Ewe lamb sudden death

[jambi1214]

Hello. I have a 10-month-old ewe lamb katahdin who was found dead this morning. This ewe was a bottle lamb after her mother died at birth (had posted about this last October) Ewe is on pasture with 12 other sheep. Fecal done last month no parasites after deworming. Ewes including this one have been with ram for past 2 weeks on pasture. No grain but are given Purina Sheep rain and wind mineral. No symptoms prior to today. All other use and RAM seem to be fine. Deceased ewe this morning did have foam at the mouth and was gassy, unsure if from postmortem. When pushing on her stomach there was a lot of gas and some blood tinge fluid that came from her nose. Stools looked normal she was in enclosed small pasturn last night with no possible other animals injuring her. I did not vaccinate this lamb, her mother or any other ewes this year. Considering she has been with ram being bred not sure if I should vaccinate other ewes with cdt. Was this bloat? Poisoning? Just want to be sure my other use are okay any suggestions would be helpful thank you. Heartbroken here. She was one of the most special and my first bottle lamb. @SageHill @Baymule @Mini Horses @Ridgetop

 

[jambi1214]

Update. The vet did a preliminary necropsy and did find that her lungs seemed a little bit darker suggestive of potential pneumonia. Although the sheep did show no signs of respiratory distress or changes prior.No signs of any poisonous plant ingestion on exam. Ingestion of purple mint was mentioned and we do have some on the property that was cut two days prior to putting sheep on this area so potential some could have been ingested. Anyone have any experience with this? Also neighbor put lots of manure on side pasture which created a lot of dust the night prior and although I don't think that's an issue just thought it was worth mentioning. Potential for parasites and fecal test pending. She did say she was kind of pale but postmortem it's kind of hard to tell. I am giving CDT to all of the sheep on the farm today has anyone given it to you's in first trimester of pregnancy? That says it is okay just doing plain CDT

 

[Ridgetop]

Deceased ewe this morning did have foam at the mouth and was gassy, unsure if from postmortem. When pushing on her stomach there was a lot of gas and some blood tinge fluid that came from her nose.

Glad you are vaccinating. Gas build up in dead animals is normal. Since you did not vaccinate for CDT, my first thought was enterotoxemia. Enterotoxemia can come on at any time. Usually, it is the large healthy lambs that die suddenly from it. We lost a 3-month-old botte lamb to it in spite of vaccinations.

 

[jambi1214]

It's so odd but so know there are unfortunately many causes for sudden death. I wish sheep showed us more signs. Did identify lots of purple mint/ perilla where they were last night which as I mentioned was also cut day prior so likely tons everywhere cut up. Maybe the cause? Still vaccinating everyone tonight.

 

[Ridgetop]

If you suspect poisoning by Perilla, you might want to pull the other sheep out of that pasture.

 

[jambi1214]

If you suspect poisoning by Perilla, you might want to pull the other sheep out of that pasture.

I did immediately. I'm not sure how to get rid of it at this time of the year....ugh.... monitoring everyone closely.

 

[jambi1214]

Vet check fecal and They was loaded in coccidia and strongyles. Fecal was done a month and a half ago and was negative after deworming so totally confused. With sheep currently being bred or in first trimester what dewormers can I give? Any advice here?

 

[jambi1214]

Treating 13 sheep for coccidia with sulfamed for days is very expensive and I don't even know if store carries enough bottles. Anyone have experience with this specifically

 

[SageHill]

So sorry about the loss. @Ridgetop and @Mini Horses have a ton of experience. No ideas here other than you are doing all the right things with the situation you've got.

 

[jambi1214]

Readjusted plan : giving CDT, panacur, prohibit and cydectin tonight. Not treating for coccidia yet will get more individual fecal samples tested Monday to verify if all affected. Super worried as these ewes are bred/being bred so hopefully everyone will be ok. Any additional advice appreciated