A young lamb not gaining weight?

[Kasey]

Back in the beginning of November, I had twin lambs born. One had very weak back legs and could not stand, while the other was a healthy large female. A month later the female sadly died due to bloat, but the male lived and continued to thrive. About December he had suddenly gotten sick and could not stand due to severe weight loss (We had taken him off the bottle, both him and his sister were bottle fed) he had gone from 23 lbs to 15 in about a week. He recovered and came back to the weight of 24, now his is down to 22 and he is 4-5 months old. Does anyone have any advice on what I could do? He is acting normal and eating well, but it’s like he isn’t gaining the weight he should be. Is this because he is the runt ?

 

[Baymule]

Have you had him to the vet? But then you run into having more in vet costs than what he is worth. What are your plan for this lamb? If you are going to slaughter him, you might want to cut your losses and slaughter him now. The longer you keep him, the more he will cost.

Why were you bottle feeding the lambs? Did the ewe reject them?

 

[Kasey]

Have you had him to the vet? But then you run into having more in vet costs than what he is worth. What are your plan for this lamb? If you are going to slaughter him, you might want to cut your losses and slaughter him now. The longer you keep him, the more he will cost.

Why were you bottle feeding the lambs? Did the ewe reject them?

Yes his mother rejected him, and I hadn’t thought about showing him to our vet, I may call and ask her about him. But yes he will be slaughtered but he is still very small, I’m hoping this is just due to being a runt.

 

[Sheepshape]

Has he had treatment for worms and, if endemic to your area, fluke? If not, then treat with area-specific vermicide and flukicide (ask your vet for advice as to which drenches to use.)

Does he have scours? If he has black diarrhoea, then he may have coccidiosis.

Runts usually catch up in the lamb world. My avatar shows a ewe lamb who weighed under a pound. She has gone on to become a good-sized ewe who had a lamb herself this year.

Good Luck

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH! So glad you joined us, but sorry it's the issue with your sheep that brought you here. What breed of sheep is it and where are you located? Some breeds are smaller than others, and climate in your local area can have a bearing as well. I was gonna guess possible worms "stealing" the nutrition. A fecal check by the vet should be able to determine if there's a worm/cocci problem. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me will never remember & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!

 

[Kasey]

Hello, and thank you for the information and advice! Yes the lamb was

Greetings and welcome to BYH! So glad you joined us, but sorry it's the issue with your sheep that brought you here. What breed of sheep is it and where are you located? Some breeds are smaller than others, and climate in your local area can have a bearing as well. I was gonna guess possible worms "stealing" the nutrition. A fecal check by the vet should be able to determine if there's a worm/cocci problem. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me will never remember & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!

Hello! Thank you for the advice and information! I live in Missouri so the climate is always changing day by day haha! But lately it has been very chilly. He has been dewormed but we have never done the fecal test

 

[Latestarter]

If you don't do the fecal check, you don't know that he even needs worming... Also, if you don't do a check AFTER worming, you don't know if the deworming actually worked... Yup Misery weather is definitely changeable! Lately, you folks have been all over the place. Hope you get it figured out!

 

[Kasey]

Very true, and yes it is true misery at this point haha! Thank you!