Sick Sheep??

[WV_RoyalWhite]

My two sheep haven't been themselves for the last two days. They have lost their appetite, lethargic, head hanging low, ears are down, they are drinking water.

Does anyone have ideas what is going on with them??? Thanks.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Hmm... Has anything changed? Different hay or feed? Could they have eaten any bad hay? Or maybe a weed? Do they have a fever?

 

[WV_RoyalWhite]

Not sure if they have a fever, we did change their hay because we ran out of the first stock and my normal supplier won't call me back. However, I don't think its feed related because they started exhibiting these symptoms just before we gave them the new hay.

Could it be worms?? Its been a couple months since they were dewormed.

 

[jhm47]

Very doubtful that worms would strike both at the same time. Did they get into a lot of very rich feed (corn, oats, pellets) or salt or minerals? We had a neighbor who had nearly his whole herd of cattle act sick. He treated for everything he could think of, and finally had a blood test done. It seems that his cows had gotten into several old car batteries, and licked lethal amounts of lead out of them. You might check your pasture for possible sources of poisons.

 

[WV_RoyalWhite]

We keep a small double sided fence feeder with their sheep minerals in it for free choice, but they don't gorge themselves on it. They are fenced in really good and the pasture is small, the only thing in it is a black raspberry bush and grass, so I don't think there are poisons.

However, my wife fed them a corn oat mixture in the evening prior since they ran out of hay that night.

I'm guessing this seems to be the culprit. What would be the treatment?? The bigger ewe seems to be better today, she's finally eating her hay, but the small weather is still exhibiting diarrhea. I'm feeding him some probios and homemade electrolit solution. he still isn't eating though.

 

[jhm47]

Sounds like an overdose on nutrient dense feed. It will just take some time for them to work through it. It is actually better to let them go hungry for a day or so than to abruptly switch from hay to a large amount of grains. Acidosis is sometimes fatal.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You could always drench them with some baking soda and water. If you don't actually see them bloating, they'll probably be back to normal within a day or so. I'd offer some really stemmy grass hay if you have any. Probios wouldn't hurt either.

 

[WV_RoyalWhite]

They are both doing much better. The bigger ewe bounced back yesterday and today she's completely normal. The smaller wether is slower to recover but he is no longer scouring and he is much more alert.

We drenched him with homemade electrolytes from Storeys book and gave him some probios gel.