# Castrated, now getting thin and won't eat



## secuono (Aug 5, 2012)

I banded the ram lamb I talked about before and all seemed well. He was walking a little off, but otherwise acting normal.
Yesterday I went out to the barn to check him over to see if they had dropped off yet. They didn't and as soon as he got up, he's thin!! 
He looks nothing like the others or the ewe lamb his age.
I don't think he is eating much because of a possible infection. What do I give him? I wanted to catch him and trim away the left overs, I did that with the tails. I left the band on for a week and when I noticed they were floppy and limp, I used cutters and trimmed them off at the band, left the band in place though. Can I trim the testicle left over, too?
Anything at the store I can buy him? Penicillin, probiotic something? I have a bag of sweet feed, should I isolate him and feed him some every day? He will freak out if I isolate him longer than just to feed or give him shots.


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## SheepGirl (Aug 5, 2012)

Sometimes ram lambs after they're banded will have their testicles fall off, but it is 'attached' to the wool. Usually right before we would load 'em up and take them to auction, we would look at each wether, and if they still have their scrotum attached, we would just pull it off because it's just matted to the wool.

I would take his temperature and if it's elevated, you can safely assume he has an infection. But if you can't take his temp, I would give him Pen G at the dose on the bottle as a preventative.


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## secuono (Aug 5, 2012)

The wool on the lower 1.5in of the scrotum has rubbed off, rest easily pulls off because it's rotting skin.


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## aggieterpkatie (Aug 5, 2012)

Could be a possible infection but it could also be worms or coccidia.


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## secuono (Aug 5, 2012)

He was totally fine until the banding. Seems too strong of a coincidence.


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## SheepGirl (Aug 5, 2012)

I'm thinking worms like katie said...banding is a stressful experience and then could've caused a boom in his worm load.


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## RemudaOne (Aug 5, 2012)

Take his temp.


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## cedarcurve (Aug 5, 2012)

heat stress in conjunction with banding is very hard on them, and should not be done in the summer heat once they are older than 3 weeks of age.  it is better to clamp them.

Give him PENN, banamine, dex, b12, and a shot of dewormer, and probias.  The worms usually won't be a serious problem, until the body gets under stress- then they take off.  

Put him in a cool place, take grain away for a day, and give good hay...  Gradually work him back up to grain.

When sheep get sick around here, we throw the cabinet at them, otherwise, sick sheep don't exist.  they are either healthy, or dead.


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## secuono (Aug 5, 2012)

They eat nothing but grass and they all hate hay, will not touch it. 
If any of those are not at TSC, then I can't give it to him. I also still do not know what brand and how much of wormer to give him.


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## SheepGirl (Aug 5, 2012)

Of what cedarcurve said, you will have to get Banamine (fever reducer/pain reliever) and Dexamethasone (anti-inflammatory steroid) at the vet. You can get Pen G, vitamin B12, a dewormer, and probios at any feed store.


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## secuono (Aug 5, 2012)

Can I give him aspirin? Saw it somewhere, not sure how much, though.


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## cedarcurve (Aug 5, 2012)

secuono said:
			
		

> They eat nothing but grass and they all hate hay, will not touch it.
> If any of those are not at TSC, then I can't give it to him. I also still do not know what brand and how much of wormer to give him.


From my experience, TSC doesn't ever have anything I need in stock.  That is the most worthless place I can shop.

I buy most of my medicines from valleyvet-- here in 2 days, and free shipping on almost everything I ever buy.. About half price on some stuff as well.


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## drdoolittle (Aug 5, 2012)

I believe you can get all of those online from Jeffers too.  I know TSC has probiotics---I've bought it there myself.  As for the wormer, I would give Ivomec---I give the jnjectable orally----although I know some people are against it.  You need to weigh the lamb and then I believe it's 2 cc/ml per 50 lbs.  You can always google "dosage of Ivomec for sheep".  

For an infection, if you have to get everything at TSC, they have penecillin or Tylan 200 (don't get Tylan 500---it's not strong enough). Again, you can google the dosage.  

The truth is that your animals completely depend on you for help when they are sick.  If the lamb is so thin and not eating and you can't get medicine because TSC is your only option, then maybe the lamb should be put down ASAP.  It's kinder than letting him suffer.


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## cedarcurve (Aug 5, 2012)

I know exactly what I have experienced, and can guess exactly what is going on with your lamb...

my last year in 4H, I kinda forgot about picking out a good market lamb for the fair, well actually I got carried away selling the ones people wanted to buy, and I was away at college, and when the time come the lamb that I had been hanging onto didn't look the part-- and so June 1- I decided to put a band on a Feb 1 ram lamb that weighed 120 for a fair the 3rd week of July.  When fair time came around, he weighed in at 105, almost 7 weeks later.  

He had lost 15 pounds in 7 weeks time during the heat of the summer, and after I had put a band on him.  He did get a slight infection from the band, since I cut the sac off after a couple of weeks.  He never completely went off feed though, which surprised me.  Since the wether game, i could honestly care less about- it didn't bother me that my lamb wasn't much to look at-- I just needed something to run through the ring and collect about 3x market price on.  I had dominated every other aspect of our sheep show- so letting someone else win a class didn't phase my outcome.


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## Pearce Pastures (Aug 5, 2012)

Yes, you can get most of those from items from TSC.  If you don't have a vet yet, they are unlikely to come out to give you the rest due to the laws they have to abide by but if TSC is still open, it would be worth a trip to see what you can get.  What they carry can vary from store to store though but if you take a list, they might be able to help you find something that will at least help.


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## elevan (Aug 8, 2012)

Closed at the request of the OP.  Lamb is now doing fine.  Thank you all for participating.


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