Ewe weak in hind end

[Ariel301]

I just got a phone call from a friend of mine about a ewe of hers that isn't looking too good today. The ewe is an East Friesian dairy ewe, I think she's 2-4 years old, I'm not entirely sure. She lambed with twins two months ago. She is a good milker and has only had single lambs in the past. Today the ewe has been laying down more than normal and my friend said she acted strangely when she got up off the ground, she stretched her legs out in an odd way and she seems weak in her back legs when she moves around. I haven't seen the ewe yet, so that's all I know.

She thought maybe it was selenium deficiency since we are really deficient here, so she was calling me about dosage, but I also thought of hypocalcemia since the ewe is a fairly heavy milker and is feeding double the lambs she is used to, plus they are huge lambs. My friend took the lambs off the ewe to wean them and is going to dose with BoSe and also some calcium drench and vitamin B. She wasn't sure if the ewe was off her feed or not since her kids usually do the feeding and they hadn't paid attention.

I have never heard of an animal that late into lactation being hypocalcemic though. Does it happen? Or does this ring a bell for anyone as something else? We don't have a vet here who handles sheep so we just sort of have to guess and try things on our own. :/ Does anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

It's doubtful it's hypocalcemia. That would cause lack of coordination everywhere, not just the back legs. Also, if the ewe has been lactating for 8 weeks already it's unlikely to be the issue.

I can't really think of anything that jumps out at me. :/ Are there any other signs the ewe is exhibiting?

 

[ksalvagno]

Weak back legs usually means meningeal worm for me.

 

[goodhors]

You might want to get some calcium into the ewe. That would be calcium with Vit D for absorbtion.

We had this happen with a dog, nursing a litter. Could hardly get up after a couple days of nursing!! We had tried to feed her additional calcium, since nursing will deplete them, but she wouldn't eat it. Ended up giving her people Calcium with Vit D, pills from the drugstore. She was greatly improved within 24 hours. This was Vet recommendation, dog just had low body supplies, not taking in enough extra to supply herself and puppies.

Maybe you could grind up a pill a day, syringe it into her with applesauce and pill. Works for horse meds! A check up on Google should find your daily Calcium dosage needed for sheep, so you can check against units in the pill on the box side. Pills are not weight based.

Maybe the Vet would have some liquid form Calcium that would be exactly right for the sheep. I would check my diet for sheep, maybe change hay type, tweak diet a bit so she is eating more calcium and can share it with the lambs.

 

[Ariel301]

The ewe was given some calcium. She's fine now. Not sure if the calcium did anything or she recovered on her own, but either one is fine!

 

[20kidsonhill]

The ewe was given some calcium. She's fine now. Not sure if the calcium did anything or she recovered on her own, but either one is fine!

ONce given calcium they can recover in just an hour or so. But everything I have read and done says that even once the animal show recovery to give them another treatment in a few hours and another treatment the next day. and keep a close eye on them.

Your friend is lucky to have you to come and help her.

 

[Ariel301]

I never actually made it out to see that sheep, she lives half an hour away. But she always calls me when something is wrong, which is funny because she's kept sheep for years, and I've had ONE sheep for...two weeks now. What knowledge I have of sheep is all book-learning, we didn't do much hands-on with sheep in college, the focus was all horse/cow/pig. None of the textbooks even mentioned goats, and sheep were covered pretty briefly. (animal science/disease major)