What could be wrong with this ewe?

[MuckBucket]

**I posted this on Back Year Herds but didn't get much help, I had so much great help with my pot bellied pig issues here I thought I would try my other problems here as well, hope you dont mind**


I rescued a hair muttish type ewe and her two doelings begining of June. The babies were two days old and the family came off of a slaughter farm, the ewe is about 4 years and they thought her time was up (slaughter) when she finished nursing the babies, so I forked out the money to save these three precious lifes. However the mother, Adel as we call her, was very underweight and very pop-bellied. I thought perhaps it was bacause she was wormy and just had triplets. I let her gain some weight and gain her strength then I wormed her and let her eat, eat,eat. However its August now and she still has a big ol potbelly. She also pants alot when I let her out of her pen to run the property. Could there be better wormer for her, could she have a disorder? Any help would be great...the pictures aren't the best but maybe it will give you and idea, the first is when I got her and the last two are current.
Oh yeah I used Privermectin Sheep Drench for her deworming.
Thanks!

 

[arabianequine]

Could she be pregnant again? Probably just fat, I have been thinking one of my doe goats was pregnant for sure forever now lol seriously been a couple of months. I really am starting to think she is just fat.


Some sheep/goats are just big at the tummy....I have seen pictures of a lot of peoples goat that kinda look like that and mine and they are not pregnant so it is really hard to tell.

Your ewe does look really big though.

I don't know of any medical issues that would cause that besides colic/bloat but it would be the left high side/flank area that get really big and puffed out. That part on her looks sunk in like it should....her stomach seems to start to get big right below her flank in that last pic so that is a good thing.

 

[Beekissed]

Her lambs look great! What are you feeding her? What are her poops like? Is she active or droopy? Eating well or just picking?

 

[welsummerchicks]

She actually looks like she has edema, in those pictures. I think it's time for a vet to see her if she is panting and has a belly that looks like that.

She could have worm danage, heart disease, many things.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

The only way to know if the wormer is workiing is to do fecal tests.

Her belly looks normal to me.

Some sheep (like some people) have bigger bellies than others, but it doesn't mean they are ill

 

[BorderKelpie]

I was thinking edema also - either a liver or heart condition possibly. The panting makes me lean toward a congestive heart issue.

The lambs do look great, though. Very pretty.

 

[MuckBucket]

Thanks for all the replies, I will try to get better pictures of her soon. She's still thin over her topline but she also has been nursing two lambs and only been on good food for two months now. She gets bermuda hay and alfalfa in her pen and every evening she gets to run the property and "free choice on whatever she finds interesting" she also gets a little bit of COB as a reward for comin abck to her pen when its bedtime. She has salt and free chioce minerals also. I will put a call into the vet but honestly there aren't very many great vets in the area, seem like they are all out for the buck. She may be pregant, how soon after a ewe gives birth can she get rebred? The owner said the babies were two days old when I picked them up but there were plenty of males around.

 

[arabianequine]

Not really sure on ewes but I have heard of people breeding right back to a goat as soon as loosing their placenta....which is terrible so I am pretty sure if they do it, it is possible to get pregnant immediately after giving birth.

 

[appychick]

If your ewe appears "lopsided",possibly belly hanging below level of ribcage-she possibly could be ruptured. Common problem in high producing(multiple large litters) ruminants. Unfortunately if this is the case,dangerous to rebreed if you want to keep her as a pet. If rupture is her problem & you want to keep her as a pet,feed low amounts of highest quality feed available,but avoid feedstuffs that would cause her to bloat.She still will need some fiber but make sure it is of good quality,definately no low protein grass hay,straw-feedstuffs of that quality. I remember seeing pics of support type of harness in antique vet. manuals. I have kept old pet ewes around for years in that condition.

 

[appychick]

Also forgot to mention your ewe may be Romanov Breed or cross. Never had any experience with them but have seen lots of neat pics of that breed.