[Blackbelly] Bad Year for Blackbelly Lambs?
In 10 years, I've never had a lambing problem, and only lost one ewe to illness. After a devastating year of predation, the trading of several sheep for LGD, I find my reduced flock further impacted by small lambs, and Septic Arthritis, and now two deaths. So now it has me wondering about where my LGD came from. Last year, the breeder of the LGD phoned me with a question about his Blackbelly flock. He had recently obtained them, and they were dropping dead. There were no recognizable symptoms that he reported, other than a day of subdued behavior. I had no wisdom to offer him, having a flock that had been robust for years. However this year, I have small lambs. Last year I had the first case of septic arthritis, though it was late onset (over a month old). It cleared up with Penn-G. This year, 4 out of 5 lambs developed septic arthritis. One of my ewes, a producer of robust twins every year, delivered two very small and weak lambs. I truly did not expect one to live, but she did turn around at the moment I decided she was a loss. She did also develop arthritis, and it cleared up with Penn-G, as did the other cases. However her twins began to grow nicely, but then stopped developing by appearances. I noticed they were hunched up and cold and put sweaters back on them. Last night one died. I expect the second one will as well. This is an old ewe, though I don't know how old. Three weeks ago, I lost my eldest ewe, a lovely girl of at least 12 years of age. She was bleeding vaginally, and in pain, appeared to be in shock. I thought she was having a birthing problem. She'd had a cough which was intermittent, and persisted despite deworming. I had assumed lung worm, because she did not present as having pneumonia. After putting her out of her misery, inspection did not reveal any pregnancy, but did show inflammation of her ovaries, fallopian tubes, etc. Her heart appeared degraded, and lugs were a little scarred. Liver and kidneys looked normal. I assume she just was old and failing. I don't know how anything is related, but wonder if the LGD brought something with them that has impacted the flock. I have also learned the property we are now on had some history of over population of animals, including goats. Just a strange and bad year. But not sure what has happened with this year's lambs. Reminds me of the size concerns Barb Lee had when she was producing. She asked me to her place to see her lambs. Her adults were beautiful, robust and well-sized... but her lambs were so tiny, though very healthy. It bothered her that they were so small, and took so long to reach a marketable weight. My lambs have always been robust and well-sized, until this year. Tracy Wessel www.intentionhill.com ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[Blackbelly] Limping ewe
Could use some advice on what to look for here. older (not sure how old, but she's my oldest) AB ewe shows up limping yesterday. I had planned on trimming hooves anyway so I penned her and trimmed while taking a look. No foul smells, no oozing, no discoloration I could see. No swelling of joints or apparent apparent break. Joints moved in the right direction and freely. Did not trim into the quick or make her bleed. I have done that once and seen a ewe limp for a few days, but in this case, was careful. She can grow some pretty long eagle claws for hooves, but usually only on her back feet. The fronts really required little trimming. Today her limp is not better, and might be worse. In general, she does get up and move slow and might be developing Osteoarthritis. Incidentally, she's also mostly deaf. Not sure how to proceed other than to pen her for a week, feed her, keep her real dry (covered pen) and apply hoof drench? I have a splint I could vet-wrap onto the joints, but not sure if the hoof itself is what is hurting... I also could wash her hoof and inspect between the toes a bit better. Did not really do that. In general the sheep have dry, green grass pastures and are not in a manure and urine-filled muddy paddock, like some livestock can be. Our rain has been maybe 1/2 every 10 days lately. Never had a problem with any hoof-related diseases in 4 years and with 15 sheep and pygmy goats. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Limping ewe
Michael: I have an old ewe that started limping about 3 years ago for no reason. She still limps and has 2 lambs now. I would get a bottle of Banamine and use the dosage same as cattle. Cecil in oKla On 3/6/2012 4:23 PM, Michael Smith wrote: Could use some advice on what to look for here. older (not sure how old, but she's my oldest) AB ewe shows up limping yesterday. I had planned on trimming hooves anyway so I penned her and trimmed while taking a look. No foul smells, no oozing, no discoloration I could see. No swelling of joints or apparent apparent break. Joints moved in the right direction and freely. Did not trim into the quick or make her bleed. I have done that once and seen a ewe limp for a few days, but in this case, was careful. She can grow some pretty long eagle claws for hooves, but usually only on her back feet. The fronts really required little trimming. Today her limp is not better, and might be worse. In general, she does get up and move slow and might be developing Osteoarthritis. Incidentally, she's also mostly deaf. Not sure how to proceed other than to pen her for a week, feed her, keep her real dry (covered pen) and apply hoof drench? I have a splint I could vet-wrap onto the joints, but not sure if the hoof itself is what is hurting... I also could wash her hoof and inspect between the toes a bit better. Did not really do that. In general the sheep have dry, green grass pastures and are not in a manure and urine-filled muddy paddock, like some livestock can be. Our rain has been maybe 1/2 every 10 days lately. Never had a problem with any hoof-related diseases in 4 years and with 15 sheep and pygmy goats. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Limping ewe
