Two cases this week! The one bit of fallout from my farm sitter debacle was a ewe that stopped eating the Thursday following the weekend of missed feedings. She is one of my purchased ewes from Missouri, so I will be extra bummed if anything happens to her or her lambs. She looks bigger than most of the ewelambs, so I suspect she is carrying twins or triplets. She is also carrying a lot of condition, with a BCS of about 4.5. Fat ewes are at greater risk of pregnancy toxemia than ideally-conditioned ewes, ironically; as they are more likely to start mobilizing fat reserves to feed the lambs, and kick themselves into ketosis.
I am feeding all my ewes grain in the evenings, to support them through the most trying part of their pregnancies. Of course they always eat it with aggressive vigor and competitiveness; so when this ewe showed disinterest, I was immediately concerned. Her ears were droopy and she did not perk them up in response to things happening in the environment, always a sign of a sheep that feels poorly. I noticed she was wanting to stand with her front end elevated, hiking herself up on the lower rails of the pen.
Ketosis was definitely a prime suspect because of her pregnancy load, body condition, and the missed feeding incident. But, this propping-up also made me wonder about bloat, pneumonia or acidosis. Something bothering her stomach or lungs, where elevating her front end would make it easier to breathe, or would shift the contents of the rumen away from the valve leading to her esophagus, to make it easer to eructate. I am not sure whether this ewe is one that got out of the pen while we were gone, so it’s possible she also over-ate on alfalfa, or even got into the grain sacks, and gave herself acidosis or other digestive upset.
Often, I think, when sheep are sick enough to go off feed, more than one thing is compounding their problems. So, I treat for everything I can think of, when I’m not sure what’s going on. I’ve learned the hard way that a sheep that’s off feed, or is down, is likely already 80% dead. So, there is no “wait and see” or “wait ‘til I get home from work” – treatment must be started immediately. Even if that means I’m late for work, late for dinner, or what have you. It’s critical to get them back to eating and standing as soon as possible. Fortunately, this ewe was still “up” but there was definitely something wrong.
So, I gave her antibiotics to address any pneumonia or intestinal bacteria proliferation. For potential ketosis, I started stuffing her with molasses, liquid nutrients and minerals; and gave vitamin B shots to stabilize her digestion and stimulate appetite. And for acidosis, I included Pepto Bismol in the mix, to soothe the stomach and bring up the pH. Acidosis is especially tricky, because if the lining of the rumen is peeling off due to damage, they aren’t gonna want to eat any roughage, nor will they be able to digest it well. So, the best help you can give is enough liquid nutrition that the “true” stomach can use, to hopefully buy time for the rumen to repair itself. Dicey in any circumstance, but worse in late pregnancy.
As days went by with still not eating or ruminating, I added more arsenal: stuffing her with a cooked oatmeal slurry, spoons full of kelp for a very digestible mineral source, and finally some juices from my Bubbie’s brand sauerkraut, which contains probiotics from salted brine fermentation. This activity is messier than feeding a baby, molasses and oatmeal get all over me, and the sheep! But, I do manage to get them to swallow a reasonable amount, despite the battle of wills.
One good sign was she was hard to catch and full of plenty of fight during her feeding sessions. It took a full week of twice-a-day forced nutrients before I saw her nibbling idly on some alfalfa hay chaff on the floor. By day seven, she reversed, and started chewing her cud again, and eating hay and fresh-picked greens with enthusiasm. The 8th day, she was willing to eat her grain again. There is no sight more pleasing that a ewe bringing up a bolus, and pooping and peeing, after a hiatus of all three! Now, two weeks later, she seems OK, is back to eating well and doesn’t seem to need any supplementation. I will have to watch her like a hawk until she lambs, however.
