Straight Talk
Last month the sheep industry lost the most forward thinking and successful innovators that I have encountered in my fifty plus practice years in the industry. I had been in practice six years before Dion Van Well was born. What a difference one person can make. I had a few conversations and discussions with him, valued them all and wished I had more. I know his brother Doug and his father Vic from the times when we raised Dorpers. His sons Trevor and Travis will continue the business and we wish them well, and I encourage people in the industry to continue giving them support in these difficult times. Dion’s energy, innovation and many contributions to the industry will certainly be missed.
This past week I attended the ASI Convention and it is good to see producers that are committed to move the industry forward. At three tenths of a pound, the per capita consumption of domestic lamb in this country there is plenty of upside. American Lamb is the best quality lamb in the world but we still struggle with consistency and year round availability.
The educators and extension people were there and to no surprise were pushing NSIP, a program that has been dead in the water as long as I can remember. By Saturday the noise was less and they (for the most part) had gone home. I guess they are not 24/7 in the sheep business like the rest of us.
The health program again was much of the same, OPP, Scrapie, Q fever. You really have to wonder when they will make an effort to concentrate on production medicine.
All and all it was a good meeting with renewed enthusiasm.
Back at the clinic we are getting lots of calls and e-mails as lambing is in full swing. One of the extension people at the meeting was excited because they had 33 calls this year, we get that and more daily.
Last weekend I was a presenter at the Shepherd’s Clinic and Trade Show at Rice Lake, WI. They had a great turnout and had youth involved as well. The county agent that hosts this event does a heck of a job. Reminds me of the day when county agents made a difference in Minnesota. Certainly an opportunity to grow the sheep business in Wisconsin utilizing abandoned dairy barns.
Killing with kindness
I continue to get calls from people that are bottle feeding lambs that are six to eight weeks old. The recommended wean age is thirty days. Over that is a problem. They acquire abomasal bloat a condition that is almost always fatal and the few that live are probably misdiagnosed. Bottle feeding and poor quality milk replacers increase the incidence of this phenomenon. Full fed bucket or machine is the best route to follow. Provide lambs creep, hay and water and wean them at thirty days. I know they are cute, friendly and sometimes a pet but DON’T KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS and when you wean it is a total wean. No cheating.
Downer Ewes
We are getting a lot of calls about downer ewes. This syndrome is the result of a lot of different conditions. The first I want to talk about is pregnancy disease. Pregnancy disease is the result of ewes that are too fat in the fall. Then as the lambs develop and compete for space, the rumen can’t generate enough nutrients to maintain a metabolic balance; a fatty liver develops and fat is broken down resulting in toxicity and pregnancy disease. The solution is keeping ewes in the right condition at breeding time, cutting them back to maintenance rations after conception, and then gradually increasing the energy level the last six weeks of pregnancy prevents pregnancy disease. Nervous symptoms and blindness without eye lesions is also a common finding with true pregnancy disease. However, we rarely see the condition any more.
Injury is another cause and often overlooked. As ewes get heavy with lamb, particularly those with multiple fetuses, there is a lot of stress applied to their skeletal structure. They are very subject to injury or their skeletal structure may just break down.
Then you have the old ewe or a chronically ill ewe that just runs out of gas and there are a fair share of them.
So what’s the answer? Prevention is more rewarding than treatment. Keeping ewes in the right state of condition is important. Insuring adequate bunk space so all can have the same opportunity to eat is extremely important. Round bale feeders should be managed so not just the long neck ewes get adequate hay. Corn silage should be reduced or eliminated the last six weeks of pregnancy. Thinner ewes need to be yarded and fed separately. Don’t overcrowd and doorways should be wide and adequate for a number of sheep to pass at once. Another possibility is a dead fetus or abortion.
With all those possibilities, correct diagnosis and treatment can become confusing. I usually try to figure out the cause based on history. In general, the treatment of choice for pregnancy disease has always been propylene glycol. I think it is difficult to get adequate amounts into the animal without using a stomach tube. The product is an alcohol and somewhat depressing. One of our veterinarians likes to use milk replacer and he has actually got ewes to drink it. Milk replacer and electrolytes could be tubed as well along with some propylene glycol. Predef can be given along with antibiotics in the event there is an infection of some sort. The Predef may help reverse the condition. Another thought is to include Fortified Vitamin B complex containing thiamine in the treatment on the outside chance polio becomes involved.
After saying all this there was a study in Israel where Banamine alone was compared to the standard treatments and the Banamine group fared the best, so at minimum Banamine twice daily should be part of any treatment. No one could explain why the Banamine worked.
When all else fails and the decision is to save the ewe, 10cc of Dexmethasone injected will generally cause the ewe to give birth in 48 hrs. If lambs are near term they may live as well and the Dex tends to reverse the condition and stimulate appetite. All these treatments are a shot gun approach and when there are a lot of choices in treatment and causes prognosis is generally poor.
Once ruminants go down they are very difficult to get up.
Q & A with Doc
Q: I have a ewe that delivered one baby, placenta is hanging out but I think she has another baby. I didn’t feel anything inside. I gave her 3cc of Dex to move her along but she smells like she’s rotting. I have her 6ccs of Nuflor. She’s drooling too, gave her some power punch too. Not sure what to do next.
A: If you’re sure there is a retained lamb you need to lubricate well and get it out. If it is just the placenta, there should be no problem. After working on her you should put boluses in her uterus.
Q: I Just pulled 2 dead lambs. Should I give her more than the 5cc of Nuflor?
A: Give her 6cc per100# subQ and repeat in 48 hrs.
Q: I have a yearling ewe lamb this am, she is full of milk and the bag is soft, however, one nipple is plugged up tight and large, for the life of me I cannot squirt out the wax plug. Is there a good process to try to get that nipple open. You can feel the milk in there as if you were going to milk a cow it just will not squirt out.
A: You can use a teat knife that is used in cows to open. Be as clean as possible and give antibiotics to prevent mastitis.
Cervix fails to dilate
This is one of the most difficult challenges we are faced with when ewes fail to dilate. There are anatomical reasons and infectious reasons. I have covered the anatomical reasons in my prolapse blog. I suspect iodine deficiency and abortive agents such as chlamydia are often involved. Tip off is that sometimes it is only the younger ewes. Older ewes may already have immunity and may be a source of infection, like wise a new group introduced may result in either group having a problem.
What’s the answer? If an abortive agent is suspected, flock medication is indicated (see abortion blog). Make sure iodine levels are sufficient.
The individual ewe problem is a challenge. My best results have been to give 10cc Dexamethasone and wait several hours. At that time, I lubricate well and try to slowly force dilate the cervix. If that is successful and lambs are delivered, immediately place Terramycin scour tablets in the uterus and mattress suture as invariably the ewe will attempt to prolapse her uterus. Ewe should then receive 10 to 15cc of penicillin subQ as well. If this process fails C-section is about the only choice left.
