# Our Islandic Lambs keep dieing unexpectedly



## outdoorgirl_wi (Jul 20, 2010)

As the subject says, our Islandic Sheep had lambs this spring, and they have been dieing unexpectedly. So far we have lost 3 lambs, and we just noticed one more looks weak. The one we lost yesterday, his temp was 102.5. Any suggestions on what route we should take? At this rate the other islandic lambs will be gone soon!
We also have Corridale lambs are looking good so far. They share the same pasture. We just brang the sheep back up to their pasture over the weekend, after we lost 2, and put them back into the pasture they were in over the winter. So far we think they could have found mushrooms, or could have possibly found some copper. We are not sure what we should do at this point to help them....
Anyone here have experience with Islandic sheep??? Thanks in advance for any help.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 20, 2010)

You have to give us more details.  What are they eating, how much do they weight, have they been dewormed?  Are they just normal one minute and dead the next?  Any other signs of illness?


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## abooth (Jul 20, 2010)

I would get a necropsy done.


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## goodhors (Jul 20, 2010)

White Muscle Disease?  The Great Lakes area is notorious for being Selenium poor.  If you don't vaccinate lambs here in Michigan, you can easily lose them.  Ewes should be getting Selenium as an feed additive before lambing.

Perhaps one breed is more suseptible than the other to lack of selenium? 

Just an idea.  I would second the necropsy, get the issue pinpointed so you can fix it swiftly.  Guessing and experimenting takes too long.  Better to pay the necropsy than losing more lambs.


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## Beekissed (Jul 21, 2010)

High temps suggest an infectious process....are you getting infection at the cord site?  My sis had an otherwise beautiful ram lamb that was doing fine but died at around 1 mo.  

Come to find out that he had maggots under the skin at his cord site, nothing visible at the surface...she said he acted pretty normal until the last day and died suddenly.


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