Prolapse
Last Tuesday I came home to a ewe with a good-sized vaginal prolapse. This girl is age two, and had also prolapsed last year as a yearling. She came in a batch of ewes I bought from a friend getting out of sheep, with full disclosure about the previous prolapse. We discussed her fate, whether she should just be slaughtered immediately. But, my friend had acknowledged they hadn’t had the best management in the last year, due to her transitioning away from livestock husbandry, and while they had stayed at another friend’s house part of the time. So, we agreed I’d buy her at butcher lamb price, and give her another run; hoping it was a one-time event due to environmental factors.
When I saw her from a distance with her tail sticking out at an odd angle, it clicked in my mind immediately that this was the ewe. A closer look revealed a grapefruit-sized section of uterus protruding out of her back end. I got a dog, caught the ewe and haltered her, loaded her up in the ATV trailer, and brought her in the barn to put her uterus back where it belongs! I made good use of my head stanchion to keep her contained. This allowed her some distraction eating grain during the process.This, she managed to do the whole time, except at the moments when I was pushing her internal organs back in, which triggered contractions and caused her to beller. I found it helped to elevate her back end on a sealed bale of shavings; I roped her feet to the fence to keep tension on them and keep her in place. I didn’t make her stay that way long enough to take a picture, but here’s what it looked like right afterwards:
I set up an inverted bucket for me to sit on, threw my supplies in a second bucket, and prepared a third bucket of lukewarm iodine water, which I used to keep my gloved hands and the prolapse retainer sanitized; and to gently sponge off the crud on her tissues before I pushed them back in. I used OB lube to help it go back in. A few minutes of persistent pressure replaced it, then I inserted the retainer “spoon” and strapped her into one of Premier’s prolapse harnesses. Within 15 minutes, she was back to pigging out on hay, no worse for wear! Sheep are so tough… I followed up with antibiotics, because it’s impossible to avoid a lot of bacteria getting pushed back into the vaginal cavity, despite best efforts to clean everything off. Plus, Banamine, for swelling and pain. Here’s hoping the fetuses are OK, but I bet they will be. She is due in 5 weeks.
After three days, I took out the retainer spoon and just left the harness on her. The only challenge I’m having with the harness is getting it adjusted just right, so that it doesn’t accumulate poop. She’s got some diarrhea, maybe triggered by the stress of the prolapse, and then now by the rich alfalfa she’s accessing in the barn. I’m hoping that when her poop turns back into pellets, it’ll clear the harness better. This is the first time I’ve had occasion to use the harness, and it works really well! It straps on and adjusts easily. The idea is, if she gets back into contractions and straining, as she leans forward, 
it puts pressure on her back end, keeping internal things from becoming external!
A second incidence of prolapse does imply this ewe has got a flaw which makes her vulnerable to this condition. So, her lambs will just be earmarked for the butcher channel this year, regardless of sex. I’ll probably likely butcher her as well at summer’s end. A hard decision, as she’s a very friendly and nice-looking ewe, in the prime of life. But, the likelihood of her suffering from this in the future, and possibly losing the life of her lambs or herself is higher, so probably not worth the risk.
So, for now, all is quiet again! Knock on wood it’ll be smooth sailing until lambing in April!
March 9, 2015 at 4:58 am
Wow – brilliant post – thanks for sharing.
March 9, 2015 at 2:56 pm
I have used the same harness and have never had luck keeping muck from accumulating under the tail. I end up catching them and shaking it off the harness a few times a week. Right now luckily I have only one ewe that prolapses – she did it last year about 5 weeks before lambing but I thought it might have been due to switching them to alfalfa hay and maybe a bit of bloating so I kept her….she got caught by the rams in September during a 10 minute ram escape (sigh) and lambed 3 weeks ago – she prolapsed again 10 days before lambing – luckily her’s are little prolapses, easy to put back and she doesn’t try to push herself back out again – so this year I put the harness on her only for 3 days as I was worried about her trying to lamb through it. She kept her insides where they belonged and lambed fine on her own. I struggle with what to do with her though as she is only 3, has really nice big babies (twins were 10 pounds each this year) and is a great mother. I’m tempted to keep her another year but then wonder if I’m just tempting fate….
