Clinical Signs Sheep with vestibular disease typically present with a head tilt towards the affected side and loss of balance such that they may fall over when stressed.
Deficiency, or hypomagnesemia, is most common 4 to 6 weeks after lambing when deficient animals show very characteristic symptoms including uncoordinated walking, trembling or recumbence. Sheep have very small reserves of magnesium to buffer changes in absorption of magnesium.
Staggers is a metabolic disorder caused by low levels of blood magnesium. Magnesium is an essential element for sheep for skeletal and muscle functions as well as enzyme and nervous system functionality.
Copper deficiency causes a condition in newborn lambs known as enzootic swayback. Lambs are typically normal at birth but develop hindlimb paresis or paralysis within a few weeks. The neurologic deficits are caused by a dystrophic demyelination of the white matter in the spinal cord.
The weight of their fleece can cause them to tip over on to their backs and makes it exceptionally difficult to get back up. If left in this state for a long period of time this can mean a slow and painful death for sheep through suffocation.
Riggwelter – a sheep that has fallen onto its back and is unable to get up (usually because of the weight of its fleece).
Ewes affected by magnesium deficiency are often either unable to walk or appear uncoordinated. They will often collapse and become sensitive to touch.
Swelling of the joint may not be immediately obvious but can develop with time. Lack of use causes the muscles of the affected leg to waste. Infection of the joint between the skull and the spine can also occur and these lambs are found down and unable to rise.
If the lamb remains weak, it may need to be kept in draft-free, gently heated environment and fed by stomach tube regularly until it is strong enough to return to its mother.
If he is a very large lamb it could perhaps be just the way he was laid inside the ewe. If he is otherwise strong, I would give him a bit more time and keep holding him up to the ewe to suckle by getting someone to hold the ewe and you hold the lamb on your lap whilst kneeling on the ground at the side of the ewe.
Animals found with clinical signs require immediate treatment with subcutaneous Magniject whilst waiting for veterinary attention to administer a combination of calcium and magnesium slowly into the vein.
Clinical Signs
Initially, affected animals do not eat or fail to come to the feed trough, are depressed, disorientated and may propel themselves into corners and fences, or under gates and feed troughs. Fig 1: Initially, affected animals are depressed and disorientated.
Treatment. Treatment must be prompt to be effective. It is best to inject a combined calcium and magnesium solution (350ml for cattle, 100ml for sheep) under the skin in the area behind the shoulder and over the ribs.
Clinical Signs and Diagnosis
Growth or weight gain may be diminished, especially in young animals. Inappetence, weight loss, pale mucous membranes (indicating anaemia), and bottle jaw (due to fluid accumulation under the skin) may be observed.
The most common causes of lameness are footrot and scald. These are both infectious diseases caused by Dichelobacter nodosus which means that just trimming lame sheep will not only fail to treat the problem but will also spread the bacteria between sheep.
With one motion, pinch and pull the lamb's skin by the neck and see if the skin easily returns to the animal's body. If the skin takes a while after being “tented”, the lamb is likely dehydrated and needs fluids quickly.
If the lamb/kid is too weak to stand and nurse, milk out colostrum from the mother (best) or use a colostrum replacer and bottle-feed the lamb/kid 2 ounces every couple of hours until it is strong enough to nurse on its own.
Administering dextrose solution
Intraperitoneal injections of dextrose solution are used to revive lambs with severe hypothermia.
If detected early enough Joint ill in lambs can be successfully treated with antibiotics. Left untreated it can result in the death of the lamb. The infection is spread by bacteria entering the body and spreading through the blood stream.
A typical sign of a worm problem is unthrifty sheep. An unthrifty sheep is one that is not eating properly, is losing condition, tends to lag behind the mob when moved and, in severe cases, is clearly weak. A worm problem often (but not always) results in sheep scouring and becoming daggy.
A penicillin antibiotic is the best antibiotic to use for Strep joint ill. The course of antibiotics needs to be 7 days to completely kill the bacteria. A few days of injections until you can't catch the lamb easily often results in the bacteria flaring up again and you have a permanently lame lamb.
In early hypocalcemia in sheep, the most commonly noted clinical signs are stiff gait, ataxia, salivation, constipation, and depressed rumen motility, progressing to bloat, recumbency, loss of anal reflex and, if untreated, death. Tachycardia may be present; heart sounds are quieter than normal.
What are the effects of vitamin B12 deficiency? Vitamin B12 deficiency in sheep can cause a number of clinical signs including loss of appetite, decreased growth rates, weight loss, watery ocular discharge and anaemia. These signs can occur despite an abundance of available pasture.
Deficiency of salt often shows as licking objects, the ground, other animals and drinking urine. Salt has been precious throughout evolution, so it is well absorbed from the diet and there are strong mechanisms to keep it in the body by reabsorbing it back from urine and faeces.