Help please but this is not about goats!

Backfourty,MI. · #1 02/16/13, 07:00 AM

A few Questions?

Above is the link to the thread I started in the sheep forum but thought maybe I would get more response here since I know all of you & normally only post here.

I'm worried about these lambs & the ewe & hoping I can get her some info that may help this lady & the animals.

This is for a good customer that comes in the restaurant where I work. I told her I'd try & find out these things & call her today.
To tell you the truth I can't believe some of this stuff she doesn't already know but talking to her last night she doesn't.

CaliannG · #2 02/16/13, 10:32 AM

Sheep can have Nuflor. For most medications, their reaction is the same as in goats. Same dosage as well.

And yes, they need to STOP FEEDING MILK to that poor ewe! It is curdling in her rumen, throwing the pH balance all off, and coating the linings of her stomachs...making digestion problematical.

They actually need to feed her something acidic, like a few oranges or something, to get her rumen back into balance. Also a good dose of probiotics, as that alkaline rumen environment has probably caused havoc with her gut flora.

Backfourty,MI. · #3 02/16/13, 10:41 AM

Thanks Caliann, I think when she told me that last night my mouth dropped open! I said I don't think you should be giving a grown ewe milk.
But again I have never had sheep. I just hope her grandkids sheep are going to be OK.

I've been doing a lot of reading last night & today & waiting for her to call me back now.

CaliannG · #4 02/16/13, 11:55 AM

There are some differences between sheep and goats, as everyone here well knows, but when it comes to disease, treatment, etc., of many issues, unless it has to do with copper, you can follow your goat knowledge.

Even copper is interesting. New studies have come out about the benefits of copper bolusing sheep.

At any rate, if you think a ram has CAE, he probably has CAE (although they call it OPP). If you think a lamb has pneumonia, dose with antibiotics the same way you would a kid. It pretty much works the same way.

I have noticed, though, that sheep people do not tend to be as knowledgeable about problems and diseases as goat people...and I have no idea why. Horse people know horses, and although they can be in-your-face about management with NO tolerance, they still tend to know their stuff. Goat people, of course, after that first 2 years get an education whether they like it or not, and tend to either know what is going on with goats, or know where to ask what they don't know. Cattle people are smart about cows. A bit more lenience in tolerance of management practices also. Rabbit folks also have a steep learning curve that first year or so, so after the second year, they have a clue.

But chicken and sheep people? There is either a lot of cluelessness going on there, or they are VERY stingy with the knowledge they have. I can't decide which. But I have seen LOTS of threads on LOTS of different forums where stuff that we take for granted is nearly unheard of or blatantly dismissed. "Month old lamb with diarrhea and listless. Help!" "You are feeding it too much. Cut back or dilute the milk."

Huh? Haven't these people ever heard of coccidia? And why is the answer with problem lambs always "You are feeding too much"? "My lamb fell out of the truck and I think shattered its leg; should I take it to the vet or just put it down? Any hope for broken legs in sheep?" "You are feeding too much. Cut back or dilute the milk and the lamb will be fine."

The folks on the sheep forum HERE aren't that bad, but some of the OTHER places?

yarrow · #5 02/16/13, 12:19 PM

My *flock* is wee (only 5 sheep.. total)...BUT.. I tend to think of them as goats with sluggish metabolisms ... I medicated them exactly as I do with the goats.. except I sometimes cut back a bit on dosing (since I honestly never bothered learning ANYTHING about sheep..it's all just been guesses on amounts LOL.. however we have never lost one, so the guesses must work)... My wether Sherman Shortbread came to me as an orphan (mom drowned in a bad flood)..newborn with severe pneumonia. I treated him with Nuflor.. gave him 1 cc everyday for 5 days.. PLUS wee doses of banamine (to help with scarring)... he turned right around, never had anymore issues.. I too would suspect milk fever... CMPK injectable (I would give 30cc's every few hours)...maybe some B12 too....
I too have noticed how little the local sheep breeders seem to actually know about their sheep (not everyone, but the ones who live in my general area and call ME??? in the middle of the night LOL).. vet care is hard to come by in this area.. esp. now that our semi-retired dairy vet has taken a full time job and is no longer really making farm calls...sadly, that pretty much leaves the local goat gal for medical advice!!! Sad, but true.. so I warn them I'm just *guessing*.. but so far the guesses have worked...

good luck to this ewe and her lambs (thank YOU, for trying to help her, help them)
susie, mo ozarks

Backfourty,MI. · #6 02/16/13, 01:10 PM

I was also worried maybe an infection with such a troubled labor or maybe a little tearing of the uterus but of course I'm not a vet & haven't seen this ewe since the fair so I'm going by what she's told me. Was thinking I should ask her if she thought she should give the ewe Penicillian just in case too.

She knows we raise goats & has brought the grandkids here to see them before is all & I talk to them when they come in to the restaurant. They seem like really nice people but I think they are a typical dairy(cow) for this area.

Thanks for all the help I will relay the messages.

where I want to · #7 02/16/13, 02:00 PM

When I had my one and only lamb, I found him one morning unable to walk. Being clueless, I took huim asap to the vet, who told me that sheep had "a will to die" and that was that. I was in shock but didn't know anything better.
Of course, once I had my two loveable goatie girls, that response did not do. So when I had a problem, I found forums to ask and website to read. And found that there are a few goatie things you had be know how to help because the vets here are not particularly interested in the lowly goat. So I learned.
So, since sheep are usually not so upfront with their people as goats, maybe there isn't the drive to pursue stuff beyond the vet's opinion. ???

Backfourty,MI. · #8 02/16/13, 04:30 PM

Talked to her a couple times today & the ewe is eating & acting good today she said. Maybe the milk did the trick but I explained why not to feed adult sheep milk & she said she wouldn't do it anymore.
They have the CMPK inj. there because of their cows & I gave her the dosage. The lambs are doing well too she said.

CJBegins · #9 02/16/13, 10:12 PM

I have a cow now and one in the past that would suck down a huge bucket of their colostrum in a heartbeat if they got a chance. I discovered it with both cows by leaving a bucket of fresh colostrum unattended while letting the cow out. As she walked by the bucket their was no getting that bucket from her. Happened twice with two different cows. I was worried sick the first time that happened, now I don't worry about it because they seem like they really want it for a couple of days and then they stop.

I really hope this goat and her kids get well and thrive.