# Limping 2-Week Old Lamb



## Josephine Parkinson (May 6, 2016)

I have a limping 2-Week old suffolk ewe lamb. None of her hooves are hot and there are no swellings on her legs. I'm new to both sheep and BYH (though I am WildWyandott110 on BYC). Any advice? I'm REALLY worried.... She and another lamb I keep for company are both bottle babies and have decent shelter and are fed 350 ml X3 daily. She was perfectly fine 3 hours beforehand. (I.E She was frolicking with the other lamb, Hope, Drinking milk, Chasing our chickens ETC.) She was SLIGHTLY overfed two days beforehand as was Hope. Hope is fine though. (Hope is one week old.)


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## BlessedWithGoats (May 6, 2016)

Welcome to BYH! Sorry one of your lambs isn't feeling 100%!  Tagging some people that may be able to help, among others...
@SheepGirl @Sheepshape @norseofcourse @secuono


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## secuono (May 6, 2016)

Were they outside where she could of gotten a leg stuck or landed the wrong way and injured herself?
Navel Ill is also possible, and you don't want that.


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## norseofcourse (May 6, 2016)

Welcome from Ohio, sorry your lamb is limping.  Is she still eating well?  Have you taken her temperature?  Do you know if she got colostrum her first day?


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## Sheepshape (May 7, 2016)

Welcome to the forum, Josephine. I very much agree with what has been said before. Injury is probably no 1, but joint ill due to infection travelling along the umbilical cord is the real worry, as suggested by norseofcourse. if it is joint ill,several hot joints is the norm and the lamb is feverish and generally unwell. If she is taking her feeds, joint ill is very unlikely.

I hope your baby recovers soon.


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## Latestarter (May 7, 2016)

Greetings @Josephine Parkinson and welcome to BYH.  Glad you joined us! Sorry you're having a problem with your lamb   I don't think the over feeding would lead to a limp. I hope it's nothing serious and that she's just a little sore from rough playing and heals up fine. Please let us know how it turns out.


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## Josephine Parkinson (May 7, 2016)

@secuono , They are outside, so that's quite possible. Thanks for the help!


BlessedWithGoats said:


> Welcome to BYH! Sorry one of your lambs isn't feeling 100%!  Tagging some people that may be able to help, among others...
> @SheepGirl @Sheepshape @norseofcourse @secuono


Thanks so much! God bless you. <><


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## Josephine Parkinson (May 7, 2016)

secuono said:


> Were they outside where she could of gotten a leg stuck or landed the wrong way and injured herself?
> Navel Ill is also possible, and you don't want that.


She might have injured herself while frolicking with her companion lamb.


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## Josephine Parkinson (May 7, 2016)

norseofcourse said:


> Welcome from Ohio, sorry your lamb is limping.  Is she still eating well?  Have you taken her temperature?  Do you know if she got colostrum her first day?


Thanks for your welcome! My lamb is drinking her bottles enthusiastically, and she has a normal temperature. Her previous owner gave her colostrum on her first day, so that's good.


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## Josephine Parkinson (May 7, 2016)

Sheepshape said:


> Welcome to the forum, Josephine. I very much agree with what has been said before. Injury is probably no 1, but joint ill due to infection travelling along the umbilical cord is the real worry, as suggested by norseofcourse. if it is joint ill,several hot joints is the norm and the lamb is feverish and generally unwell. If she is taking her feeds, joint ill is very unlikely.
> 
> I hope your baby recovers soon.


Thanks so much, Sheepshape!


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## Josephine Parkinson (May 7, 2016)

Latestarter said:


> Greetings @Josephine Parkinson and welcome to BYH.  Glad you joined us! Sorry you're having a problem with your lamb   I don't think the over feeding would lead to a limp. I hope it's nothing serious and that she's just a little sore from rough playing and heals up fine. Please let us know how it turns out.



Thanks for your feedback, Latestarter!

We called a vet clinic about an hour after I posted my problem on BYH. The vet said he could take a look at her as soon as we could get her to the clinic, so that was great.

Dr. Goodman palpated the limp leg very carefully and compared it to her good (left) leg. He found a minor amount of swelling in the lowest section of her leg, probably from edema because of her immobility. But he found more swelling in her shoulder, and she flinched whenever he palpated that area.

He did some x-rays, and thankfully, there was no evidence of skeletal damage. He concluded that she must have sustained an impact injury on her right shoulder--which he says is more commonly seen in horses when they accidentally run their shoulder into something hard, like a fence post. Perhaps she sustained the injury while enjoying some enthusiastic playtime with her week-old companion lamb in their pasture area.


  Here is Tessa at the vet clinic this morning. She was standing, but not putting any weight on her front right leg. The swelling wasn't very obvious, was it? 

 

Dr. Goodman gave her an antibiotic injection as well as an anti-inflammatory injection, and prescribed pen rest for her until she stops favouring the leg. That could be upwards of a week. He expects her to make a fairly good recovery in about 6 weeks' time. In the meantime, I am to orally ad minister a daily dose of anti-inflammatory (Metacam) for the next 10 days.

I didn't say this earlier, but this little lamb is my project animal for the 4-H Sheep Club. I will be showing her at a few agricultural fairs, so I'm praying she'll be well enough to do that. This problem with my lamb has been a great way to learn even more about sheep. And that's exactly what I wanted to do in 4-H, so I can take the best possible care of these darling animals. So, all in all, this experience has been a positive one with lots of takeaways!

You guys are teaching me some good stuff, too, for which I am very grateful. Thanks so much for sharing your invaluable knowledge with me, and for caring about other people's lambs too. Hopefully, some day I can take the knowledge I'm gaining and use it to help others, just like you're doing. Abundant blessings on all of you who helped me today!! Thanks for being there!!!


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## Latestarter (May 7, 2016)

She's a gorgeous little gal! You can see just a bit of swelling there, but not terribly bad. Hope the meds help her, as I'm sure they will! Good luck with your 4H project!


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## BlessedWithGoats (May 10, 2016)

How is she doing today?


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