Michael, Sounds like it is a back leg? If so, check her udder. Feel it for fever, and also feel each of the teats. Also get down under her (or gently set her up on her rear) and visually examine the entire udder to look for signs of infection. If any part of it is hot, inflamed, infected, abcessed, or if any of the teats are hot or hard, she could have mastitis, and the pain could be radiating into the leg. It is not likely, but if you would by chance have this and it goes undiagnosed, it can kill her, so better to check it out and be safe. Sometimes limping on a back leg can be the red flag symptom of mastitis. Ruling out mastitis, and if there are no foul smells or irritated tissue on the bottom of hoof, then the other thing to check for is an abcess in the interdigital gland (the gland between the two toes on the front of the hoof, just where the hoof stops and the black hair begins). Sometimes a hard cyst develops there. You can usually relieve that by squeezing out the cyst through the front. Other than these two things, I cannot think of anything else. Perhaps she has sprained her leg a little and it just needs time to recover. Good luck! Mary Swindell At 04:23 PM 3/6/2012, you wrote: Could use some advice on what to look for here. older (not sure how old, but she's my oldest) AB ewe shows up limping yesterday. I had planned on trimming hooves anyway so I penned her and trimmed while taking a look. No foul smells, no oozing, no discoloration I could see. No swelling of joints or apparent apparent break. Joints moved in the right direction and freely. Did not trim into the quick or make her bleed. I have done that once and seen a ewe limp for a few days, but in this case, was careful. She can grow some pretty long eagle claws for hooves, but usually only on her back feet. The fronts really required little trimming. Today her limp is not better, and might be worse. In general, she does get up and move slow and might be developing Osteoarthritis. Incidentally, she's also mostly deaf. Not sure how to proceed other than to pen her for a week, feed her, keep her real dry (covered pen) and apply hoof drench? I have a splint I could vet-wrap onto the joints, but not sure if the hoof itself is what is hurting... I also could wash her hoof and inspect between the toes a bit better. Did not really do that. In general the sheep have dry, green grass pastures and are not in a manure and urine-filled muddy paddock, like some livestock can be. Our rain has been maybe 1/2 every 10 days lately. Never had a problem with any hoof-related diseases in 4 years and with 15 sheep and pygmy goats. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Limping ewe
thanks, I'll check that. No, it's a front leg, though. I'll check for nodules or cysts between the toes as well. And Cecil, I might try some Banamine, although it's indicated to not use past 5 days, and IV is preferred (not IM, since it can irritate muscle tissue), which I have never done. _MWS On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 2:56 PM, Mary Swindell mswin...@siu.edu wrote: Michael, Sounds like it is a back leg? If so, check her udder. Feel it for fever, and also feel each of the teats. Also get down under her (or gently set her up on her rear) and visually examine the entire udder to look for signs of infection. If any part of it is hot, inflamed, infected, abcessed, or if any of the teats are hot or hard, she could have mastitis, and the pain could be radiating into the leg. It is not likely, but if you would by chance have this and it goes undiagnosed, it can kill her, so better to check it out and be safe. Sometimes limping on a back leg can be the red flag symptom of mastitis. Ruling out mastitis, and if there are no foul smells or irritated tissue on the bottom of hoof, then the other thing to check for is an abcess in the interdigital gland (the gland between the two toes on the front of the hoof, just where the hoof stops and the black hair begins). Sometimes a hard cyst develops there. You can usually relieve that by squeezing out the cyst through the front. Other than these two things, I cannot think of anything else. Perhaps she has sprained her leg a little and it just needs time to recover. Good luck! Mary Swindell At 04:23 PM 3/6/2012, you wrote: Could use some advice on what to look for here. older (not sure how old, but she's my oldest) AB ewe shows up limping yesterday. I had planned on trimming hooves anyway so I penned her and trimmed while taking a look. No foul smells, no oozing, no discoloration I could see. No swelling of joints or apparent apparent break. Joints moved in the right direction and freely. Did not trim into the quick or make her bleed. I have done that once and seen a ewe limp for a few days, but in this case, was careful. She can grow some pretty long eagle claws for hooves, but usually only on her back feet. The fronts really required little trimming. Today her limp is not better, and might be worse. In general, she does get up and move slow and might be developing Osteoarthritis. Incidentally, she's also mostly deaf. Not sure how to proceed other than to pen her for a week, feed her, keep her real dry (covered pen) and apply hoof drench? I have a splint I could vet-wrap onto the joints, but not sure if the hoof itself is what is hurting... I also could wash her hoof and inspect between the toes a bit better. Did not really do that. In general the sheep have dry, green grass pastures and are not in a manure and urine-filled muddy paddock, like some livestock can be. Our rain has been maybe 1/2 every 10 days lately. Never had a problem with any hoof-related diseases in 4 years and with 15 sheep and pygmy goats. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
