Lame Sheep, Where Do I Start

[MyFather'sSheep]

I have an ~4 year old Jacob ewe who went lame yesterday. The day before she wasn't loking good, laying down a lot, and I noticed her stumble over nothing. Yesterday and today she is not able to stand. Her poop looks normal. What are the next things I need to look for to figure out what is going on? I have heard there is a smell associated with foot rot, and she smella fine.

 

[MyFather'sSheep]

Oh, and even unshorn, I can see her hip bones! All the other sheep look healthy.

 

[Roving Jacobs]

Check her FAMACHA score (instructions here), don't rely on the appearance of poop to determine the presence of parasites. Getting a fecal done would be a good idea too if she is noticeably skinnier than everyone else. It has been a very bad year for parasites in many areas so that would be the first thing I would try to rule out. Does she have any other symptoms? Is she eating and drinking ok? Other things to check: Take her temperature, a fever could be a sign of listeriosis. Check her hooves to see if they need to be trimmed or if she has heat anywhere indicating an infection or break in the hoof or legs. Can she get up with help? If so, how does she move once up? Weakness in the rear could be meningeal worm or OCD if she's a 4 horned jacob, although I haven't heard of it affecting ewes suddenly at that age. Do you live in a selenium deficient area? Do you supplement with minerals? White muscle could cause weakness like that.

 

[MyFather'sSheep]

Thanks Roving, but she died this morning. Her hooves and legs looked fine, and she was eating and drinking. She would try to use her front legs to stand, but her back legs weren't working. I thought it might have been white muscle disease, but she died before we got to the store. If it is white muscle, why would only one sheep be affected? She is a two horn, the four horn ewe is fine. This particular ewe was very VERY picky about what she ate.

 

[mystang89]

We had one that died with seemingly the same symptoms. I'm fairly sure it was deer parasite. Don't remember exactly the same.

 

[Mike CHS]

I'm sorry you lost this one. I read about a similar problem on Facebook the other day and it was determined that a couple of sheep were lost due to hepatitis but no way to know how they got it.