# Injured Orphan bottle baby lambs



## raggedy (May 7, 2016)

I am new to sheep. 

We just picked up 3 Orphan lambs a week ago.  One had gotten her lower front leg stepped on and broken by her mama and has been in a splint.  She is now around 2 and 1/2 weeks old.  The operation we bought her from said to remove the splint in a few days.  We did so yesterday.  She really wasn't putting much weight on it and we've been watching to see how she does.  This morning she won't put weight on it at all and it seems to hurt her to get down on her knees when she wants to rest.  She still eats well and seems bright and happy.  They were bouncing around and playing quite a bit yesterday.  Should we put the splint back on?

The youngest of the 3 is favoring the same leg this morning as the lamb mentioned above.  The knee and just above the hoof is swollen.  She's still eating good and wags when I go out.  As I said above they were all playing and bouncing around yesterday afternoon.  Any advice?


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## Latestarter (May 7, 2016)

Greetings @raggedy and welcome to BYH. Congrats on your new sheep! Sorry that several of them are already causing you concern with issues. Sometimes that's just the way it goes. We have some really good sheeple on the site and I'll tag a few that may be able to give guidance. They may need more information and ask additional Q's. Hope they both pull through for you. @purplequeenvt @Roving Jacobs @mysunwolf @Sheepshape @secuono among many others. You can find a wealth of info and shared experience dealing with sheep in the various threads on the sheep forum. Browse around a bit  and don't be afraid to join in when you feel the desire! I'm sure you'll have questions as you learn.


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## purplequeenvt (May 7, 2016)

Her splint should have been on a lot longer. Do you know when she was stepped on?

Try feeling the leg to see if you can figure out were the break is. Once you've located the break, align the break properly (make sure the toes are pointing the correct direction). Wrap the leg (firmly, but not overly tight) in cotton padding. Cut paint stirring sticks to the right length for the leg and place on either side of the leg to support the broken area. Wrap with vet wrap - make sure the vet wrap is tight enough to hold everything in place, but not so tight as to cut off circulation. 

Check the leg frequently to make sure that things aren't too tight. Cut everything off and re-splint the leg if it does. Leave the splint in place for 6-8 weeks. 

If this is too much for you to manage, get the vet involved.


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## raggedy (May 9, 2016)

purplequeenvt said:


> Her splint should have been on a lot longer. Do you know when she was stepped on?
> 
> Try feeling the leg to see if you can figure out were the break is. Once you've located the break, align the break properly (make sure the toes are pointing the correct direction). Wrap the leg (firmly, but not overly tight) in cotton padding. Cut paint stirring sticks to the right length for the leg and place on either side of the leg to support the broken area. Wrap with vet wrap - make sure the vet wrap is tight enough to hold everything in place, but not so tight as to cut off circulation.
> 
> ...



Thank you for your response.  I thought that would be way too soon to remove the splint.  We did put the splint back on and she seems back to normal.  Hopefully I did ok with it.


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## raggedy (May 9, 2016)

The other little one is still favoring the same front leg.  She is the youngest of the three.  The knee joint is swollen and is also swollen just above her hoof of the same leg.  We noticed this on Saturday.  She eats well but isn't terribly energetic.  She's quite a bit smaller that the other 2 lambs and doesn't seem to be gaining weight or growing as quickly.  She is about 2 weeks old.  Do you think she needs antibiotics or a splint?  Her knee seems to be tender in certain areas when I gently squeeze it.  I couldn't feel anything broken but what do I know.  She's extremely sweet, I'd hate to lose her.  We really don't have the funds right now to call in a vet.


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## raggedy (May 9, 2016)

The 3rd little one that has been the healthiest, now has a large bump on the end of her nose that appears to be like a pimple with no head.  Other than the bump she is quite energetic and bright.   Should I wait to see if it bursts on it's own.  My goodness, I just wasn't prepared for so many health issues.  I hope I can do right by these 3 little girls.  We thought about getting lambs that were raised by their mama and already weaned but I really liked the idea of rescuing 3 instead.  We also liked the idea of our 7 & 9 year old granddaughters having the experience of hand raising them and the knowledge that they are orphans that we saved.  But now if I lose one of them they will be heart broken.


