Abortions in Sheep
This is the time of year we have abortion concerns. An occasional abortion is to be expected but it is sometimes difficult to ascertain when has there been too many. Vaccination at this point has little value unless there are later groups lambing. The two leading causes are Toxoplasmosis and Campylobacter. Enzootic abortion is a distant third but generally not a problem except in far west and sheep imported from there. Enzootic abortion is treatable with chlortetracycline, injectable long-acting tetracycline and can be prevented by feeding chlortetracycline and vaccination prior to breeding.
Toxoplasmosis is caused by coccidiosis of cats and prevention is accomplished by feeding 15mg of Rumensin per head per day during pregnancy. Adding Deccox to loose salt would be another avenue to explore. Exposure to toxoplasmosis when animals are not pregnant produces immunity so getting rid of the cats is not a good idea but being careful not to feed hay or grain contaminated with cat feces during pregnancy is a good thing. One advantage to feeding Deccox or Rumensin is you reduce the amount of exposure to coccidia In the young lambs.
Vibrio abortion, Campylobacter, may be caused by fetus or jejuni. We find that the abortions caused by jejuni are more likely than not to be chlortetracycline resistant. We prefer the Hygieia brand vaccine because we believe it targets the jejuni abortion more effectively than the other product available.
Other organisms may be involved including Salmonella but are rare in occurrence.
Another prevention tool is maintaining first time lambers as a separate flock. This cuts down on exposure and allows you to handle them differently in prevention or in the face of an outbreak. Don’t add newly purchased ewes to established pregnant flocks. These diseases are spread by contact, don’t feed on ground.
It is essential and I cannot emphasize this enough that you submit aborted fetuses and placenta to a veterinary diagnostic lab to determine the cause. While it may not help this year depending on the particular situation it gives you a base line as to what to do next year.
Straight Talk
I can’t over emphasize the need for colostrum not only to provide immunity but also the amount to be fed to meet energy requirements in the first 24 hours after birth. David Mellor, a veterinary physiologist with Massey University in New Zealand discusses meeting the colostrum needs of new born lambs. His work shows that an eleven pound lamb born outside needed 35 ounces of milk the first 18 hours of life. My recommendations are 50 ounces for an average size lamb the first 24 hours. These figures should give producers an idea of how much milk needs to be fed to meet energy requirements. Eight ounces of high quality colostrum may be adequate for immunity. Know the approximate weight of your lambs and don’t over extend the stomach by force feeding. Keep in mind the average producer tends to under feed. The first feeding for an average sized lamb that has not nursed should be a minimum of eight ounces and could be 12 depending on the size of the lamb.
Let’s talk about colostrum sources, ewe or goat colostrum would be best. Unlikely to have enough when needed. We sell a product NurseMate that consists of dried cow colostrum and lamb milk replacer that is a solid product backed by research. The other way for sheep would be to obtain colostrum from a dairy and freeze ahead of time. This works well. When thawing colostrum products don’t use micro wave use warm water. Johne’s Disease of cattle may be transmitted through milk to goats but not to sheep. Johne’s in sheep is different than the Johne’s in cattle.
Sore mouth is endemic in the general sheep population. It can be transmitted to humans. Generally, enters through a cut or abrasion. Not a big deal depending on location. I knew a guy that got it on the end of his nose, that wasn't much fun. I have had it personally a couple of times. The disease is generally not significant except at lambing time when it may get on the udders or when you want to show or sell sheep.
I don't vaccinate anymore. I found I had less problems in my flock when I didn't vaccinate. It will show up occasionally to varying degrees for no particular reason. It can maintain itself in the environment under extreme conditions and I suspect some animals in flock are apparent carriers.
Use reasonable precaution when handling sheep and shouldn't be a problem. Treatment of lesions generally unrewarding and disease should run its course in four to six weeks or less. Delaying drenching during this period is advisable.
Recently, I read in Wool and Waddles newsletter where WD40 was used to help speed the recovery of sore mouth lesions. I haven’t tried it but the next opportunity I will. The virus has a high percentage of lipid in its outer membrane. The other inactivates the virus by dissolving its membrane and certainly may be of help when the udder is involved or lip lesions are severe.
