Ridgetop
Herd Master
Did you change feed? Or maybe it was some type of weed that got into the hay from the hayfield.
Contagious Diarrhea in Adult Sheep?
- Thread starter Stephine
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- #12
Stephine
True BYH Addict
No, no feed change. Ewe started diarrhea on one bale, opened new bale (from a different delivery) after a couple of days, and eating from that she recovered after a few more days, then the next one got sick. All orchard grass hay. Everyone still eating from that second bale… I tell you, non of the feed explanations make sense …
Ridgetop
Herd Master
But the animals have recovered and no further episodes right?
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- #14
Stephine
True BYH Addict
We’re still in the thick of it. Ewe (first one sick) recovered overnight after day six. She is still totally fine, pooping nice pellets. First wether got the runs two days after ewe had recovered. His poops seem to be getting a bit more solid today. Second wether started getting the runs 2 1/2 days after first wether. So I have high hopes that one will be fully recovered tomorrow or the day after, second wether will probably have a few more days ahead of him…
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- #15
Stephine
True BYH Addict
Ugh, tricked myself and thought I was clever putting down fresh straw in their stall mid morning so I could easily identify fresh poop for samples to take to the vet midday. Well, nobody pooped at all for 1 1/2 hours! So I had to leave without (was running errands and had thought I could stop by the vet’s for this)… Well the good news is it seems like the wethers are getting better. Beau’s behind is dry and I see some stuck together pellets in the stall tonight. So two down, one more to go…
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- #16
Stephine
True BYH Addict
Everyone is fine again. Last wether got better Monday. All of a sudden his ears felt nice and toasty again (these guys get regular extensive cuddles 
) - checked his backside, all dry - hurray. So it’s a mystery, but so glad they all got through it ok. They lost a bit of weight, one more than the others, despite me keeping hay in front of them all day long. Luckily they were not skinny to begin with, and with our green season just starting now I am sure they will be positively round soon enough… Thanks for keeping me company through this - it’s hard when your animals are sick.
) - checked his backside, all dry - hurray. So it’s a mystery, but so glad they all got through it ok. They lost a bit of weight, one more than the others, despite me keeping hay in front of them all day long. Luckily they were not skinny to begin with, and with our green season just starting now I am sure they will be positively round soon enough… Thanks for keeping me company through this - it’s hard when your animals are sick.
Baymule
Herd Master
I’m glad they are all better now.
Margali
Herd Master
Where do you get their water from? Has anything changed with it? You can get bacteria spikes when there is a crack in underground line that sucks in dirt.
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- #19
Stephine
True BYH Addict
We’re on a well - their barn water comes straight from the well, their pasture water goes through our holding tank (same one our house water goes through). It all looks clean. Horse drinks the same water and was fine the whole time.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
As long as they have recovered with no ill effects, it could have been something as simple as eating something in the pasture that disagreed with them, or even a sudden out of season heat wave. I would not worry about it unless is reoccurs. Mark the dates on your calendar when it happened and if it happens again check those dates to see if anything happened that you can pinpoint, i.e. time of year, certain forage blooming in pasture, change of feed, unusual weather, etc.