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## cjc (May 9, 2016)

Maybe the one favoring the leg without the confirmed broken leg is suffering from a joint infection? I don't raise lambs this young but I do have calves. When one is sick, regardless of the type of "sick" they are. I always treat with antibiotics. Some may disagree but our vet has always taught us to use a long lasting antibiotic on any ones showing signs of illness.

I would also be giving that little lamby something like metacam for the swelling and the pain. I don't know about sheep drugs but for cattle I use resflour. Its an antibiotic, anti inflammatory and pain killer in one. I would definitely be giving both of the ones going weak on the one leg a drug like that for 5 days or so.


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## raggedy (May 9, 2016)

cjc said:


> Maybe the one favoring the leg without the confirmed broken leg is suffering from a joint infection? I don't raise lambs this young but I do have calves. When one is sick, regardless of the type of "sick" they are. I always treat with antibiotics. Some may disagree but our vet has always taught us to use a long lasting antibiotic on any ones showing signs of illness.
> 
> I would also be giving that little lamby something like metacam for the swelling and the pain. I don't know about sheep drugs but for cattle I use resflour. Its an antibiotic, anti inflammatory and pain killer in one. I would definitely be giving both of the ones going weak on the one leg a drug like that for 5 days or so.



Can I purchase this at the farm store and is it an injection or oral that can be added to her milk?
The other one that is in a splint is energetic, gaining weight and growing as expected.  Do you still think I should give it to her as well?


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## cjc (May 9, 2016)

The drugs I mention are injectable. I don't know much about sheep so I can't answer that with much experience in terms of that type of animal. But if it were mine yes I would. Even though she is growing and energetic you said she was still soft on her leg so it's obviously bothering her. If the other one doesn't have a fracture I would assume something like joint ill. If it did have joint ill though it would be showing signs of fever and such. I have a 3 week old calf with joint ill. First sign was weak on front leg, next day fever.

I live in Canada and here we cannot buy things like Resflor from the farm store. We have to get that one from a vet. The only thing we can get is basic antibiotics from the farm store.

If it were me though I would definitely get a house call from a vet. That being said we don't really aim to make money at our farm its a love so we often spend more than we get. I understand that most farms don't work like that and you have to make things happen on your own.

If I were treating these lambs I would splint the one with the fracture as suggested in another members comment. I would treat it with something like Resflor for 5 days. The one that is weak on it's leg I would check its temperature if elevated I would lean towards something like joint ill. Feel your healthy ones joints, you will probably notice there is not much but skin and bone there. Feel the one that is showing signs of illness. If they feel gushy at all its probably puss from an infection. If that's the case I would get it flushed by a vet and put it on Resflor and another antibiotic at the same time.


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## Sheepshape (May 11, 2016)

raggedy....welcome....sorry it's a 'bumpy start' for you.

Much like purplequeenvt said, I would re-splint the lamb with the fracture. When a similar thing happened to me a few years back (ewe broke lamb's leg). I used a couple of lollipop sticks either side of the fracture, cotton padding immediately on the leg, sticks next, vet wrap over, and changed the 'splint' to a larger one after about 3 weeks. I kept the splint on for a couple of months altogether, with a second splint change a few weeks later as the leg grew. The leg looked absolutely normal after this time. She fully bore weight and that was the end of the story.

As cjc said , I'd be thinking of joint ill with the second lamb. Are other joints affected? Over here we use Penicillin and Streptomycin injected daily for a week (has to be prescribed by the vet), plus metacam for pain and inflammation. Our vet will give us the meds after discussion and don't charge for this.

I've had a couple of lambs who have developed big bumps on a nostril. Usually it is a collection of blood under the (thick) skin and goes away by itself over a week or two. Orf or a 'pimple' are other possibilities. A pic. would help.

Good Luck.


