# Failure to Thrive in Lambs possible? Updated with picture!!!



## EmToAb48 (Jun 24, 2013)

I have a young ram lamb that is a month old. He has had a cough for about 3 weeks now but never seems to get worse. I have given him Penicillin three times in the last 3 weeks. I use a milk bar that he drinks from with the rest and I also am bottle feeding him and 3 more that don't understand how to use the milk bar.  I usually can get 4-6 oz in him every 4 hours plus he has access to the milk bar all day. He just doesn't seem to be GROWING! I can tell he doesn't feel as well as the rest but hes still up and active when  I come to feed and follows you around to do chores etc.

By the meaning Failure to thrive is he is one of the oldest ones I have but the tiniest. He was a triplet so I am  not sure if that's causing the growth issues. He  is so skinny looking around his legs while the others have become chunkier every where.

Is this possible or do you think the coughing as something to do with it? I was hoping he could over come the illness but some days it seems to hit him hard while others he seems better. 

Any suggestions on what I could give him? I am not sure how much penicillin is save to give him. should I call a vet see what they say maybe a different antibiotic is needed? I would hate to loose the little guy. 

OH and he does munch on feed and hay. I just don't know whats going on with him besides the stupid cough. He has like coughing attacks where he continues to cough for few seconds then hes done.

I took a picture of some of the bottle lambs today. Can you spot the sick one? He is the smallest one yet is 3 weeks older then ALL  of these guys. He is the second to left you can see his spine which you can't see on any of the other ones!


----------



## Bridgemoof (Jun 25, 2013)

Sorry to hear about your little guy. If he has some kind of respiratory illness like pneumonia he will need a different antibiotic than penicillin. We have used Zantrac in the past with much success. Nuflor is another one that treats respiratory illnesses.

Lungworm is another possibility when you have a coughing animal, but since he's had the cough since he was so young I doubt he has developed worms yet.

Good luck with your guy. Maybe you can get a single dose from your vet, as the Zantrac is pretty expensive for a whole bottle. and he may make other recommendations.


----------



## bcnewe2 (Jun 25, 2013)

If he has issues with the lamb bar and sucking I might look into a stronger antibiotic, probably the Nuflor like Bridgemoof suggested.  Aspiration might have happened since he's having such trouble.
And yes I have seen lambs that don't thrive compared to others. Most of the time you can figure out what it's caused from but sometimes it just isn't explainable.
Being a triplet might have lots to do with it. He didn't get growing time in womb and he's still catching up? I don't think worms are your issue, he's young and you say this has been going on since he was born.

Funny I had lambs in December and January that were huge.  Sold at 3 months weighing more than I've ever had before. Now my April lambs look puny compared to the Dec. lambs. I chalk it off to good hay and grain in Jan, Feb and March. For the late spring lambs, more grass that is very wet so they eat it but not getting enough due to all the moisture in it and size of their tummies to really put on the weight. They are starting to catch up but it's been long month(s) of rain. Grass is beautiful...go figure. Plus they were wormed so that's not the issue.


----------



## SheepGirl (Jun 25, 2013)

What is his temperature?


----------



## EmToAb48 (Jun 27, 2013)

Thanks everyone I talked to a vet they are giving me Nuflor... The vet said the last week as probably been worse since we have had nasty horrible muggy hot air that finally let up last night with a thunderstorm! And guess what this morning he drank a lot and seemed much better. 

He suggested bendadryl first since I told him it seemed like it was painful to drink so he thinks what ever it is up in the laraynx. He doesn't think its pnemonia but something causing the air flow in the throat to close up a bit and thats why he has the coughing attacks. Makes sense once he told me LOL! We have a pug that just from their breed she has coughing attacks cause her  air way will close up a bit and we have to give her a steriod to relax it. 

He said try the antibotic first and hopefully he will seem better and start putting more weight on.


----------



## BHOBCFarms (Jul 14, 2013)

Coughing can be a sign of heart problems - since hes small and has trouble holding down a lot of food, it could be due to fluid around the heart.  I had a lamb born with this problem, eventually he had to be put down, how long a lamb with heart problems lives depends on the type of problem and the severity and if meds/treatments are an option.  Has a vet listened to his heart?  heart defects are common in all species.


----------



## EmToAb48 (Jul 16, 2013)

BHOBCFarms said:
			
		

> Coughing can be a sign of heart problems - since hes small and has trouble holding down a lot of food, it could be due to fluid around the heart.  I had a lamb born with this problem, eventually he had to be put down, how long a lamb with heart problems lives depends on the type of problem and the severity and if meds/treatments are an option.  Has a vet listened to his heart?  heart defects are common in all species.


He is still very small but his eating as picked up he got a dose of nuflor and has been a lot better and he will get a second dose here today..  His coughing as totally stopped but he still so small! I know sometimes bottle babies just take a lot longer to put on weight he was also a triplet. He is growing height wise normally but weight is gaining is not there.. 

We got 8 bottle lambs 4 ewes and 4 weathers all the boys are destined for the freezer but thinking that I may end up keeping him or selling him for a pet.  he just doesn't seem like he will put on the weight to be a freezer lamb at all.


----------

