Nutrition

Question 1

What are some risk factors of getting pregnancy toxemia?

Answer 1

1. ewes in late gestation with multiple lambs
2. ewes in excessive body condition
3. weather that reduces intake or indigestible fiber that restricts intake

Question 2

What are two late gestation feeding strategies?

Answer 2

1. increasing feed by 1-1.5 lbs of supplemental energy
2. decreasing the amount of indigestible fiber provided

Question 3

Why do we prefer deliberate supplementation over routine supplementation?

Answer 3

deliberate supplementation cost significantly less and leads to less wastage of supplement

Question 4

What are the energy requirement differences between a shorn ewe and a full fleece ewe?

Answer 4

higher and prolonged energy supplementation is needed for shorn ewes due to he energy consumption surrounding keeping the body warm

Question 5

What are some risk factors for an ewe to prolapse during birth?

Answer 5

1. twin and triplet bearing
2. obesity
3. tail length

Question 6

How much glucose do fetuses require during pregnancy? What does lack of glucose in ewe lead to?

Answer 6

30-40 g of glucose per day, which is 60-70% of maternal glucose production.
Too little maternal glucose leads to pregnancy toxemia.

Question 7

how do we treat pregnancy toxemia?

Answer 7

mild cases respond to intravenous glucose
severe cases lead to inability to stand, and when lambs are born the mother still has high chance of mortality

Question 8

how do we tell the difference between milk fever and pregnancy toxemia?

Answer 8

you close the ewes eyes and shine a light when the eyes open,
if the pupils constrict slowly = milk fever
if the pupils constrict fast = toxemia

Question 9

what are some clinical signs of milk fever (hypocalcemia)?

Answer 9

1. shortly before or after lambing
2. low blood calcium levels
3. progressive paralysis of smooth and striated muscle