Hello from Australia! My husband and I own 618 acres on the edge of a National Park, and our normal business is in teaching Horsemanship, and raising and training our own horses. Usually the only other animals here are native, emus, kangaroos, echidnas and the like, although we also have 2 Blue Heeler cattle dogs.
A week ago, I found a male orphan lamb when I was walking up the road past our neighbour's farm, and having already had the experience last year of him saying 'keep it or kill it, I don't want it', this time I took pity and decided to raise it. Lo and behold, before the week was out, another neighbour turned up on my doorstep with a little female lamb, who had a wet cord, was very wet and cold and was found standing under OUR letterbox at the highway. This neighbour didn't want the lamb either (he doesn't farm sheep - the lamb was from another farm nearby)...so I figured 'why not, they can keep each other company'. And so it began!
I have raised orphans before, lambs/calves/foals - but a very long time ago. The reason I started googling and then decided to join this forum today is that I thought my experience with these lambs this week might help someone else. I first started googling symptoms that the little female (who we named Cinnamon) started showing on day 2. I'm pretty sure when she arrived she was just born, had not had any colostrum from her mother and was possibly a twin or triplet as she was rather weak and smaller than I'd expect even for a Merino. The little boy (who we named Cedric) was a bit larger, had a dry cord when I found him and I'm pretty sure had fed off his mother and was maybe already a day old. He has had an advantage since the start. It was Cinnamon that got me googling.
So her symptoms on day 2: Wet mouth, looser poo than day one and slightly explosive (usual mustard colour, at first it was black meconium which confirmed my guess that she was just born) very lame on one front leg. I immediately thought 'joint ill' which I know about from my experience with foals. I didn't know if sheep got the same condition until I googled. She got lethargic, had to be lifted to nurse and encouraged to suck, and she was showing 'flehmen's response' (horses do this, but it is not always associated with illness, it's usually a hormonal behaviour - curling top lip upwards) and she no longer trotted after me, just wanted to lie down and was laying flat with neck and head outstretched. I knew this was NOT good!
So from my googling (it was a long night, I am feeding these lambs little and often like I would a newborn human - every 3-4 hours through the night as well) I was pretty sure she did have joint ill, and possibly symptoms of another disease 'wet mouth'. All the information I could find said pharmaceutical antibiotics was the ONLY option, contact a vet, euthanase if not responding after 2 doses...etc...etc. That wasn't an option in my book. I hate antibiotics as a 'go to' medication, and knowing that the gut microbiome is paramount for immune system response and for any chance of the immune system to establish and do it's job, I was not going to go down that track as pharmaceutical anti-biotics kill the gut microbiome. But I do know a thing or two about natural antibiotics, and so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying them, and as I live 40 kms from the nearest vet or town I could begin doing something about Cinnamon's illness immediately, rather than wait for a vet or a visit to town - I already have all these herbal treatments on hand.
I gave both lambs everything I gave Cinnamon. Since it was most likely bacterial, I figured it wouldn't be unlikely for Cedric to also have the infection in his system too.
I have been keeping them inside in a porta-cot I bought at the local op shop for $20. I lined it with plastic sheeting to help with cleaning regime, then a layer of old newspapers, then clean hay from our horse's supply. This gets replaced every morning, and if it's sunny the lambs go into our little orchard where they get VitD, time to run and play, and also grass to nibble on. When Cinnamon got sick, I kept her inside (the porta-cot is in front of the fire) and only put Cedric out for a couple of hours in the orchard. We wash our hands before and after handling, and use boiled water for all formula mixing. We also wash the bottles etc in hot water and add bicarb soda to the water when soaking.
I've been adding to their bottles the following:
1 tsp Garlic tea (boiling water added to a tablespoon of garlic granules and left to steep will last a few days)
1/2 tsp Manuka Honey (make sure it's genuine NZ microbiobal - not the cheap knock off ones, we use this for wound dressings also)
1/2 tsp cornflour every bottle (for the scours) + 1/4 tsp bicarb (occasionally)
1/2 tsp high grade sodium ascorbate (vit C palatable and doesn't burn gut lining) every feed.
Lamb formula - small amounts (Cedric = 300mls per feed/Cinnamon = 150mls per feed) feeding every 4 hours, through the night for the first week for both, but they are going without a feed now from midnight to 6-7am (when she was really ill I was doing a 3am feed/syringe Vytrate for Cinnamon as well though and also Cedric even though he was over a week old)
Drench with vytrate 60-100mls (or whatever I could get down her throat) - Cinnamon only/in between feeds when she dropped off to 50mls of formula per feed and was very unwell.
So that was 2 days ago. It's now Sunday morning, on Friday afternoon my neighbour who owns a sheep farm up the road with her husband (700 sheep atm) came for a visit and shook her head when she saw Cinnamon. 'Don't get attached' she said...to which I replied 'I know they die quickly, I've been down that track before, but what the hell...I'll give her all I've got and at least she won't die alone in a cold paddock'. I really expected her to die that night. But I kept going and she kept taking what I offered. I didn't get to bed until 4am on Friday morning, and kept her wrapped in a towel and cuddled in my lap for most of the night. I knew that 'contact' was a very important part of stimulating immune response. I'd do the same for a newborn human.
Yesterday (Saturday) Cinnamon started drinking enthusiastically without help again, walking without limping (but a bit stiff) and bleating for feeds again. Her poo is back to the mustard coloured stuff again, but not watery like it was the night before. She's taking 150mls formula without stopping, and I'm still giving her the occasional 50 mls of Vytrate (a hydration mix that has electrolytes/vitC/potassium/glucose etc) which she takes enthusiastically from a bottle now, instead of me having to syringe it into her (which was very slow and I was worried it wasn't getting down her throat at one point, she was so lethargic) She's still inside, sleeps more than Cedric, but is up and walking around, bright eyed and wiggly tailed and interested in her surroundings again. Cedric was a bit less than his usual bouncy self on Thurs too, so he most likely was fighting the same infection. Today, he's as annoying as ever he was!
I thought if I'd seen this post on Thurs night when I was worried and googling symptoms, it might have helped. So I thought I'd pay it forward. Cinnamon is not out of the woods yet I'm sure, but the turn around has been remarkable, and worthy of putting out there. I feel cautiously optimistic and amazed at the power of these old fashioned herbal remedies. Maybe the 'old folks' knew a thing or two eh? Nature has answers, we just need to try them I reckon.
Hope this helps someone! I'll keep you posted as we go forward!
Topic: Hello from Australia - accidently 'mother' to 2 orphan lambs (Read 1210 times)
