Mystang's Homesteading Circus

[Bruce]

Good luck Mystang. I agree it sure looks like a joint issue rather than sore feet. Hopefully it can be figured out and fixed.

I like our vet plus he only charges $40 for a farm call and that includes a Vet Tech.

Wow! Probably helps that there are other sheep farms around and he can book "house calls" in an area.

I had accepted that the stock I had was "learning stock" and had to give it my best shot

And a great job you did!

 

[mystang89]

Update on the ewe with bad back feet - she's still not doing any better. I've tried everything I can do so far, gave her selenium, BOSS, a shot of LS-200, tried feeling the vertebrae for any abnormalities, massaged. She is still having just as much trouble and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Now I'm stuck with the problem that, if I put her down, I can't eat her because of the LS-200 shot which says no meat or milk can't be eaten within the 28 day period. I don't think I'm going to put her through the pain she seems to be going through for another 26 days. I hate waste and feel that's a waste but I'm sure not filling up my freezers with a sheep to give it to the dog. Maybe I'll at least get a hide out of it. Hate not knowing what's wrong with them.

My ram has off and on front foot problems. At first it was because of the pebble that had grown into the hoof. That I could understand but after keeping it clean and watching it heal back nicely he occasionally limps on it still. Hate not know what's wrong with them.

My other milking ewe started barely limping on her front hoof yesterday as well. Looked at her hooves and saw nothing wrong there either. Hate not knowing what's wrong with them.

Tomorrow I'm going to cut the hay for the last time this year. I've been going back over what @farmerjan wrote and trying to go over in my head how to do it. One thing that's a problem I wasn't able to fix last time is the size/weight of the bales. As said, I have a Massey Ferguson 12 baler and during the last baling session the bales were FAR too loose. I tried wrenching down the screws which supposedly control how much hay goes into the bale but the bales were still very loose. Loose enough that they would just come apart when you picked them up. Anyone know if there is a way to tighten the baling twine? I was reading about it online and found another possible problem might have been the amount of hay going into the baler itself. Apparently if the baler doesn't have enough hay being picked up at one time then the bales won't be tight? I don't know. They also seemed to say that if you had thinner hay, (stuff like myself) and not alfalfa, then you may need to double or even triple the windrows when you're hay raking it. Logic seems to imply that even if you had even a handful of hay being thrown into the baler a little at a time then it would simply wait till completely full before tying it off.

I really don't want to deal with the flimsy hay bales again as trying to throw them up into the hayloft, from inside the bucket of a tractor and having them completely fall apart and tumble to the ground is less than.....pleasant....

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I hate that you are having to go thru these issues
Is there any thorn or cactus type plants that could of gotten in any of their hoofs ?..... , we have some funky plant here that has a fine hair like thorn that will drive any animal crazy if stepped on and embedded. ....
Hope you can find a solution, this surely has to be fustrating.

 

[Baymule]

Wish I could help you.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Caught up on your thread. That sheep trying to walk looks wild. I’m wracking my brain for options. She doesn’t look to be in pain to me. If she was, she’d be losing weight drastically. Her condition would be very poor and she wouldn’t be making milk. I dare say she’s been like this for some time.
It’s very possible that this is why she was being sold...

I’d give her a few more days. If she continues to hold her weight, make it less difficult for her to make it to the point of having the antibiotic out of her system. Don’t isolate her or limit her ability to be active as that could be more harmful. Just make sure she doesn’t have to trek overly far for hay, water, mineral, feed, milking, and forage.

 

[mystang89]

She'll be culled today. She cannot walk. It degenerated to the point where even her front feet refused to move. I don't know which member mentioned it but I think it's the deer born parasite which attacks the spinal column. Nothing to be done about that except accept it.

The Good Lord have and the Good Lord takes away. As it has please Him, bless be His holy name.

 

[Baymule]

I’m really really sorry. I had to have my most favorite ewe put down. I had the whole vet staff crying. I was heartbroken for weeks. I’m a pretty tough lady, I can take what gets thrown st me, but sometimes you get those special animals that get in your heart like no others. I grieve with you over this girl. May God give you comfort.

 

[Bruce]

That is very sad.

Meningeal worm? If she's got that you need to start regular worming of ALL your animals in the herd or they will all follow her. The life cycle goes from the deer to mollusks (snails and slugs) which are ingested when the animal gets them with the grass/weeds they are eating. The deer do NOT have to be in the same area as the sheep/alpacas etc, the mollusks travel. Being that they are not the normal host, they are affected differently, the worm doesn't do damage to deer.

 

[mystang89]

That is very sad.

Meningeal worm? If she's got that you need to start regular worming of ALL your animals in the herd or they will all follow her. The life cycle goes from the deer to mollusks (snails and slugs) which are ingested when the animal gets them with the grass/weeds they are eating. The deer do NOT have to be in the same area as the sheep/alpacas etc, the mollusks travel. Being that they are not the normal host, they are affected differently, the worm doesn't do damage to deer.

I thought I read that normal wormers did not work for Meningeal works or is that only when the work is fully developed.

Very interested in what you all have to say about this. I'm not a huge advocate on worming but I'm very willing to if it keeps this from happening again.

 

[Bruce]

Ivermectin is what is used on camelids. Once the worm has had a chance to get get in the brain or spinal column, it's all over. If it is meningeal you need to worm them monthly during the periods mollusks can live out in the grass.

https://www.sheepandgoat.com/deerworm