purplequeenvt - Lambs 2017

[NH homesteader]

Good good, I feed my pigs Poulin!

 

[norseofcourse]

Oh wow, a mill switching ingredients with no notice is not good! Are you going to talk to the mill, or switch suppliers?

 

[Hens and Roos]

sorry to hear of all the difficulties, hope you are able to figure out the possible grain issues.

Congrats on all the lambs, they sure are cute!

 

[Bossroo]

We have a theory on the cause of our issues this year.

My youngest sister works at a large goat dairy (somewhere around 400 milking, I think) while she's at school and they've been having major issues. In the beginning they thought it was a clostridial disease, but testing showed it was acidosis. They've lost a large number of does, goats have lost condition, production has dropped, birthing problems, etc. It's all because of the feed. They get a custom mix with very specific ingredients. The farm manager finds all the ingredients for their mix for the mill. They have recently discovered that when the mill runs out of a feed component, instead of letting him know, they substitute with something else. This of course can completely screw things up nutritionally.

The lady that My sister lives with, who also works at the dairy, checked the ketones on a bunch of NON-pregnant does the other day. Every one of them indicated ketosis.

We get our grain from the same mill. It's not a custom feed, it's one that the mill produces themselves. If they are going to mess with a custom feed for one of their biggest clients, why wouldn't they with their own feed?

My sister, and a vet that works at her school, think that we may be dealing with sub clinical ketosis caused by the grain. That would explain the majority, if not all of the birthing problems. I couldn't figure out why Minnie would have had an issue with ketosis. She wasn't a good candidate for it. Young, good condition - not skinny, not fat, we were only expecting 1-2 lambs from her and she only had 2 normal sized babies. She had none of the normal risk factors.

This could also explain the issues with Lena last fall (the terminal c-section), Willow's problems, aborted lambs, etc.....

There is no reason why our flock should be dealing with ketosis. Majority of the ewes are excellent condition, 5 or under, healthy animals. We feed 2nd cut hay and a 20% protein grain. We get our hay from our neighbor and she feeds it to her sheep (and our yearlings are at her place). None of the sheep there have had any issues and 2 of her 3 ewes that have lambed she got from us. The difference is the grain. She feeds grain from a different source.

My sister has commented several times that they grain looks different once in a while, like they changed something. I don't usually feed grain out, but I've noticed some changes too.

My sister's vet friend wants some grain samples and is thinking about doing a case study on our farm. I stopped and got Ketosticks on my way home and we are going to check all the ewes for ketosis.

It's upsetting to think about, but also a relief. There just might be a reason for all the heartbreak instead of "**** happens" and something we can do about it.

I would recommend that you as well as the goat dairy have a necropsy performed on your animals by your nearest University Veterinary School and your State Veterinary Animal Health Dept.. Then based on the results, you should have enough evidence to file a law suit against the feed mill and win for damages.

 

[purplequeenvt]

I would recommend that you as well as the goat dairy have a necropsy performed on your animals by your nearest University Veterinary School and your State Veterinary Animal Health Dept.. Then based on the results, you should have enough evidence to file a law suit against the feed mill and win for damages.

I don't think we would be able to get enough solid evidence to win anything against them, but the dairy does. If they file any kind of suit against the mill, I'm pretty sure the mill will be finished.

 

[Bruce]

phew! Thanks.

 

[Latestarter]

Wow... just wow... now that is most disturbing... Whoever is running that mill needs some serious alteration! Perhaps you could partner on a law suit with the dairy... more a class action type situation. If these damages are being done to your farm and the dairy, I would surmise that they have damaged other farms as well. I would be royally pi$$ed! In any case, I'd be finding a new mill to provide feed/grain regardless. I hope the issue has been properly identified so now it can be rectified.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Will the trouble never end?

Montana(old Southdown that wasn't supposed to be bred last fall) lambed yesterday afternoon. Babies, both boys, are fine. They were breech and required a helping hand to get out, but they are healthy and lively.

Montana only has half an udder (from mastitis a few years ago), but her "good" side isn't making enough for them. The babies are both still with her, but they are on the bottle too.

Babies may be doing well, but mom is not. Shortly after the 2nd was born, she started passing large clumps of bright red clots and got quite weak. She did perk up after a big dose of CMPK (that stuff has been used way too often this year). She was doing ok for the rest of the day and last night, but she's crashed today. Not interested in food at all. I dosed her again with CMPK. I hate to treat her with anything else that would have a withdrawal (pain meds, antibiotics, etc...) given that I have no idea what is wrong and we may decide that she should be put down. If she has no meds on board, she won't go to waste.

On to the next problem....

I went out to the barn at 4 this morning to feed Sally, the goat (yes, we have a bottle goat, long story), and the 2 new babies before heading to work. After they were all full, I went out to the paddock to do a quick check of everyone else. I found Bea (my bottle baby from 2 years ago) with a big dead lamb on the ground and her uterus hanging out. The lamb, a ewe, had a very swollen head and tongue so my guess is that she was good and stuck and when she finally came out, the uterus came with her.

I got my sister out of bed to help me, but it still took over an hour to put her uterus back where it needed to be. I stitched her vulva shut (I'm pretty sure our vet would have given me a medal for my stitch job) so there would be less chance of things coming back out if she started straining again.

I stayed home from work today to make sure she was ok. So far she's fine. Obviously not comfortable and still weak, but she's been eating and drinking and gets up and down and moves around the pen.

I'm going to attempt to get her to take at least one of Montana's boys. Not getting my hopes up, but it's worth a try.

Montana's boys

"Californium", he'll be called Sunny (or Brother).


"Einsteinium" AKA Albert


Minnie with her boy, Curry

 

[norseofcourse]

I'm so sorry you've had such troubles Best thoughts for Montana and Sally and the new little ones.

 

[Bruce]

Wow @purplequeenvt, just no rest on this path! Sure hope Bea recovers and can take on one of Montana's boys. You don't really need any more bottle babies.

Curry on Minnie sure is cute.