[farmsheep99]

Hi, I’m new on here and I can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with one of my lambs. I went out to feed and noticed this lamb looked bloated so the next day gave her some baking soda and water as well as some mineral oil. Also gave her a belly massage to put some pressure on her sides. I ran her around for a while and then sent her back out hoping she’d be back to normal by morning. She wasn’t. Went back out the next morning and she still looked bloated so we de wormed her just in case. Today she still looked bloated and seems to be in discomfort laying on her side and when she gets up she seems to stretch out a lot and has her tail up. I’m not sure if it’s bloat or something else? Any ideas?

 

[HDRider]

What has it ate?

There are two types of bloat

Google "free gas bloat" and "frothy bloat"

I am getting this from page 47 of

 

[farmsheep99]

What has it ate?

There are two types of bloat

Google "free gas bloat" and "frothy bloat"

I am getting this from page 47 of

Thanks for the reply. She had been eating hay and has access to grass as well as milk from the ewe. Also she is around 1 month old.

 

[Ronney]

Welcome to the site

Was the ewe vaccinated against the clostridial diseases prior to lambing and has the lamb been done since birth. This sounds a bit like pulpy kidney, the only thing swinging me away from that is it is usually a very quick killer.

You say she has access to grass and I'm wondering if it's lush spring growth? Read HD's suggestions and see if that helps - in 40 years of keeping sheep I've never had bloat in them, just in cattle when they gorge themselves on spring clover.

Cheers,
Ronnie

 

[farmsheep99]

Welcome to the site

Was the ewe vaccinated against the clostridial diseases prior to lambing and has the lamb been done since birth. This sounds a bit like pulpy kidney, the only thing swinging me away from that is it is usually a very quick killer.

You say she has access to grass and I'm wondering if it's lush spring growth? Read HD's suggestions and see if that helps - in 40 years of keeping sheep I've never had bloat in them, just in cattle when they gorge themselves on spring clover.

Cheers,
Ronnie

The ewe had tasvax 8 and the lamb hasn’t been given anything. The grass is lush spring growth as it hasn’t been grazed on yet and as for the free gas bloat or frothy bloat I think it would be free gas bloat over the frothy if it is bloat. I’m not so sure that it is though, as I gave the baking soda water and oil and it didn’t help with the gas, as well as we passed a tube down her throat and no gas was released that way either. Though the oil we gave her seemed to pass through her system as she now has the runs which now that I think about it I don’t know if she had been pooping the last day or 2, she maybe was plugged up or had a blockage that the oil was able to help pass? She still looks bloated although her to sides aren’t as firm and are more squishy. I also had the thought that it may be pulpy kidney, but she would surely be dead by now if it was.

 

[Bearfootfarm]

She still looks bloated

That's normal.
Sheep suffering from actual "bloat" will show obvious signs of distress, like the grinding of teeth or not being able to stand at all.