# Doper Ram issues



## deb8950 (Apr 8, 2020)

Mr. Peabody had bottle jar in the vet  prescribed 10 mL a red blood cells and put him on a good grain and alfalfa well that is tomorrow Thursday the eighth will be his 10th day his last day and I've noticed yesterday that he was breathing hard so I took a man and yes his lungs were raspy and he had a small fever, so they gave him an anabiotic shot for pneumonia and bring the fever down well right now he is very lethargic my question is since I took him away from the ewes in the neighboring pasture can a Ram die of a lonely heart?  He is on a good alfalfa and grain that is for sheep, I'm just dont know ,what else to do just wait it out and see if on the red blood cells take affect or am I expected to lose this little guy. I hope not because I've already got him a couple girlfriends .


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## farmerjan (Apr 8, 2020)

If he has/had bottle jaw, he has/had worms  for starters.   Unless you treat the underlying worm problems, no amount of "supportive" therapy will help in the long run.  The problem is that he is in a weakened condition and worming too "hard" can kill him.  I would worm him, half strength, so that not all the worms die at once in his system and poison him or cause a blockage as he expells them.  You will have to repeat it several times.  Is your vet versed in small ruminants????  I think that you need to find a vet that is well acquainted with sheep and goats and small ruminants.  Not seeing him, I can't really advise the type of care.


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## Sheepshape (Apr 8, 2020)

Agree entirely with farmerjan. Give him a good vermicide...ie worm killer (one that has action against Barber Pole Worm) with plenty of good food and a drench with Selenium/cobalt/B12. It will make a new man out of him. I'd keep him away from the girls for now as he will be shedding eggs onto the field and infect the girls. Once he's been treated, he's good to go.


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## deb8950 (Apr 8, 2020)

Thank you all for helping me. I contacted a vet that deals with sheep and goats and hopefully I can get this Ram healed.


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## farmerjan (Apr 8, 2020)

Best of luck.  We all try to take care of our animals, and a good relationship with a vet is important, especially for people new to certain animals or breeds.  Let us know how things go.


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## deb8950 (Apr 9, 2020)

farmerjan said:


> Best of luck.  We all try to take care of our animals, and a good relationship with a vet is important, especially for people new to certain animals or breeds.  Let us know how things go.


Thank you I will keep everyone updated


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## deb8950 (Apr 15, 2020)

I just wanted to let everyone know with a sad heart my Ram didn’t make it.  He was so anemic with everything that we did was just not enough.The new Vet told me he was very sick. Thank you all for your support. Hopefully I will get a new ram for my ewes.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 15, 2020)

You should worm all your ewes now since they were with the ram.  It sounds like he was full of worms, thus the anemia due to them sucking his blood.   He probably has been shedding eggs throughout the pasture for the ewes to pick up.  You need to have the vet identify the type of worms (take him a stool sample) and prescribe a good sheep wormer.  You don't want to bring in a healthy new ram and have him pick up worms before you have treated yur flock.


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## farmerjan (Apr 15, 2020)

Sorry about the ram.  Hopefully, the one good thing out of all of this is you found a vet that is knowledgeable about sheep and you will be able to have a better handle on things.  
Totally agree with @Ridgetop  about the worming.  Can you split the pastures up and do more rotational grazing?  That will help if you worm the sheep (ewes) and then no more than 48 hours, move them off the pasture where you wormed them so the worm eggs and all drop there and they don't re-ingest any.  It won't completely solve the worm situation, but it sure helps to get them off the ground where the parasites are and to fresh grass.  We try to not let the sheep back on the ground for a minimum of 30 days, but like 60 better.   @Mike CHS  does alot of rotational grazing too -  you can read in his in his thread - and he also tries to breed for worm resistant animals.  I realize you can't do that right at the start, but it is something that does help as you get established and realize that the resistant animals utilize their feed/grazing better, and they cost less and make more money in the end as well as just be less work and less stress. 

Stick with us, it is great to have new members and we love to celebrate your "wins" as well as commiserate with you on your losses and sad situations.


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## Mike CHS (Apr 15, 2020)

I haven't been on much recently but I'm sorry that you had to go through this.  Ufortunately it is a part of what we chose to do.  I have made some mistakes that still haunt me but fortunately I have made the effort to do the best I can for our critters.  I had and still have some great mentors so feel free to ask whatever you need help with as there is a tremendous amount of expertise on this forum. If we don't know the answer the chances are that we can find it


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