Trying to improve New sheeps poop after full deworming

[rascal66]

I picked up 2 Katahdin Ewes almost a month ago now, and the seller did say that they needed to be dewormed. No problem, the price was good, and i have everything i need to treat them accordingly. (So I believe)
I did: Ivermectin & Safeguard for 3 days, repeated in 10 days AND Corid for 7 days.
The ewes are looking much better than when we had first brought them home, but their poops have not gotten 100% yet. It is still thick / pudding consistency with the occasional runnier poops. Once in a while i get hopeful because they get really thick!.. But then it doesn't get better than that.
They are in a small enclosed pasture so I can keep closer eye on them. They have loose mineral, fresh hay and probiotics about every other day or so.
Because much time has passed and improvements with the poop is very slow or stuck, im debating going another round of deworming but using Quest instead of ivermectin.
Any advice on where to go? Am i just being impatient?
I have quest horse paste. Can i treat the dosage the same as you would or goats?
Thanks!

 

[Alaskan]

@Baymule thoughts?

My thoughts are:

1. How pale are their gums/eyelids?

2. What are they eating? Are they getting a huge amount of juicy greens?

 

[Baymule]

What were they eating where you bought them? If on dry lot, and you have green grass, they could have cow pie poops.
What kind of hay? Alfalfa? Bermuda grass? Orchard grass?

Before you start on worming again, take fecal samples to the vet. Put on a nitrile glove, wait for poop and scoop immediately, not scraping bottom dirt. It only takes a tablespoon or two. Turn glove inside out, write ewes name on zip lock bag, put glove in it and seal. Do same for other ewe, take to vet. If you can’t take right away, bag the samples in another bag and refrigerate. Take the next day. You need to know what you are worming for or if they even need it now after you wormed them.

Good luck with your ewes, please update on them.

 

[rascal66]

@Baymule thoughts?

My thoughts are:

1. How pale are their gums/eyelids?

2. What are they eating? Are they getting a huge amount of juicy greens?

So when they first came here, the eldest ewe was okay on Famancha. Not perfect but was a pink. Today its a little darker than before. The younger one was pale. Today she has more color than before, but still need to improve her famancha. I have red cell on hand, but i know that sheep are copper sensitive. So i've just been giving her probiotics and vitamins to help her along. She is definitely looking better though.

Right now they are mainly on hay, about a handful of feed every other day or so, and a little bit they're scrapping up around the pasture. (It's mostly dry this time of year, so not much to eat on there. It's a small enclosure so I'm mainly trying to control what they're eating before i let the join my other ewes on the big pasture.

 

[rascal66]

What were they eating where you bought them? If on dry lot, and you have green grass, they could have cow pie poops.
What kind of hay? Alfalfa? Bermuda grass? Orchard grass?

Before you start on worming again, take fecal samples to the vet. Put on a nitrile glove, wait for poop and scoop immediately, not scraping bottom dirt. It only takes a tablespoon or two. Turn glove inside out, write ewes name on zip lock bag, put glove in it and seal. Do same for other ewe, take to vet. If you can’t take right away, bag the samples in another bag and refrigerate. Take the next day. You need to know what you are worming for or if they even need it now after you wormed them.

Good luck with your ewes, please update on them.

Im not entirely sure what their diet was, but i did notice they were being given a type of hay. The problem I think was the small pasture they were on was parasite ridden, and hasnt had a chance to rest, so i assume they were over eating the grass there (hence the heavy worm load).
Right now their poop is a green color. We are giving them regular orchard grass hay.

Thank you for the tips on collecting the fecal! I'll see if i can go get one done here soon.
Thank you! So far they are doing well, but the poop isnt quite getting better yet. Hopefully they'll clear up here soon.

 

[Baymule]

Get them some nutri-drench for sheep. About 4-6 squirts twice a day for several days.

Are they on pasture now?

 

[purplequeenvt]

How old are they?

I wouldn’t keep throwing meds at them unless you know what’s going on. You’ve had them a month and a lot has happened to stress them out during that time. Change of location, change of feed, medications, etc….

You said the poop is green. If they came off of a depleted pasture and now they’re on better pastures, the poops are likely a result of the grass.

Personally, I’d leave them alone for a while (in terms of medications). Stop the probiotics and make sure they’ve got decent, but not overly rich feed. What kind of hay? If it’s super nice or has a lot of alfalfa in it, I’d back off on it and give them a lower quality hay for a while.

I’d also consider getting a fecal sample done, but make sure that they are able to give you a fecal egg count and tell you what kinds they are seeing. Some vets will only tell you if they’re positive or negative.

Some wormers, Safeguard in particular, needs to be given at several times the normal dose for 3-5 days to be effective.

I’d really recommend not using horse dewormer paste. The issue with the paste is that it’s designed to be given all at once so there’s no guarantee that the medication is blended thoroughly in the paste. Since you are giving the sheep a much smaller portion, they might not be getting the correct amount of dewormer.

 

[rascal66]

Thank you for the feedback everyone.

Just a little update:
Just got a fecal back a few days ago. Vet says that I knocked out majority of parasites except that there is a rare strongly still present and recommended I did Cydectin to try to knock it out. Also mentioned to try Corid again if symptoms return (bloody or mucus-y poop, which one of them has again). So looks like I'll be doing that! They're still doing alright but the poop is still random. Some days, it's like logs. Tonight, it's a bit more runny and I did notice some blood/mucus in the poop of one... Hopefully we will be done with this soon!
I have continued the probiotics and nutridrench every couple times a week. The hay is just regular grass hay from our pasture. The pasture they're on is super dry and lacking in greenery nowadays until fall rolls in.

Just to make sure I'm ontop of the cydectin, do I follow the dose on the bottle? (1ml per 11lbs)? Once a day every 10 days (3 times)?

 

[Alaskan]

Thank you for the feedback everyone.

Just a little update:
Just got a fecal back a few days ago. Vet says that I knocked out majority of parasites except that there is a rare strongly still present and recommended I did Cydectin to try to knock it out. Also mentioned to try Corid again if symptoms return (bloody or mucus-y poop, which one of them has again). So looks like I'll be doing that! They're still doing alright but the poop is still random. Some days, it's like logs. Tonight, it's a bit more runny and I did notice some blood/mucus in the poop of one... Hopefully we will be done with this soon!
I have continued the probiotics and nutridrench every couple times a week. The hay is just regular grass hay from our pasture. The pasture they're on is super dry and lacking in greenery nowadays until fall rolls in.

Just to make sure I'm ontop of the cydectin, do I follow the dose on the bottle? (1ml per 11lbs)? Once a day every 10 days (3 times)?

I am not familiar with that drug...

But if the bottle is for goats, I would follow the label.

You could call the vet and ask... if she thinks you need to use an off label dose.

Thanks for the update!

It helps so much to see what happens with issues.

 

[Baymule]

You are getting it under control. Just remember it is not forever, it's a good idea to take a fecal sample in a couple times a year just to check on things. I used the FAMCHA method until I learned how to do my own fecals. That's when I found out that I had some wormy sheep that passed the FAMCHA exam. Worms will have a "bloom" right before or after an ewe gives birth. The count will spike. Also when lambs are weaned or other stress factors.

I have an ewe that will have an egg count in the stratosphere, in what I call, "Why aren't you dead yet?" LOL This is after she lambs and until weaning, then the count drops off. I worm her and she is fine. The rest of the time, her count is good. A fecal count really lets you know what is going on.