newborn lamb walking on knees, with movie

[Spidey]

I had a lamb born (very large single) yesterday afternoon to a small first time momma. The lamb cannot stand on her front legs at all. If I set her down with legs extended, she falls over. She can move around by walking on her knees. Great suck reflex, managing to get milk from momma just fine, otherwise very healthy looking. She's a St Croix/Jacob/Soay mix

Anyone experience this before? We've had no other lambing issues this year and I've never seen this before.

Our farm is in the Pacific Northwest on the north side of a mountain, so perhaps it's a vit D issue? I'm also wondering if she had restricted movement in momma. My sheep have access to mineral and salt year round and during the winter they eat local grass hay (we bale graze) and alfalfa pellets. I've given this baby 2 doses of nutridrench. According to a selenium map, we live in a selenium rich area.

Vet care is not an option here, we are in the middle of nowhere. I can make a trip to town today or tomorrow to pick up necessary supplies if anyone has any ideas. Thanks for reading xx

I uploaded a movie, I hope this link works...

lamb.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[Beekissed]

Folks on a FB group that had that were told to give selenium and vit. B to clear it up.

 

[Spidey]

thank you! I'm willing to try vit B and selenium- I'll see what I can find in town later this afternoon. I just checked on the lamb, and she's still hanging on. Her momma is so sweet and squats quite low so she can reach the teats. I had a closer look at her front legs and they seem to not straighten all the way, like the knees are always slightly bent more than they should be. I didn't notice that last night...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like she may have contracted tendons.

You can go a Google image search and see if you think it fits what your lamb has. I’ve had baby kids with that problem. Sometimes a popsicle stick and vet wrap splint for a couple days works wonders

 

[Ridgetop]

Try a dose of selenium if the vet says ok. If it is not selenium deficiency, sometimes when the mama is small and there is a large kid or several kids and they are packed in tight the baby can't stretch enough.

I have had baby goats born with their front feet knuckled under and they can't stand on their front feet without them knuckling under. You can massage the knees straight every few hours, and splint them to keep them straight so she can walk on them properly. Splint with toilet paper tubes or fold chicken wire into a splint to fit around her legs behind the knees. Pad it and then wrap it in place with vet wrap. You can take off the splint a couple times a day to massage the knees straight. She has to walk on the legs with her knees straight so she can use the muscles and strengthen them. In a week she should be ok.