March 10, 2015 at 5:23 am
Andrea, it is a tough decision, isn’t it? Seems such a shame to butcher a ewe in her prime for almost any reason. I may cave and keep her around another year, but with trepidation. As I can visualize the scenario of coming home from work to find her dead in the field, and thinking what a waste to feed and invest in her all that time, and have her take a spot from a potentially healthier ewe, and for her to possibly suffer in dying. On the other hand, as long as I’m vigilant and catch it as I did this year, hopefully she doesn’t suffer a terrible amount of discomfort, and can produce good butcher lambs for me; maybe it’s a worthy trade-off for an animal to get to live a longer life. It’s a gray area ethically, for sure; I don’t think there are ever crystal-clear answers on what is the best/right thing to do! But, for me, I have a hunch I’ll have enough ewelambs born with stellar genetics and performance data, that someone will bump this ewe, and force me to realize she can’t displace a ewe that’s a better gamble.
March 10, 2015 at 5:37 pm
Michelle, awesome post. And timely given we are worried a little about ketosis in two of our dairy does who are due at the end of the month. I’ve forwarded your post on to my wife, as she is the one who is able to watch the critters during the day. Thankfully our dairy lines aren’t given to prolapse. I also thought to myself “I hope she reflects on the fact that she’s able to do all this care and husbandry in a clean, dry, well lit barn!!”
March 11, 2015 at 2:48 am
Haha, adalynfarm, yes, the barn is definitely a luxury for working on sickos. It’s nice to be able to pad out there in my slippers to check on them late at night! I hope you don’t have any ketosis issues! The key is to catch it quick, before they get too far downhill.
March 11, 2015 at 8:15 pm
They are so lucky they have you. I’d love to come over one of these days and check out your medical arsenal. I know I don’t have all the right stuff on hand.
March 11, 2015 at 9:45 pm
My overall anxiety level of worry over my sheep was greatly reduced just by seeing the picture of your prolapsed ewe, and hearing that you were able to do something about it. I would have been a blubbering mess! So thank-you for that. I also appreciated your comment about not delaying when you see a potential problem. It led me to really start paying close attention to one of my ewes who seems a little off. I’ve arranged for the vet to come tomorrow for an overall look at my flock, and to look at her in particular. In the mean time, I have a couple of questions. Wondering what you are giving exactly as liquid nutrient? And is apple cider vinegar similar at all to the sauerkraut juice? My entire flock seem a little on the skinny side this year. Our hay has seemed much more stocky than last, and they seem to be leaving a lot more of it untouched, so they may not have gotten enough nutrients this winter. It will still be a while before our snow is gone and the grass starts to green up, but the ewes still have about a month and a half to two months before they start to lamb. So I’ve begun over the last few days to start giving them some grain I have on hand. I’ve started them out slowly, with only a handful each to begin, and adding a bit to that each day. Yesterday I noticed Aida didn’t seem at all interested in the fresh hay I put out, while everyone else rushed on it. She did however eat the hay chaff I gathered for her, and she did relish the grain. She has been looking (and feeling) the most skinny of all, and I even wonder whether she’s pregnant, because she’s not the size she should be.Today and yesterday I mixed the grain with water diluted with molasses, and today added sheep mineral, kelp, and a bit of cobalt salt to that. She loved that! But still not interested in the hay. I even let her out of the field to come up around the house to see if there was any green grass or other plants that might appeal to her, but after smelling lots of stuff, not even a nibble. She did find a mushy piece of dry dog food and gobbled that down, and looked for more. I’m not sure if that would be a good thing or not? Right now we’re giving our dogs a cheap generic type of dog food. I can pick up some alfalfa pellets today, and see if she’ll take that, but I’m concerned about giving her too much rich stuff and that causing problems. Thinking I’ll cook up some oatmeal for her right away, and add some molasses to that. I’m glad I’ve got the vet coming tomorrow, but would also appreciate any advice. Do also keep us posted on your sick sheeps’ recoveries. It’s very encouraging!
