# Lamb drops head and freezes



## 4hmom (Mar 25, 2010)

Hi- My daughter is raising her first 4-H lamb and in the last few days it has developed a problem.  The lamb is otherwise healthy and 5 weeks old.  She seems ok in the mornings, playful and has been eating well however as the day progresses she starts this very abrupt almost violent head drop motion and freezes like that.  Some times she will kick her leg.  We initially called the vet and he said maybe a selinium/ vit E deficiency so she was given a BO-SE shot he also gave her a tetnus antitoxin and C&D Antitoxin. This was two days ago- yesterday we talked to a gal that raises sheep and she said it sounds like a bot fly issue and suggested ivermectin which we gave last night. Today she seemed fine in the morning and has started her head drop act again this afternoon.  I am going to try to post a video of this.  If anyone has a clue or has ever seen this before please let us know.
I am posting a video on youtube titled "sick lamb head bob" should be available soon


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## ksalvagno (Mar 25, 2010)

Wow, never heard of that before. Hopefully someone with some sheep experience will come on soon and have some answers.


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 26, 2010)

Hmm...very interesting.  She *looks* healthy and very nice for a 5 week old (Cheviot?).  The only time I've seen sheep do that is in the summer and they're being bothered by flies.  Doesn't seem like you'd be having that problem this time of year.  

Maybe you could try emailing Susan Shoenian, who's the Maryland Sheep and Goat Specialist.  She's extremely knowledgeable.  If you go to www.sheepandgoat.com , look at the table at the top of the page and you'll see a section that says "Send Email."  If you find out what's bothering the lamb, please update us!


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## Beekissed (Mar 27, 2010)

I was wondering if anything changes in her environment in the afternoon?  More interaction with your daughter or any dogs in the area in the afternoon more than in the mornings?  

I recently caught my gals for their spring inspection and noticed a similar behavior for a couple of days after being caught and "manhandled".  They are usually pretty flighty and I don't normally lay hands on them for much.

After their exam, when any of us approached them they would drop their heads and freeze.  I've read that, when sheep are cornered,  this is a response to a threat and the sheep's natural instinct is to gather in a circle, drop their heads and present their backsides to any threat to the flock. 

My girls did this for a couple of days afterwards and I had never seen them act this way before.  When anyone would enter their pen the sheep would keep a distance, immediately drop their heads down with noses almost touching the ground and just freeze.  If we advanced, they would run a short distance and repeat the same behavior.


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## 4hmom (Mar 28, 2010)

Well we have been going through this for a few days now- and its like clock work- she is fine in the mornings and evenings and does the head drop and freeze (for up to a minute or two) every afternoon for a couple of hours.  This is so strange, it gets so bad she cant raise her head to eat. But when she is fine she is real good- she plays and eats, we cannot figure this out at all??


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## 4hmom (Mar 28, 2010)

BeeKissed- this sounds the same but we cant figure out why it happens at the same time everyday- we dont notice anything different at that time of the day and our sheep are in a small pen and we are in and out everyday so they have lots of interaction with us? They usually come right up to us.  Medical Mystery???


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