4 H lamb not feeling well

[ewellons]

My son has a wether lamb who is not doing very well. He lays down most of the day by himself when he is up his ears are always down almost as if he is depressed other lambs totally ignore him. His appetite is poor eats very very small amount of hay and grain not sure how much water he is taking also....does not really have any energy would prefer to just lay in the corner of the barn......not really chewing his cud does have loose stools not quite but almost diarrhea (which is green) eyes slightly pale in color... he was wormed when we got him in may everyone else seems to be doing good but fair is less than 3 weeks away we dont want to loose him or have him under weight...did reworm him....any help would greatly be appricated thank you...

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Sounds like it's time to get the vet out. It could be any number of things...urinary calculi, parasites, etc. I'd first start by taking his temp and seeing if he has a fever.

 

[ewellons]

did check his temp it was 103.7 last night .. today is was 102... is urinating without difficulty... did see him drinking tonight did drench with nutri-drench also tonight

 

[SheepGirl]

If he's not eating he may have acidiosis.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

So, no fever and not UC. Yes, it could be acidosis. Try drenching him with some baking soda mixed with water, and only offer grass hay and water for a day or two and see if he perks up a bit.

 

[doxiemoxie]

What wormers did you use? Not all wormers treat all parasites. My first GUESS is coccidia but that's just going off what you reported. I agree that its time for a vet or at the very least having the 4-H leader come take a look. The little guy needs some aggressive intervention.

 

[ewellons]

just a little update...i wormed the lamb with cydectin and saw no improvement..drenched him with baking soda also gave him nutridrench ..then while caring for him I noticed tapeworms in his poo...medicated him for that along with 3 days of penicillin and he is finally up eating and back with his buddies just a great improvement ..thanks for the advice

 

[Ms. Research]

Glad to hear your son's lamb is on the road to feeling better! Glad you found great advise here.

 

[doxiemoxie]

thanks for the update. I'm glad he's doing better.

 

[20kidsonhill]

just a little update...i wormed the lamb with cydectin and saw no improvement..drenched him with baking soda also gave him nutridrench ..then while caring for him I noticed tapeworms in his poo...medicated him for that along with 3 days of penicillin and he is finally up eating and back with his buddies just a great improvement ..thanks for the advice

that would have been my suggestions, worm for tapeworms and treat with Penn G. You can also try a drench of buttermilk and yogurt for a couple days, really helps their stomach get back on-line, if he is cooperative with the drench, if he chokes and sputters, then I would just let him be.

For some reason our show lambs always seem to have a tapeworm problem, We just go ahead and worm for tapes every 30 days while we have them, with the last worming being about 30 days before the show. You might want to worm the other onse for tapes. It is a pain, if they get sick just a couple days before the big event. Tapeworms can really slow down growth rate and feed conversion, with out getting the animal too sick, they can carry a very high load of tapes before showing any real obvious signs.