Ideas why lamb died . . .

[Hykue]

This is a long post. I could really use some support and/or information.

One of my Icelandic ewes had a ewe lamb 6 days ago. I was
worried at first, but the lamb was energetic, peeing, and eventually I would see her sucking for longer periods and therefore I figured she was getting milk. Also, I don't think they live for six days if they aren't, right?

Yesterday I tried to let the goat kids into the sheep pen (there's a good goat play-place in there), and accidentally let the sheep out and the donkeys in instead. The donkeys are a little bit mean to baby animals, so I moved the lamb out of the barn, where she could at least get away, then tried to arrange everyone. Eventually I decided that trying to get everyone back in the right place was a lost cause, so I let the sheep roam for the day. I figured they would be careful, and that mama sheep would look after her baby (she's usually very solicitous).

A couple of hours after they went out, everything seemed to be fine, mama was with baby and baby was running around with lots of energy.

Later that night, but before dark, I went to put the goats away and try to round up the sheep. I didn't find the sheep, so I came inside for a while. Then my dog started making noise, so I let her outside (she's separated from the sheep by an electric fence that she fears). I could hear the mama sheep making her distinctive worried baa sound.

I went out with her to look for her baby. I was sure it was dead, carried off by coyotes - they usually aren't so brave to come here during the day, but I couldn't think what else could have happened - the mama usually keeps baby close, and baby wouldn't let mama out of her sight.

She showed me where to look, and baby was lying in the middle of the path. I was worried she was dead, but she was asleep. When mama got near she looked up, but didn't get up. When I picked her up, she was much less active than usual. She struggled a few times trying to get out of my arms, but not very hard. When I would put her down, even right by her mom's udder, she wouldn't drink. She would just stand looking miserable and try unsuccessfully to pee (she's been peeing fine until then, every time I saw, which was pretty often). I figured she was just hungry, thirsty, and sleepy, having been away from mom for a few hours, so I put her in the barn and left her there, with her mom. She didn't look fantastic, but I really thought she was just a bit hungry, and dopey because she'd been woken up.

She's been dopey like that once before, when she was sleeping out in the pen while her mom grazed - she wouldn't get up when her mom pawed at her, even. But after that she was fine - that was four days ago. So I figured such dopiness was a normal thing for lambs - she was my first lamb ever.

I don't know what's normal for a lamb, although the inability to pee much last night set some alarm bells off, but it didn't seem too severe.

I just went to check on her and she's dead. She's not lying right where I put her, curled up in the straw, she's about 15 feet away, lying out flat on her side. She's still fairly warm. I am upset.

I don't understand what happened. It's possible that she got nipped at by a donkey, and it's possible (although I think unlikely) that she got kicked by a donkey. It's possible that she got chased by a predator, but I can't imagine that they wouldn't have caught her, especially since we found her lying in the path. It's possible that it was just lack of food (for probably 5 hours since I last saw her with her mom), but she had access to the udder when they reunited and her belly doesn't look hollow. There are a lot of possibilities, and I feel like crap about most all of them.

Do lambs just up and die like this very often? Should I call the vet if one won't pee and seems sleepy? Are these well-known symptoms of some common lamb disease that I should already know about? Are lambs REALLY just born looking for a place to lay down and die? I'm feeling so frustrated, and I wish I could have done something, but I really don't have any ideas even after the fact.

 

[ksalvagno]

Sorry about your lamb. You pretty much listed all the possibilities and unless a necropsy is done (and a good chance that that won't give you any info) or you saw what happened, it really is hard to say. She could have eaten something poisonous. There really is no way to know. As far as getting enough from mom, the only way to really tell is to weigh them. You can get a cheap hanging scale at the store and just come up with some type of sling to hang them. Then you can get an accurate weight in tenths of pounds.

Don't beat yourself up. These things happen to everyone and it is always upsetting.

 

[goodhors]

Sorry about your lamb. I am not familiar with your symthoms listed. With it coming on so quick, other animals involved, I would be more likely to blame an injury. The not-peeing sounds odd.

