BlondeSheep
Just born
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2011
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 7
Good afternoon everyone.
I worked as an intern with an educational sheep flock for about six months. I was given a ram lamb born late February. He was rejected by his dam and I found him near deaths door. To date, he was the largest newborn lamb that I had ever seen. Anyway, we brought him into the house and the guy I was with at the time wrapped him in a blanket and laid him over the floor heating vent and cuddled with him until he began to show signs of life. Then we tube fed him until he was strong enough to nurse from a bottle. Reintroduction to the ewe failed so the lamb lived in my [large] closet in my apartment for several weeks until he was strong enough to join the flock.
At this point I could see that his growth was stunted. His legs always had a slight bow and his hips swayed a lot when he walked, but I assumed he had been stepped on by his dam at some point or because he was bottle fed and confined for so much of his life maybe he was just weak. Well, the more weight he puts on and the bigger he gets the more obvious the bow in his legs get. His legs seem stiff at the hock and he twists at the stifle or maybe even the hip when he walks. Like I said, this lamb came from an educational sheep flock, so out of all the veterinarians and vet techs that worked with this animal I would assume if it were a serious injury or illness they would have picked up on it.
A month ago he got diarrhea and we ran a fecal, he tested positive for coccidiosis and was successfully treated. This is when he was given to me because I had put so much work into him it seemed a shame for him to be slaughtered when we had put so much time and effort into saving his life. Well I am beginning to wonder if this will continue to get worse to the point where his quality of life will be diminished. I do not have appropriate fencing for sheep so he has to be tied outside (30 feet long line) or stalled. He gets All Stock Feed once a day and hay twice a day, plus he gets a few hours of grazing each day when he is tied out. I know this is not optimal for a ruminant but it is what I can do. There are some 4-H kids that work with him and they try to take him for daily walks/runs.
I will try to get a video but thought I would at least start out with a post. Thank you!
I worked as an intern with an educational sheep flock for about six months. I was given a ram lamb born late February. He was rejected by his dam and I found him near deaths door. To date, he was the largest newborn lamb that I had ever seen. Anyway, we brought him into the house and the guy I was with at the time wrapped him in a blanket and laid him over the floor heating vent and cuddled with him until he began to show signs of life. Then we tube fed him until he was strong enough to nurse from a bottle. Reintroduction to the ewe failed so the lamb lived in my [large] closet in my apartment for several weeks until he was strong enough to join the flock.
At this point I could see that his growth was stunted. His legs always had a slight bow and his hips swayed a lot when he walked, but I assumed he had been stepped on by his dam at some point or because he was bottle fed and confined for so much of his life maybe he was just weak. Well, the more weight he puts on and the bigger he gets the more obvious the bow in his legs get. His legs seem stiff at the hock and he twists at the stifle or maybe even the hip when he walks. Like I said, this lamb came from an educational sheep flock, so out of all the veterinarians and vet techs that worked with this animal I would assume if it were a serious injury or illness they would have picked up on it.
A month ago he got diarrhea and we ran a fecal, he tested positive for coccidiosis and was successfully treated. This is when he was given to me because I had put so much work into him it seemed a shame for him to be slaughtered when we had put so much time and effort into saving his life. Well I am beginning to wonder if this will continue to get worse to the point where his quality of life will be diminished. I do not have appropriate fencing for sheep so he has to be tied outside (30 feet long line) or stalled. He gets All Stock Feed once a day and hay twice a day, plus he gets a few hours of grazing each day when he is tied out. I know this is not optimal for a ruminant but it is what I can do. There are some 4-H kids that work with him and they try to take him for daily walks/runs.
I will try to get a video but thought I would at least start out with a post. Thank you!
did he get a BoSe shot?
