Sheep Flashcards
Small ruminant production
Becoming very common
Small land-base in comparison to cattle production
6 ewes :1 cow ration
One person can handle production
Lambing season is work intensive
Marking
Sell off farm
Finish market lambs
Feedlots
Sheep production cycle
October
-Flush ewes (1-1.5lbs/hd/day)
November
-Turn rams out with ewes
-Two cycles (one cycle averages 17 days)
December
-Pulling rams
February–March
-Vaccinate ewes, increase nutrition prior to lambing
April
-Lambing starts
May
-Vaccinate lambs
June
-Vaccine booster
July-September
-Marketing lambs
3 reasons for loss of suckle in lambs
Hypoglycemia
Hypothermia
Dehydration
Hypothermia in lambs is caused by
Prolonged delivery, immature (small) lamb, very cold weather
Onset within 5 hours of birth
Not usually hypoglycemic
Failure to ingest colostrum
Low heat production
Onset 12 hours + from birth
Hypoglycemic
Signs of hypothermia in lambs
Dull
Weak
Failure to suck
Separation from wew/flock
Recumbency
Death
Rectal temp <39
Treatment of mild hypothermia in lambs
Mild hypo (37-39)
Give colostrum by tube
Must be able to swallow
Make sure lamb and ewe are mothered up in a draft dree enviro
Treatment of severe hypothermia in lambs
Severe hypo (<37)
5 hours + old
Feed colostrum by tube if can swallow
Give abdominal dextrose if cannot swallow
Move to warming box
Give colostrum by tube when recovered
<5 hours old
Warm first to 37+ then tube with colostrum
Warming boxs for lambs is
Heater with fan
Warms air to 37-40
Warming box above
Check lambs temp >37
Immersion in 38C water
28 mins
How to tube feed a lamb
Sit with lamb on your lap
Use rubber urinary cath
Lub it
Insert into interdental space
Gently advance
Check placement as fo calves
Give colostrum at 50ml/kg
How to preform intraperitoneal injection of dextrose
20g x 1” sterile needle
60mL syringe
50% dextrose
Freshly boiled water
Antiseptic spray
Dose: 10mL/kg of a 2:3 solution of dextrose and H20
Warming box, check temperature
Site:
5 cm caudal and 3 cm lateral to navel
20 ga, 1 inch needle
Insert carefully at 90O
Aftercare of lambs that have had hypothermia
Individual box in a warm environment
Cardboard box is ideal
Dispose after single use
Ewe nearby
Prevention of hypothermia in lambs
Feed pregnant ewes well
Draft free lambing area
Check lambs and ewes frequently
Clostridial diarrhea in lambs is
Obligate anaerobes (oxygen is toxic to them)
Form spores
Very hard and long lived
Common in the envior, particularly in soil contaminated with feces
Some species produce toxins
These are some of the most potent known
Disease: kill rapidly and difficult to treat
Prevented by vaccination
Clostridium perfringens type C is and infects what lambs
Lamb dysentery or type C enterotoxemia
Usually lambs < 3 weeks (Similar disease in calves < 4 weeks)
Produces a toxin that kills the intestinal wall (turns dark red-black)
Signs of clostridial diarrhea in lambs
Sudden death
Diarrhea (often bloody)
Severely toxemic
Difficult to treat
Prevention of clostridial diarrhea in lambs
Easily preventable by vaccinating dam about 6 weeks prior to lambing
Antiserum can be given to lambs born to unvaccinated ewes during an outbreak
Coccidiosis in sheep
Seen in older lambs (2 weeks +) kept in crowded conditions
Not usually bloody in sheep
Treatment as for cattle
Decoquinate (Decox) can be mixed in feed as a preventative
Salmonelosis can infect what lambs
Several problem Salmonella sp
Can infect many different species
Zoonotic
Cause diarrhoea in sheep of all ages
Signs, treatment and prevention of salmonellosis in lambs
Very young lambs get the septicemic form and die without becoming diarrhetic
Ewes can abort
Treatment is supportive
Prevention includes good hygiene
Parasites in lambs signs
Intestinal parasites are a major problem in lambs at grass or kept in crowded conditions
Signs
Poor growth
Diarrhea (may be absent or mild)
Severe anemia of Haemonchus sp. Are the problem parasite
Prevention of parasites in lambs
Routine deworming with a mectin type dewormer at end of june (at a minimum)
Followed by moving to a clean pasture if at all possible
Rotational grazing is key
Refugia
C. perfringens type D enterotoxemia is seen in what
Pulpy kidney disease
Gets this name from the rapid degeneration of kidneys following death in many lambs
Seen in lambs < 2 weeks or weaned lambs in feedlots following switching to a high grain diets
C. perfringens type D produces a toxin in the gut that is absorbed and damages the brain
C. perfringens type D enterotoxemia signs and prevention
Signs
Sudden death of best lambs is often the first sign
Star gazing posture, circling, head pressing are common neurologic signs
Prevention
Vaccination of ewe about 6 weeks prior to lambing
Control amount of grain fed to lambs
Give antiserum to lambs in feedlot prior to change to high grain diet
Polioenchealomalacia in lambs is
A disease of lambs or calves
Usually fed a high starch diet
Cause is unclear but is related to a problem with thiamine (B1)
May be bacterial conversion of ruminal thiamine (Vitamin B1) to an analog that is absorbed and blocks the function of thiamine
Polioenchealomalacia signs and treatment for sheep
Signs
Sudden onset
Star gazing
Extensor rigidity
Initially stand then become recumbent
Treatment and prevention
Responds to very high dose of IV thiamine
Prevention : make dietary changes slowly
What are some causes of sudden death in sheep
Lambs:
Enterotoxemia type B,C, or D (pulpy kidney)
Any age
Blackleg
Lightning
Anthrax
Black legs is caused by what in sheep
Clostridium chauvoei infection of muscle
Clostridium chauveoi can replicate in the GI tract
No disease
Contaminate pasture
Seen in summer and fall
In sheep spores directly contaminate wounds and then replicate
Signs of blackleg in sheep
Sudden death
Lameness
Edema
Crepitant swellings over any major muscle
Treatment and prevention of blackleg in sheep
Treatment
Not usually successful
Prevention
Easily prevented with vaccination
Typically combination vaccines against all common clostridial diseases are given
Anthrax in sheep
Affects sheep and cattle
Caused by Bacillus anthracis
Forms spores when exposed to air
Survive for up to 50 years
Particularly in soils that are:
Alkaline
Rich in nitrogen (organic matter)
Poorly drained
Disturbing the soil (digging or grading it) predisposes to outbreaks
Anthrax outbreaks often follow dry period followed by flooding
Flooding may dislodge and concentrate spores
Cattle/sheep drink standing water in flooded areas
Shorter length of pasture also predisposes
Following ingestion spore develops
Up to a 14 d. incubation period
Signs and prevention of anthrax
Signs:
Die rapidly
Blood oozes from orifices
Prevention:
Do not open carcass
Stain a blood smear for anthrax instead
Move rest of herd
Live avirulent vaccine (killed by antibiotics)
What does anthrax do to people
Wool-sorters Disease
Respiratory anthrax from inhaling spores
Fever, pain, shortness of breath
Often fatal even if treated
Skin form
Starts as small blister
Develops into a painless ulcer with a black center
Fatal in some cases if not treated