We continue to get inquiries about alternative feed stuffs. Today if corn is worth .14 a pound soy hulls are worth about .10 on an energy basis. There are a lot of different products out there that you can feed to sheep but nutritionists that understand sheep are in short supply similar to veterinarians. It takes a sizeable flock before you consider alternative feed sources. I have arbitrarily set that size at 200 head. The guy I have found to work with that takes interest and does a good job is Joel Walcholz at Big Gain. I worked with his dad for years. They service a six state area surrounding Minnesota. Give him a call at 507-385-7248.
Another avenue if you live in the Indiana area, is an old friend of mine, Larry Mrozinski that can help with your nutrition problems. He owns Heinhold feeds and has always been in the sheep business and at one time was an instructor in the Pipestone Lamb and Wool Program. Give him a call at 800-331-8673.
We get numerous calls about how to abort ewes that have been accidentally bred. Our recommendation would be 3cc Lutalyse at least 11 days after breeding. Less than eight days doesn’t work. We recommend at least 11 days for margin of error. At mid gestation, we would recommend giving 10cc of dexamethasone as well. In the last two weeks of pregnancy 10cc of dexamethasone should be adequate. In the near term attempts the motive is different we are trying to salvage the ewe and her lambs generally for health reasons and the closer to term the better.
Milk Replacer
Let’s talk about milk replacer. Three years ago we decided we had had enough so we decided to custom formula our own product. Now I certainly don’t qualify as a nutritional expert, but we liked Merrick’s performance but also liked an acidified product so we basically took what we believed to be the best and had it acidified and dropped the LactoBacillus. We had instant success and customer satisfaction with this product.
Now come the competitors with products that are cheaper priced. By leaving out the costly ingredients that are used for human consumption you can lower the price 3 to 4 dollars on a 25# bag. We have less margin than that so it is difficult to compete. I refuse to sacrifice animal welfare for cost. It is pretty simple if you use skim milk at 1.44 versus Dried Whey concentrate at .62 a lb it does make a difference. In all the competitive priced products other than Merrick’s only one contained skim milk and that was listed third in ingredients. They also contained other whey products that are less suitable than Dried Whey Protein Concentrate in a milk replacer that would reduce costs and suitability of the product even further. Dairy calves are started on higher cost ingredients and then the formula is cheapened up at two weeks. Calves are fed for eight weeks while sheep should be weaned at 30 days so time doesn't permit changing the formula and lambs generally don’t tolerate a change in formula once started as they are on full feed free choice.
I never back away from a fight when the welfare of animals is involved. Not only is it the right thing to do but in the long run a well cared for healthy animal is the most profitable.
It all revolves around the difference in protein and lactose content. The majority of the protein content of skim milk powder is casein. Otherwise known as slow protein, casein is slowly released after ingestion. Whey protein is a fast protein which is quickly assimilated, the casein has been removed during the cheese making process. The feeding of whey can result in intestinal hemorrhage syndrome caused by rapid fermentation of lactose and high levels of gas production, abomasal bloat.
There is an article in the December 10 issue of Feedstuffs that discusses the changes made in milk re-placers due to economics that drove the change in protein sources from skim milk powder to whey products.
Floppy Kid Syndrome
This is a relatively unknown syndrome that is becoming more frequent as the popularity of meat goats increase. A typical case is a normal kid at birth that loses its muscle tone at three to seven days of age. The kid becomes like a “wet rag” and is unable to stand or control its legs. In some herds up to 50% of the kids have been affected.
The kids are suffering from acute metabolic acidosis. If left untreated a few kids will spontaneously recover but most will become progressively weaker and die. Early recognition and treatment with oral bicarbonate or peptobismol are effective, in more severe cases where the kids are down, you may need to treat with 1.3% Na-HCO3 intravenously. Some of the treated animals will relapse and need to be monitored for several weeks.
Clinical signs look a lot like “white muscle” disease which is a metabolic disease caused by a lack of vitamin E and /or selenium. The first reported Floppy Kid Syndrome was less than ten years ago and the incidence has increased since the introduction of the Boer goat due to the increased popularity of goats in the Southern states.
It is unknown what causes the initial acidosis, but it has been found in all breeds and parties of goats. At the present time the only management tool we have is early detection and treatment. Keeping the kid fed with a “tube feeding syringe” and preventing dehydration are the keys to survival. Check with your local veterinarian to diagnose the syndrome and differentiate the other possible causes of weak kids such as Ecoli or white muscle disease.
