Ram died this morning; pneumonia

[Shelly May]

Sorry to hear about your loss- But remember when bringing in new sheep to your farm or any livestock,
you should keep them seperated for a few weeks and observe them to make sure they do not have any
health issues. As far as a long haul, they have shipping fever meds you can give prior to shipping,ect.

Yes I agree shipping with other sheep is good for their stress not being so bad, As we haul show sheep
around all summer long, they do fine, but there are always several from the same flock together.
problems we sometimes see is when you get to the fair growns and put your stock up in the show pens,
well goats or pigs or cattle where there the day before in those pens, and we usually have one that ends
up with soar mouth or something after a show. that animal can not be shown for the rest of the season.
and has to be kept seperated from the rest of the flock till all is well.

As far as sharing your ram with the friend down the road, at this point doesn't seem like either of you have
to many, So why not haul the ewe's (more then one) to the ram. just let him breed all sheep at one farm
and about 45 days later send sheep home. Of course both parties have to be satisfied that either of you
don't have sick looking ewe's, Know your neighbor well and visit their farm and make sure he doesn't have
sick sheep. Find out what he feeds, does he give free choice mineral, what kind of grass does he have in his
pastures, or will they be on hay. what kind of hay do they feed The list goes on and on. Check their sheep for
worms and hoof rot,ect.


If this seems like alot of trouble then you just convinced yourself not to share Rams!!!!


I sell rams all over several states, and if someone buys one and said they put him in ASAP with their
ewe's and he died a week or two later, I would question the fact of are the ewe's sick and got the
ram sick after he had just been hauled a long distance and his immune was down. Why would you think
that a ram with low immune could infact run around and chase ewe's and not get down worse.


Sorry if I seem hard on you but you never stop learning with sheep. I know that your next ram will be treated
different and should do fine for you.

 

[NachoFarm]

I sell rams all over several states, and if someone buys one and said they put him in ASAP with their
ewe's and he died a week or two later, I would question the fact of are the ewe's sick and got the
ram sick after he had just been hauled a long distance and his immune was down. Why would you think
that a ram with low immune could infact run around and chase ewe's and not get down worse.

Sorry if I seem hard on you but you never stop learning with sheep. I know that your next ram will be treated
different and should do fine for you.

I don't think you're being hard however maybe that's because I don't understand what you mean by this particular portion of your post. Are you saying that my ewes are sick? Or that the ewes at the other farm are sick?

And since we're new to sheep I wasn't aware that stress could be so life threatening so when you ask why I would think a ram with a low immune system could run around and chase ewes, I don't quite follow what you're trying to say. He did run around and chase our ewes while he was here and didn't show any signs of illness, but obviously he might have been and the second transfer just pushed him over the edge. I guess we will never know for sure.

Live and learn right?!

 

[Shelly May]

Nacho,

No what I was saying is that, you bought a ram off another farm, OK so where the sheep on that farm healthy
sheep? Do you know for sure? If not he could have caught somthing there and with the stress of being hauled
long distance, His own immune system was low and his body could not fight it off. If you didn't check this farm out
really good before you bought your ram, could the sheep they had there be unhealthy?

Then instead of keeping him seperated for a few weeks after you got him home, and observing him for signs of
anything negetive, like what he had or worse, worms/hoof rot,soar mouth, cociddia, anything out of the ordinary
you put him with the ewe's ASAP, and then straight to the friend down the road. what could there sheep be carrying
that you might not be aware of. Nothing I hope, but you never know.

I don't care if a ram cost $5000.00, or $50.00 the price doesn't mean good quality sheep, always do your best when
buying livestock, check the seller out, visit their farm, for example if you visit a farm with sheep, and you see a few of
them walking on their front knee's when eating. Turn around and leave, this is a sure sign that they have hoof rot on
their farm. This is picked up by the other sheep and soon you will have it. It is in the soil if the sheep are contaminateing
the pastures then more and more will end up with it. A ram with roof rot is no good for breeding. As his feet hurt to much
to mount ewe's. hoof rot is preventable, but not always curable.

A friend of mine paid that high price and this is what happened read the note she sent me below.

I had a super ram that I owned with (two other people) several years ago. One owner lived in Missouri and he agreed to have a friend who was delivering some ewes to this area to bring the ram to me. When the ram got here it was pathetic. They had left him tied up and hobbled for the entire trip to keep him separated from the ewes. This didn't count the hours they had him in there before they left. When he finally got here the ram was down for days and not interested in the ewes at all. Turned out he was completely sterile for the 8 weeks I had him. I didn't get a single lamb out of him. I had him tested and he had virtually no sperm count. He went on to the third owner from here and his fertility returned and he bred him to his entire flock. That is what severe stress can do to a sheep. I sold my interest in him - I didn't want him to have to go through anything like that again.

What I am sharing to you is investigate and seperate go together, even if a animal has a runny nose,
might want to consider not buying it. or keeping it seperated until your sure it is in the clear. Do you know if the ram
was QQ or QR or RR, things like these are important, QQ has a high risk of contracting if exsposed to Scapie diesease. which doesn't show up until
the animal is about 2-3 years old. always protect your livestock and your pocket book.


Again sorry for seeming so harsh. I don't mean to be.

 

[alsea1]

Thats rough.

I have a black belly ram right now that has had a slightly snotty nose for quite some time. He is in good condition and eats his feed with gusto. So at this point I am just keeping an eye on him.

I am on shoestring budget so must rely on my local farm store and do my own vetting as much as possible. As I am sure alot of folks are.

Has anyone else dealt with a similiar ailment and what did you use if anything.

Also, How do I start a post on this web sight.

Thank you
Laurie

 

[SheepGirl]

Thats rough.

I have a black belly ram right now that has had a slightly snotty nose for quite some time. He is in good condition and eats his feed with gusto. So at this point I am just keeping an eye on him.

I am on shoestring budget so must rely on my local farm store and do my own vetting as much as possible. As I am sure alot of folks are.

Has anyone else dealt with a similiar ailment and what did you use if anything.

Also, How do I start a post on this web sight.

Thank you
Laurie

Check his temperature. The average sheep temperature is 102.3, but a range of 102-103 is okay. Fever is considered over 103. If there is no temp, it could just be nasal bots OR the cold weather (don't know about you but my nose sometimes runs when it's cold outside). If it's clear he's (mostly) okay--if it's an off color or green then there could be an infection, which would be accompanied by a fever.

To start a new post, go to the forum category you see fit (for example, if you were to ask about this ram, then go to Diseases-Sheep) and click "Post New Topic" in the top right corner.

 

[alsea1]

Thanks
Nasal bots huh.
I will study that