# Ewe lamb seems off



## luvmypets (Jun 5, 2017)

I have been debating posting about this for some time but Im curious what others think of her. Little Stella was born a twin on march 15, she was unresponsive when born but I swung her and she was fine. She was normal happy, playful, and nursing. However at two weeks old she got some sort of sickness where her ears flopped down. As she started to heal I noticed that her left ear never came back up and her facial structure started developing very weird. I will show you a face on picture, she looks just plain odd. Other than her physical offness her behavior and habits are normal, she is super sweet and greets me everyday after school with kisses. Yesterday when my friend, who she has never met, came over and stella went right up and gave her a kiss. Im not sure what it could be, Im wondering if when she got sick her development was thrown off. Her eyes also squint a lot and sometimes they look weird but other times they are normal.









She is such a sweet gal, and I really dont think she is sick. I just think somewhere along the line her facial structure got thrown off.

Here is her at a few days old, up until she got sick this is what she looked like.




We have talked to the vet who says other than her face being odd she is healthy. She just reccomened we do not breed her as it could be hereditary.


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## luvmypets (Jun 5, 2017)

Here is a picture from last week, the others in this thread were from a month ago.


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## Goat Whisperer (Jun 5, 2017)

Wry face? It does look very odd. 

Don't know much about sheep…

@norseofcourse @mysunwolf @Sheepshape @SheepGirl @purplequeenvt

I definitely wouldn't breed her.


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## purplequeenvt (Jun 5, 2017)

I can't see anything obviously asymmetrical about her facial structure except the droopy ear/squinty eye. 

Does her eye seem clear/unclouded? Are the whites of that eye normal color or are they red/inflamed/bloodshot?

I wonder if she has an ear infection or something. That could cause a droopy ear and a sore ear could make her eye squint.


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## Goat Whisperer (Jun 5, 2017)

In the last pic her face looked curved ?


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## mysunwolf (Jun 5, 2017)

Her face doesn't look too abnormal to me. I have a little ram lamb who is having a similar problem right now. I've had to worm him multiple times and treat for cocci as well, he seems to have every problem in the book, in addition to his face being a little "off." But little Stella looks much better than my guy. And she is growing well, right? I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe continue to monitor her extra carefully, and take her temp every now and then. I might use her for breeding if she continues to do well.


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## purplequeenvt (Jun 5, 2017)

Goat Whisperer said:


> In the last pic her face looked curved ?



I think it's an optical illusion caused by her facial fuzz and the droopy eye.


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## Southern by choice (Jun 5, 2017)

I agree,  the face is off.
Remove the ears and what do you see...
Slight tilt, uneven sized nostrils, eye placement not symmetrical, OUR right side looking at pic ( actual sheep left side) is more pronounce around mouth... don't look at the wool. Just the features.

If she was unresponsive she may have a mild palsy. She may even had a mini stroke. 

Does she by any chance have an ear infection?

Interesting isn't it.


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## luvmypets (Jun 5, 2017)

I just dont understand what happened, all the pictures leading up to her getting sick her face is symmetrical, ears are normal, eyes are normal. Another thing I will add is that after she got sick she would hold her cud in the left side of her face(side with droopyness) and look like a chipmunk. She doesn't do it anymore but it was odd behavior.


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## luvmypets (Jun 5, 2017)

purplequeenvt said:


> I can't see anything obviously asymmetrical about her facial structure except the droopy ear/squinty eye.
> 
> Does her eye seem clear/unclouded? Are the whites of that eye normal color or are they red/inflamed/bloodshot?
> 
> I wonder if she has an ear infection or something. That could cause a droopy ear and a sore ear could make her eye squint.


Her eyes seem normal. If she had an ear infection how would I treat it?


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## Southern by choice (Jun 5, 2017)

You need to know if there is one and depending on what it is you can then best treat with right med.
Too many kinds of bacteria.


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## Sheepshape (Jun 6, 2017)

I would think she has an infection....?ear/sinus.......Mycoplasma is an organism which does this (and responds well to a tetracycline). Have a word with your vet.....I'm sure she can be treated.

Good to know we all have 'odd' lambs, though. My Becky (thought to be blind), nearly drowned in water butt, developed joint ill, remains odd. She isn't totally blind, but clearly has some kind of visual impairment, gets lost (and then bleats loudly and plaintively), socialises poorly, is very small and (unlike) my other bottle lams, isn't really friendly(comes running over, but only wants to be fed, no cuddles) etc.

luvmypets....good luck.....she looks very cute.


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## babsbag (Jun 6, 2017)

Mycoplasma is an insidious organism that needs to be eradicated. The frustrating thing about it, in goats at least, is that the testing for carrier animals is just not reliable. I know I have some, but not really sure who. I have tested milk and done ear swabs and they are all negative...at the time of testing. Yet I have had kids with joint problems be necropsied and test positive.


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## luvmypets (Jun 6, 2017)

Interesting, thank you all for the advice. I really appreciate all of the input. Last night I took a good long look at Stella and I esecially looked at her facial structure. @purplequeenvt was right that the picture makes her muzzle look crooked. When I first examined her the right side poked out more but it turned out to be fluff. Her muzzle is good and her eyes are even, just the whole ear/squinty eye thing makes it look weird in pictures. I also looked at her jaw and that is nice and even as well. I do agree with southern on her nostril being off as one appears significantly larger than the other. Then again it was hard because she started squirming because she wanted to go back with mom. Her floppy ear does not have any discharge or smell so im wondering what else would I be looking for if it was an infection.


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## norseofcourse (Jun 6, 2017)

I've got no ideas on what might be going on, but at least she doesn't seem to be in pain or distress.  Hope she keeps doing ok and you may be able to figure out what's going on.


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## Bossroo (Jun 20, 2017)

In your first post you mentioned that at birth she was unresponsive.  She just might have had some brain damage and due to lack of oxygen , some brain cells were weakend and then died that control nerves to the ear and possible other areas.  Just a possibility ?


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## luvmypets (Jun 24, 2017)

Bossroo said:


> In your first post you mentioned that at birth she was unresponsive.  She just might have had some brain damage and due to lack of oxygen , some brain cells were weakend and then died that control nerves to the ear and possible other areas.  Just a possibility ?


Thats very possible, however her ears were normal up until she got sick. That's honestly what's throwing me off, however her ear doesnt look as floppy today.


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## Finnie (Jul 14, 2021)

luvmypets said:


> Thats very possible, however her ears were normal up until she got sick. That's honestly what's throwing me off, however her ear doesnt look as floppy today.


I know this is a super old thread, but as I was reading it, the symptoms sounded just like when my mother had Bell’s Palsy. It’s a partial paralysis of one side of the face. They don’t know what causes it. Maybe swelling around the nerves or a reaction to a viral infection. But it gradually heals.  Within a year or so of my mother having it, her face was back to normal. I wonder if it can occur in other species besides humans.

Did your lamb outgrow the problem, or did she always have it?


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## luvmypets (Jul 16, 2021)

Finnie said:


> I know this is a super old thread, but as I was reading it, the symptoms sounded just like when my mother had Bell’s Palsy. It’s a partial paralysis of one side of the face. They don’t know what causes it. Maybe swelling around the nerves or a reaction to a viral infection. But it gradually heals.  Within a year or so of my mother having it, her face was back to normal. I wonder if it can occur in other species besides humans.
> 
> Did your lamb outgrow the problem, or did she always have it?


You know that’s really interesting, I never thought of that. She never did get over it though and was always healthy but off until she died randomly in summer of 2019. No signs just dead one morning.


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