[90driver]

Hi.  Last Monday I picked up 4 Herdwick shearlings from a local farmer, They seemed happy in their new home and being  new to sheep I have kept a very close eye on them. But on Friday one of them very suddenly started foaming at the mouth and panting.  Its tongue was hanging out and not very happy.  I penned her up and called the vet. The young vet arrived and jumped into the pen and took her temperature, whereby she dropped dead !!!

The vet battled to bring her back but to no avail. He suspected poisoning and walked off round the paddock looking for the cuprit before delcaring that he had found a poisonous  plant......... Which I pointed out was Cow Parsley!!!! I think perhaps he had mistaken it for Hemlock.  And to be fair English is not his first language.

I know sheep are sheep but has anyone else suffered a similar event or can cast a light on what it might of been ?

Many thanks

[twizzel]

Could have been anything. Best bet would have been to do a PM and find out in case the others are at risk. If they aren’t vaccinated then pasturella could be a contender though.

[90driver]

Thanks.  I was assured that they were all vaccinated 6 weeks ago as part of the Farmers schedual . I guess it could be possible for some to slip through the net with 400 to do !

[shep53]

 I would also suspect pneumonia , whenever you stress sheep  catch ,load, move in trailer etc especially in this type of weather you can get a problem .  Vaccines do not cover every type of pneumonia just the most common

[90driver]

I thought it was pneumonia too but the vet said no.

[pharnorth]

What a rotten start to your sheep experience. I hope things look up for you. Lovely sheep Herdwick

[Tim W]

I thought it was pneumonia too but the vet said no.

Did the vet do a PM & look at the lungs?
Pasturella vaccine is not 100% effective ---stress will bring it on

[90driver]

Tim W . No he did not and on cost grounds it is hard to justify.  In the course of a week they had been penned up a few times before shearing. And then I would of collected them and bought them to mine, so plenty of opportunities for them to feel unsettled and maybe stressed.

[twizzel]

Tim W . No he did not and on cost grounds it is hard to justify.  In the course of a week they had been penned up a few times before shearing. And then I would of collected them and bought them to mine, so plenty of opportunities for them to feel unsettled and maybe stressed.

But the cost of 1 post mortem might be far less than losing a significant percentage of your flock to a preventable disease that was picked up by the PM. Just a thought.

[90driver]

I only had 4 at the time.... now 3 !

The callout for the Vet is more than enough when you consider the poor thing died within 2 mins of him getting in the pen with her.

[Tim W]

A PM can be as simple or as complicated as you like
I routinely look at the lungs of all sudden death animals (1000 ewes so i do get an occasional death)----takes me all of 5/10 mins
It can be the best diagnostic tool a vet has & would add £10 to your £70 call out fee??

Just a thought ----

[90driver]

Ok. I was under the impression from my vet that his fees were a bit higher. I will find out  when I get the bill. Is  my first time of using them. If you know what you are looking for I guess there is no harm doing it yourself

[Tim W]

AHDB have been running a few PM course in the last 12 months ----well worth attending if you get a chance
You can soon pick up a few basics which can be very useful ---depends if you want to get elbow deep in sheep innards i guess 

[90driver]

Tim W.

Thanks for that I will look them up.

Am here to learn, no objection to investigating inside a dead sheep.

[shep53]

I do very simple pm on every dead sheep   , one quick cut just after the last rib and I can check the liver ( liver fluke is very bad here )  then a bit deeper into the chest cavity and into the lungs . Its all on google somewhere