First, they only found 2 worm larvae. That was great news. I had wormed her again last night with Ivomec because her whole head was huge and I was afraid she would not be alive this morning. I had also taken a syringe of B complex to give her but didn't. She looked a little better this morning.
So he said her red blood count was 9. The scale goes to 35 I think he said. They did it twice just to make sure. He said she should have a blood transfusion. But he didn't know what blood or how. He has done horses but never sheep. But that's how low her red blood cells are. That's bad. He said all the others are more than likely that low as well.
He told me I need ed to get some Red Cell and give them all 1 oz. every day for 2 weeks plus a shot of B Complex. We need to get their blood levels built back up. I can also give them kale and other greens too. He said the goats would probably need this treatment too. I know Adabelle does for sure.
I found a gallon at the co op in town. He gave me a huge drench syringe. I have 11 sheep and 9 goats. That's 20 oz. a day for 2 weeks. I am going to need another gallon I think. It's cherry flavored too! Yum.
So gave Adalaide her Red Cell before I let her out. I forgot the B complex. I gave the rams all theirs this afternoon and Darla too. She's a pig ewe.
Also gave all the does theirs tonight. I am wearing a lot of theirs. They apparently don't care for cherry flavored anything.
I will start all the others in the morning. My daughter Heather is here for awhile so she will be helping check off their names in a book to keep track of who had what. I hope all this will get them healthy again. He also said that rotating pastures is the best thing to do. He did say that since I had the pasture mowed Sat. that the worms should be dead. But I have to keep them in the smaller pen with a stall that has a door to give them all this stuff.
I have to take Adalaide back in 2 weeks to do another blood test to see how they are by then. They sure could use some good prayers for this to work. I sure wish I had gone to the vet sooner. Lucinda would still be here with us. I miss her already.
4 comments:
Kris,
So sorry about your ewe. And trust me when I say I know how you feel. I go through the same thing when I lose one of my ewes.
You always think 'I should have" If only I... it is the same drill all the time.
So don't beat yourself up on this. Sheep are the hardest livestock to take care of. My own vet tells me all the time ... He said sheep are delicate animals, system wise. Even tho they are in the bovine family they just are not the same.And around here there a no actual sheep vets ... So most of the time even with them, it is a gussing game at best.
I did want to mention on the rotating that if you have a way to seperate your pasture in half with the electronetting that would also help.
And they also say to keep sheep healthy you should only have 4 sheep per 1 acre.
Good luck with them.
Teri
Oh gosh. Sorry that your critters are feeling down in the dumps. Good information though to keep in mind. We have 2 sheep. Hope they start to feel better soon.
Any tips of foot care for them?
I have wanted to make 4 separate pastures out of the one field they were in but it's not mine. I could use the Premier electric netting fence I guess instead of permanent fencing. He really doesn't mind if I do anything over there. I had to have a guy come out about 3 years ago and put barbed wire up at the whole front when my cow messed up the old fence. Cost me around $600. And I pay to have it mowed all the time. So I think he wouldn't mind making sections. And I only have 8 ewes now. They cannot keep that grass eaten down fast enough.
It seems like the wool sheep have more intestinal problems but the hair sheep have the messiest feet. I have heard that sheep with dark or black hooves have better feet and I believe that's true. My hair sheep have white hooves and they grow so fast. BUT they have not ever had foot problems like my Suffolk-Finn ewe has. She had foot rot last year. I got the Copper Tox and soaked her feet in that. And antibiotics. I had to make paths with anything I could find to keep them from having to walk in mud last winter and spring. Just make sure they have dry places to keep their feet from staying wet too much. That's about all I can tell you.
Post a Comment