Three week old lamb with a death wish

[Laurie J]

A three week old lamb has me stumped! He is a twin, and when he was born, we were very discouraged to find that his two year old mama has very little milk. That hasn't improved, so we will be culling her. At any rate, we've been supplementing with bottles. The brother is doing great, and is nibbling on alfalfa now too. The one I am concerned with, however, has always stood around looking hunched up. Fine. Usually means he's hungry, so feed him more (we'd not fed him as much as we would an orphan, since he does have a mama who has some milk). It doesn't matter if he's had the amount we'd give an orphan by bottle, or if we give him just a little...he's always humped up, doesn't do much, and is now considerably smaller than his brother. At 3 weeks he should jump around and play...but he seems like he'd rather lay down and die. Breathing is fine, temperature is fine, the only thing is he's always bloated looking, hunched up, inactive, and today I saw him pass some rather chunky almost white looking poo. Really odd, and I sure would like to save him if anyone has any ideas! Oh, he had his CDT & Bose shot, and will have the second series in a few days.

[Callieslamb]

Let me qualify my help....I've never had a lamb with a problem.......so take this for what you paid for it.

I'd give him probiotics. Or live culture yogurt. Maybe his digestive system didn't get a good start and he needs a boost. You might also try a nutridrench- I think it's a fancy term for molasses.

I've never had a lamb scour or be sick in any way, but if a calf does, we take the milk away and give it electrolytes for a few feedings - let the tummy settle down , the slowly put them back on milk. Are you feeding him milk replacer? Or raw milk?

[Laurie J]

He's on milk replacer, and we were actually thinking about some yogurt tonight. Thanks!

[Callieslamb]

Again...I might not know what I'm talking about. Did the ewe have enough colostrum? there isn't anything you can do about that now, but it would be nice to know. Colostrum makes or breaks a baby animal.

[SilverVista]

I'm thinking about my own 3-week-old lambs right now, and despite having very attentive dams, plentiful fine-textured orchard grass/alfalfa hay and lamb creep pellets, they are still terribly dependent on milk. A lamb that is hunched and stunted is probably not only deficient on milk, but trying way too hard to make up the difference in things he just isn't able to digest in large quantities yet. I've never had good results from "supplementing" with a bottle what a ewe gives a lamb, and I've never really been satisfied with performance after early weaning (we wean at 90 days minimum).

I've never seen dry white poop, but white scours is an indication that you need to treat for e. coli infection ASAP. I think that consideration of e. coli, and making sure there is sufficient milk offered (as though the ewe is providing nothing) would be my first priorities.

[eieiomom]

Originally Posted by SilverVista

I'm thinking about my own 3-week-old lambs right now, and despite having very attentive dams, plentiful fine-textured orchard grass/alfalfa hay and lamb creep pellets, they are still terribly dependent on milk. A lamb that is hunched and stunted is probably not only deficient on milk, but trying way too hard to make up the difference in things he just isn't able to digest in large quantities yet. I've never had good results from "supplementing" with a bottle what a ewe gives a lamb, and I've never really been satisfied with performance after early weaning (we wean at 90 days minimum).

I've never seen dry white poop, but white scours is an indication that you need to treat for e. coli infection ASAP. I think that consideration of e. coli, and making sure there is sufficient milk offered (as though the ewe is providing nothing) would be my first priorities.

Ditto on these suggestions especially the last one, from what you have said, this lamb is in need of more more nutrition !
I have not had experience with the type of scours you are describing, have you consulted your vet about this ?

Deb

[Ross]

Are you weighing the replacer powder or measuring it? I'm only guessing but I think the replacer is the issue, I'd add extra water and even add a little metamucil (teaspoon) to 500 mls. I'd be tempted to try a different brand too except its working for the other lambs? Do you use a creep feed ration for your lambs?

[RedTartan]

I'm new to sheep, but until last spring I kept dairy goats. I had a goat kid hunch like you're describing. I thought she just looked cold. She was very young. She "hunched" for about a week and then died at 10 days old. I thought there was something genetically wrong with her. Then the other two goat kids that were older started standing around hunched up and I realized I was dealing with illness and not just a poor kid.

I called out my vet and he said it was some kind of bacterial infection. We treated the other two kids with antibiotics and B vitamins. They lived.

Consider bacterial infection along with everything else you've heard here. Good luck

[J.T.M.]

Originally Posted by Laurie J

and today I saw him pass some rather chunky almost white looking poo. .

Does this look like the poop ?

[Laurie J]

JTM: That kind of looks like it. Last night, after posting, I went out and massaged his tummy and gave him some antibiotic and some Bose, since it was almost time for his second shot. I also put some Milk of Magnesia in a syringe and he sucked it up. (Since his belly seems bloated/distended, I'm also worried about constipation). He actually got up and went to suck on Mama a little. This morning at 5:00 my husband said he came over and took a little bottle. When I went up a few hours later, he couldn't get up at first, and didn't seem too excited about a bottle. (I did find a bottle of frozen goats milk, so gave him a few ounces of that with some yogurt mixed in. Also more Milk of Magnesia). His belly is really distended. I brought him to the house so I can frequently massage his tummy and give him small, more frequent feedings of the goats milk. I really don't know what is up with this guy. He did pass a little gas and a little more poo when I massaged his belly a while ago, so I know there isn't a complete blockage, if that is what his problem is. Sure appreciate so many people weighing in on my lamb's problem!

[J.T.M.]

Laurie,I dig your enthusiasm

My lambs symptoms are differant from yours ,so I am of no help to you.But do keep us up dated .

[Ross]

If not constipation then at least I think you have a motility issue maybe from the replacer maybe a deformity maybe a previous infection or cocci problem. Thats why I suggested the metamucil and being very careful to mix the replacer well. Unless of course you can go with real milk of some sort.

[Laurie J]

This lamb continues to puzzle me! His tummy problems have seemed to pass, but for the past several days he acts like his legs are paralyzed! He can't get up at all! He's separated from his mama now, and I give him a bottle, which he guzzles like any bottle baby. He can move his legs (especially the back ones), but can't put any weight on them or support himself at all. I hold him up and he can push a little with the back legs. I also made a sling that I put him in [much like a Johnny-Jump-Up for lambs! ], and he goes in that several times a day. He acts like a normal lamb, except he can't move! My husband wants to put him down, but he acts so much healthier (if you can call it that!) than he did when he was feeling poorly. I sure hope I didn't overdose him with the Bose when I gave him his second shot. My husband usually does this, and he said I gave him more than he does. He's so sweet and doesn't act like he just wants to die any more, I sure hope he will pop out of this!

[Laurie J]

Oh, and no, I didn't give his shots to him anywhere near the spinal cord!

[Ross]

Maybe some thiamin would help but it doesn't sound good!