I do firmly believe that sheep are born trying to die, from lambing onward. Seems at times all it takes is someone looking at them wrongly, then they collapse, even older lambs or sheep. I hate that about them, which is why I over-do, in preventative actions to keep them alive. lambs or sheep here are penned alone or turned out in field with small calves who are afraid of lambs/sheep. We have no donkey's, and I would not keep any who bit or chased my small animals! They are not a protection if donkey hurts/kills them instead! ESPECIALLY if donkey does not quit over time, he would be GONE.

We have paddocks set up so a new mother and baby animal can be turned out alone as a Pair. Baby may have to learn to follow, mother hover over it, not all have it right when taken from the stall area. Some can take a couple days of being penned together in a larger space to get following down well. Again, my over-done animal keeping, working to prevent "situations" or damaged animals.

I just keep thinking how stupid they ALL are, remove as many "possible problems" from the setting to keep things running smooth and undamaged livestock.

Keep in mind if you own livestock, there is bound to be some "deadstock" at times. Part of animal keeping you seldom can avoid.

You can pay to have the lamb necropsied, find the base cause. Might be a physical issue, might have been damaged by another animal. It cost you, but you DO have a real answer then to avoid the problem again.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Well, I really don't like the saying sheep are born looking for ways to die. It's not that they're so hard to keep healthy, they're really not. BUT, sometimes it's hard to tell they're sick until it's too late to do anything about it.

Who knows what happened to your lamb, and I'm really sorry she died. It's quite possible the donkey(s) did something to hurt her. I HATE the thought of donkeys in with smaller animals. Quite frankly, I don't think they make good guardian animals AT ALL. I learned my lesson the hard way. I had a small standard donkey with my animals and he killed 2 of my goats. Never again will I have a donkey in with smaller animals, and I will never recommend they be used as guardians.

Who knows if that was actually what happened to your lamb or not. Is it very hot there? It's been way hotter than average here in MD, and it's quite possible the lamb was hot and dehydrated or something. Or perhaps she had naval ill.

Don't beat yourself up about it though. As goodhors said, these are animals and living things die.

And you're right, I doubt the lamb would be doing well for 6 days if she wasn't getting enough milk.

 

[Hykue]

Thanks for the replies. I'm guessing it must have been the donkeys . . . it hasn't been hot at all, right around 60 mostly. Navel ill is possible, but I did dip her umbilical cord in iodine not too long after she was born.

I don't actually keep the sheep with the donkeys, it was a mistake. I have been keeping the sheep separate from both the donkeys and the goats to protect both the pregnant mamas and the babies. And the donkeys weren't bought as guard animals, they're my MIL's, and she intends to train them to pack . . . or really, for ME to train them to pack. I have seen them chase the adult sheep and goats before, but they stop when they corner them, they don't actually try to hurt them. I would love to sell them to our neighbor, honestly. I don't want to train them, they aren't guard animals (although they do hate them some dogs), and they kicked at one of the goat kids and have chased the kids once or twice. The goat kids now know to keep out of their way (and are big and agile enough to do so), so I keep the goats with the donkeys, with a goat-sized door into the barn so they can escape if need be. It's not ideal.

In fact, I just realized that there is somewhere else I can put the donkeys, I'll just need to get them a water tub. Oh, man, I wish I had thought of that earlier. Oh well, no time like the present!

 

[Beekissed]

I don't think sheep are looking for a place to die either...the old farmers say that all the time around here and I see them haul truckloads of lambs to the market each year. If they were that fragile and prone to death they wouldn't even bother to keep them. I rather think that is just an expression describing how quickly things can go wrong without one really knowing how to prevent it.

I would think, if cattle regularly had twins and triplets, the death rate for their young would be just as high as far as percentages go.

Maybe your lamb was born with some kind of internal defect, maybe heart related if it was kind of dozy once before, and all that energetic play might have exacerbated the problem.

Don't be discouraged...sometimes it just happens and there isn't anything you could have done.