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## raggedy (May 28, 2016)

The lamb with the bump and infection on her nose, which may or may not have been orf, is pretty much healed but now drools when being bottle fed and the drool has blood in it. She has had a cough since we got her at 7 days old.  She is now 5 weeks and it has gotten worse over time. In the beginning she mostly coughed only after being bottle fed. She is also walking stiff especially in her hind quarters.  She has been eating well and grazes with the other 2 lambs.  But today seems somewhat lethargic but still took her bottle about the same.  I can just tell she isn't feeling well.  She has stopped calling to me for her bottle and she was the most boisterous of the three until a few days ago. She weighs approximately 15lbs. If I get antibiotics does anyone know what I can get from the farm store and how much to give her?  The vets office is closed today and I feel like I need to get her started on something.  I also wondered if this could be lungworm.  Please advise.


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## raggedy (May 28, 2016)

Sheepshape said:


> raggedy....welcome....sorry it's a 'bumpy start' for you.
> 
> Much like purplequeenvt said, I would re-splint the lamb with the fracture. When a similar thing happened to me a few years back (ewe broke lamb's leg). I used a couple of lollipop sticks either side of the fracture, cotton padding immediately on the leg, sticks next, vet wrap over, and changed the 'splint' to a larger one after about 3 weeks. I kept the splint on for a couple of months altogether, with a second splint change a few weeks later as the leg grew. The leg looked absolutely normal after this time. She fully bore weight and that was the end of the story.
> 
> ...




I re-splinted the leg using your suggested method.  So far so good with the exception of her hoof slanting off to the the side just the past couple of days when she's standing.  The vet wasn't in to ask but the receptionist suggested it might be that the hoof isn't getting worn down as it normally would.  Should I trim the hoof?  I have no idea how to do this but maybe youtube will have a good video for it.

I took the little one to the vet this past Monday.  She had a temp of 104.  The vet was quite concerned about the joints in her leg and only gave her a 50/50 chance of survival.  She suggested a 5 day antibiotic regimen + anti inflammatory pain med twice a day + 20 min mineral soak once a day.  I gave the last injection yesterday.  She puts weight on the leg and acts like she feels much better but the hoof and knee joints of that leg still look about the same.  Not sure what to do next.  I'll call the vet on Monday and see if there is something further that can be done.  I hate to lose her, she is everyone's favorite, not to mention the work, money and effort that has gone into her survival so far.

The other lamb is described above in a separate post in this thread and is having new issues.


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## Sheepshape (May 28, 2016)

Can you post a pic of the leg, raggedy? Sounds like the vet thinks she has joint ill. 

Maybe the bones haven't set in an ideal position, but she probably won't be too fussed about this. Current wisdom from this side of the pond is 'never trim'. that may be going a bit far if the hoof is long and catching all kinds of muck underneath it, but the hoof will wear itself off once weight is being placed on it. To trim a hoof which hasn't worn down because the hoof underneath is sore (like in foot rot) means that, should you trim, the sore area will be then directly on the ground.......a sheep limping a little becomes a sheep limping a lot!

If it's any consolation, some years back I had a ewe lamb who broke her hip, back leg... the leg was pulled right up. The vet said that there was little that could be done apart from euthanasia or giving her pain relief and 'see what happened' I chose the latter. Over the period of some months the leg came down and she used it to walk very effectively, though she had a huge 'bow leg' on that side. It didn't prevent her from getting fat, having several lambs and living a fairly long life....about 5. She then started to show signs that she had arthritis in that leg and had difficulty getting up or keeping up with the flock. At that stage she went to market. i can, in all honesty, say she lived a normal and healthy life.

So, good luck, and keep us up to date with her progress.


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## raggedy (May 28, 2016)

Sheepshape said:


> Can you post a pic of the leg, raggedy? Sounds like the vet thinks she has joint ill.
> 
> Maybe the bones haven't set in an ideal position, but she probably won't be too fussed about this. Current wisdom from this side of the pond is 'never trim'. that may be going a bit far if the hoof is long and catching all kinds of muck underneath it, but the hoof will wear itself off once weight is being placed on it. To trim a hoof which hasn't worn down because the hoof underneath is sore (like in foot rot) means that, should you trim, the sore area will be then directly on the ground.......a sheep limping a little becomes a sheep limping a lot!
> 
> ...



My biggest concern at the moment is the one with lungworm or pneumonia just not sure what's wrong.
Ya, she said it's likely joint ill in the small one.  The one in the splint is fine other than the hoof.


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