ram acting off.. *dead.. necropsy results*

[dwbonfire]

i am going to take temps today. is this something that can spread to the others? i am looking at vaccines on jefferslivestock and they have the bovi sera, and they also have the pasturella vaccine. do most people vaccinate for pasturella too?

 

[RemudaOne]

I had a young ewe get pneumonia when I sent her to a friends farm to wean her. When I brought her back, she seemed a bit depressed but I put it down to her dam rejecting her when she returned. Her symptoms were so subtle.... Like lagging behind when the flock ran in to eat in the evenings, mouth breathing after the exertion for a moment or two, kind of separating from the flock a bit. I put it down to being confined for a few weeks. When I finally took her temp and realized what was going on, she was too far gone and had not been eating. I believe at that point her rumen had shut down and she had too many strikes against her. We had her humanely euthanized. That's why I mentioned taking the temps if you feel the ewe is having problems as well.

Contagion depends on whether it is viral or bacterial. Bacterial is what we had and it did not spread and is treated with antibiotics. You might do a search for "pneumonia in sheep". There's quite a lot of good info out there.

 

[dwbonfire]

sorry about your ewe lamb as well.. looking back for signs, he did lag a bit but i thought it was mostly because the girls were so bossy to him, and always stole the grain. right up until he died i saw him grazing out in the pasture and when he would be laying down he would be chewing away. never noticed the mouth breathing at all.
the lab said it would take 7-10 days to get results about the lung tissue, so i guess then i will know if it was viral or bacterial. the girls seem totally fine, very interested in eating and alert. i am going to attempt taking temperatures this afternoon by myself but they are much more flighty when i try to grab them than he was, so im not sure ill be able to get that done til later.

i read some info on pneumonia, and many articles mention ventilation. the place i lock them up at night is a half solid wall and then top half open, plenty of ventilation in there and i clean it out to keep it dry. also the articles mentioned keeping the sheep themselves dry.. my sheep stay out reguardless of weather during the day, when it rains hard they usually find something to get under since theres plenty of shelter areas, but they do stay out in a light rain and eventually are quite soggy. i know with young animals getting wet and cold is not good, but these sheep are about adults, and plenty of wool on them.

can you tell me how you keep your sheep and do they stay out in all weather? also, do you vaccinate your sheep for the pasturella? im wondering if i should vaccinate my girls.

thanks

 

[SkyWarrior]

Sorry to hear about your ram. Was it pneumonia?

 

[RemudaOne]

I think in my case it was the stress of not only weaning, but moving to a new place as well. They (his weanlings and mine) were penned up in a barn. While the barn is completely open but covered at the pen they were in (its closed on three sides with a long overhang on the open side) it was pretty dusty in there. Much of the reading I did talked about stress getting the animal down enough for bacteria to gain a foothold.

Here at my place, unless they are about to lamb, or have just lambed, or if I need company for one in those circumstances, they all sleep out where they have access to shelter but are not confined. I have loafing sheds in the pasture and a barn in the small paddock. The barn is open on one side as well so perhaps the confinement, dust and stress was enough to make her suseptible to it.

I've never had a ram that didn't push the ewes out of the way to take the lions share of the feed. Also in my reading, I found that it was not uncommon for an animal to have it for a month prior to exhibiting signs. I think that's what happened with mine. If your others are not exhibiting anything untoward, I wouldn't worry about it. I thought you had said there was a ewe you were concerned about.

I don't vaccinate for it. But any further weaning will be done here at my place. Will just have to figure out the arrangements .

 

[Bridgemoof]

dwBonfire,

I just want to let you know I am sorry about your ram. I've been reading this thread with interest, but don't have much to offer as I haven't had any experience with this kind of thing. I did have a ram lamb die earlier this year, I think I mentioned the urinary calculi as a possible cause. But now I wonder if it wasn't pneumonia as well. He had the same laid back attitude as your ram. He was weaned form his mom and shipped locally, only about a half hour away. But then he died at his new place a week later. They had the vet out but she didn't mention pneumonia, she thought maybe it was stress resulting in an ulcer.

I think with sheep, and lambs in particular, there are many silent killers. It does pay to watch your sheep regularly and if they are acting a bit unusual, take their temp. I took my sheep Fluffy's temp this morning, as she was acting quieter than normal. And I did it after reading this thread! Luckily she was 101.9 and was acting her perky self later in the day.

Good luck with your other ewes. If you are anywhere close to Northern Virginia, I would be happy to lend you my new Jacob ram to breed to, he's so adorable and perfect!

 

[dwbonfire]

remudaone - thanks so much for the reply. i am going to do a little more research on vaccinating for it.

bridgemoof - i wish i were closer to you! i am at the very bottom of north carolina! i appreciate your offer, i really hope my older ewe is at least bred. i am on the lookout for a ram, but not sure its going to happen this year

 

[Bridgemoof]

Well hey! If one of my ewes has a ram lamb next year you can be first in line We'll deliver! lol

 

[dwbonfire]

Well hey! If one of my ewes has a ram lamb next year you can be first in line We'll deliver! lol

please do keep me in mind!! thanks!