March 12, 2015 at 4:15 am
Janya, any time! I think I own much of what’s in Premier’s catalog! 😉
March 12, 2015 at 4:45 am
Julia
For liquid nutrients, I generally mix up molasses with Nutridrench, and Dyne’s “Liquid Supplement”. Both brands have slightly different sets of ingredients which I think are useful. I slurry them with some hot water to make them more syringe-able. Often I add other things to that- honey, probiotic powder, a splash of ACV, plus a few crushed tablets of vitamin C, and Pepto Bismol. I mostly want to get into them sugar for energy, and a broad spectrum of trace minerals, to help them try to re-balance whatever is going wrong metabolically. In a pinch, I’ll kind of peruse the fridge and cupboards- beer is actually a pretty good nutrient for sheep, since it’s fermented grains and has lots of vitamin B. There is plenty of lore about people saving sheep with beer! Baking soda helps with pH problems. I read on FB recently someone crushed up some Tums tablets in a pinch, to address hypocalcemia. Some people feed milk replacer to toxemic ewes. I think it’s better to get something in them fast when they are crashing, rather than waiting until the feed store is open to get an “official” product labeled for sheep.
ACV, if it’s one of the “fancy” brands like Bragg’s, does supposedly have some probiotic action to it. I think the cheaper stuff in grocery stores won’t have much more than some minerals (tho that’s still helpful). I am careful with it, though, in any case where I think acidosis might be happening, as I don’t want to add more acid.
Your ewe that’s acting “meh” about food- yes, that’s definitely a sign that they’re just feeling off, and heading down a bad path. When you catch it that early, it’s more straightforward to reverse. If you don’t catch it until they’ve been off feed for a while, or are down, then it’s much tougher; and often you might save the ewe, but not the fetuses. For that ewe, you might consider adding vitamin B shots as well, that will often stimulate appetite.
Re- dog food. I imagine nutritionally, it’s useable to sheep; and they usually think it tastes good. But the USDA doesn’t want us to feed it to ruminants, because of the theoretical link to spongiform/mad cow/scrapie.
March 14, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Thanks for the info. It was very helpful, and helped me not feel so powerless. I gave her some cooked oats mixed with molases and beer, and some crushed up vitamin C tablets. She ate it quite well. Didn’t have to force feed her. Then the vet came, looked at the whole flock, gave my dogs their rabis shots, then gave her a shot of antibiotics, a shot of an anti-inflammatory, and some dewormer. (He left a couple of syringes to give again on Monday).By the time he left she was actually grazing on tiny new shoots of grass on our hill, and later started nibbling at the hay again. Her energy seems better, her eyes have brightened and she’s chewing her cud. I’ve added alfalfa pellets to her grain also. So I’m feeling she’s going to be ok. We’ll have to wait and see what’ll happen for her with lambing. My other Cotswold is starting to look “heavy with lamb”, but she’s the only one of all my ewes who is. The rest may have been delayed because of cutting off their grain too quickly when I was flushing them. After having rejoined both breeding groups in mid February, my rams started butting heads again and going after one of the ewe lambs, so I separated them again. So there are a lot of unknowns this year as far as what to expect for lambs. I guess this will be my “experimental” year to compare with futur years of flushing correctly. Thanks again for your advice. It was a relief to wake up the other morning and find your suggestions, and to find my ewe still standing and wanting to eat that stuff.
March 15, 2015 at 3:45 pm
Wow, Julia, good to hear that she’s doing better! Interesting that she started feeling better within the day, makes me wonder what turned her around, maybe either the vitamin B or the minerals in the molasses/beer? Or, the NSAID? Sometimes even when something works, it’s hard to reverse-diagnose what was wrong in the first place!