction other than put him down, as he is still in good spirits doesnt seem to be bothered by it all, good appitete, drinking water, eating his hay and grain, and still greets me when i walk into the barn. I plan on getting some alfalfa to supplement with on the way home today when I stop to get casting or splint supplies. I know in people we encourage high protein diet to help with healing so he will be getting some higher protein grain as well.
Thank you all in advance, and help is greatly appreciated as I do not want to do more damage than good! Of course if he gets to where he is in pain, etc we will euthanize him as I do not want him to be in pain