Sheep People-Advice Please!

[cassie]

Quote:
Corn syrup (karo) is almost pure dextrose. You can give that and it will not cause irritation. Animals that do not eat can get ketosis, and animals with ketosis will not eat. The less they eat, the more severe the ketosis. Sugar, especially glucose/dextrose will break that cycle.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
Corn syrup (karo) is almost pure dextrose. You can give that and it will not cause irritation. Animals that do not eat can get ketosis, and animals with ketosis will not eat. The less they eat, the more severe the ketosis. Sugar, especially glucose/dextrose will break that cycle.

ketosis, yep, that's part of why nath has been drenching / baster feeding.

on dextrose, I was refering to that packaged for subcutaneous use... it can cause adhesions under the skin because it's irritating. you're talking about corn syrup for drenching, right? not subcutaneous use?

 

[EweSheep]

I had a friend that had those kind of sheep you mentioned and they all had barberpole worm. Not a pretty sight! So she ended up putting the whole flock down because the treatments were too high and her hubby was unemployed at that time. She decided not to raise sheep again, too much heartaches, sweat blood and tears trying to keep them alive.

 

[zzGypsy]

barber pole worm is a problem whereever the environment is damp, I think, not particular to a breed of sheep, although there are some breeds that seem to be more resitant. And certainly one can select for better resistance in any breed.

we didn't have much trouble where we were in SoCal, it's pretty darn dry... here in MO, you have to watch carefully because it is an issue throughout the state.

I was warned by some folks in CA that "you can't raise sheep in MO because of the parasites" but that is not at all true, lots of folks raise sheep here. but you do have to be vigilant about checking for worms (fecals or FAMACHA) on pretty much a monthly basis for both sheep and goats or you will have losses. there are grazing practices (rotational grazing, and browse instead of pasture for goats) as well as appropriate worming (whatever your local worms are not resistant to) that minimize the opportunity for getting rapid reinfestation, but the eggs are endemic and so far there are no fully resistant breeds or bloodlines. attentive husbandry is called for.

 

[EweSheep]

Yeah that year was the worst for her. Had alot of rain, flooding around the areas south of her farm but took a long time for the pasture to dry up. Even dry stalls were OK but the sheep rather go outside and graze. It just sucks for her and the investment she put into to get started and in a few years, all it took one very WET summer to end that project.

 

[cassie]

Quote:
Corn syrup (karo) is almost pure dextrose. You can give that and it will not cause irritation. Animals that do not eat can get ketosis, and animals with ketosis will not eat. The less they eat, the more severe the ketosis. Sugar, especially glucose/dextrose will break that cycle.

ketosis, yep, that's part of why nath has been drenching / baster feeding.

on dextrose, I was refering to that packaged for subcutaneous use... it can cause adhesions under the skin because it's irritating. you're talking about corn syrup for drenching, right? not subcutaneous use?

Yes. I think the dextrose you were referring to is best given IV, not subcutaneously because it is so irritating. At least that is what I remember. Corn syrup should definitely be given orally.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
ketosis, yep, that's part of why nath has been drenching / baster feeding.

on dextrose, I was refering to that packaged for subcutaneous use... it can cause adhesions under the skin because it's irritating. you're talking about corn syrup for drenching, right? not subcutaneous use?

Yes. I think the dextrose you were referring to is best given IV, not subcutaneously because it is so irritating. At least that is what I remember. Corn syrup should definitely be given orally.

right. and of course the difficulty for the inexperienced, especially on woolly sheep, is the IV part. sub Q will do, but IV is better if you've got the skills.

 

[NateinFL]

OK, I have "somewhat good" update on Marjorie:

Last night, right when I was about to go to bed, Dr. Sara called me back and asked me if I could meet her at a place about 1/2 hour from my house, I thought about it, and said "sure". I met her at a gas station and spent over an hour talking with her while she was getting everything I needed to get Marjorie back on her feet again. I learned SO MUCH! Poor Dr. Sara just had surgery on her wrist that morning from falling off a horse, but she knew I was persistent and agreed to meet me. She was doing everything with one hand. Dr. Sara told me how she became a vet for sheep, goats, llamas, etc. from a horse vet. Needless to say, too many sheep/goat owners were misinformed and doing the wrong things from the advice of other vets. I didn't get home last night until 11pm and it was COLD and I didn't want to go out and treat her but I did. No reason to be selfish, I can catch up on sleep on other days.

I was under the assumption that hair sheep are very tolerant of worm loads. So my whole idea in having my small flock was to not worm them, let them go through their cycles. There is a sheep herd at UF that has gone unwormed for 40+ years and I thought mine would live under those same conditions. WRONG. She said that might work for them but here it will not work. Even though my other sheep are healthy and running around, if you don't worm them, they probably will come down eventually. She has seen it in her own sheep. So I will have my other 3 "healthy" sheep wormed with the Cydectin ASAP. She said it is the most effective, but it is powerful. She said we will talk about worming M in a few weeks (if she makes it through all of this

).

The Quest wormer that the other vet used on Marjorie, Dr. Sara would not have done. Too strong for a downed animal, but since M has not died yet, it didn't kill her.

I probably should not have done this, but yesterday I decided to feed M a slice of bread, just to see if she would eat. Not only did she take the small piece, she got up off the ground and came at me for more! So I let her finish the slice. Dr. Sara didn't give me a yes or no on that one. She just said she would like her to start eating greens, hay again. Today all she would eat was half a slice of bread

So now I have 6 new "boosters" I am treating Marjorie with.

The first is Selenium which I used up last night, just one shot. Right before we parted, she said she had one more thing for me to give her and that was it. Apparently this area is short on selenium and a healthy sheep needs it. That was taken care of.

For the next 3 days, I am to give her a shot, which I have to prepare, of Vitamin B12, thiamine, and dexamethasone. After those 3 days it is every other day at a smaller dosage.

Also, I am to give her a pill of sucralfate twice a day, but after an hour of giving her everything else. The sucralfate is to "plug up the holes" in her stomach caused by the worm infestation. I have to dissolve it in warm water and give it to her orally.

Finally, she gave me a big bottle of "lixotinic" to administer to her 2-3x's daily, orally.

I asked her about Red Cell and she said it can be used on sheep but she said what she gave me was "nicotinic" and more effective.

After 2 vet calls and LOTS of worrying, I have done what I can for M.

What scares me is that Haemonchus worm, which Marjorie had. It is now resistant to many of the dewormers out there. What happens when those worms develop a resistance to the last drug left? No more sheep left on this planet? I would like to eventually get sheep that are resistant to this nasty worm!

This is what I know now and I would like to share it with you so we can all have a better understanding about sheep care.

Time to give M her sucralfate pill.

Poor M. Everytime she sees me she puts her head down in the grass to try and hide from me. Not sure if she will ever be friendly again.

I really do appreciate all the helpful advice you guys have been giving to me. Keep it coming if you have more ideas. I might try that Karo syrup idea if Dr. Sara says it's okay.

Oh, and I have taken the day off work tomorrow so I can spend all my time with Marjorie. Fortunately, my AP is the one who sold her to me and said, "You are a good dad".

Thanks All,
-Nathan

ETA: Those shots I have to give her are 3x's daily for the 3 days. Stressful for us both

 

[chickenzoo]

Prayers for you both......

 

[NateinFL]

Thanks Chickenzoo, you helped me through my sick peahen incident. She has since had 2 sets of chicks. You are still welcome to her babies as promised! Let me know around April if you want one.