Even with all the right tools and plenty of experience, lambing season can still be a particularly challenging time. There are so many things that can go wrong to complicate a lamb’s birth that sometimes a farmer\u00a0wonders how ewes would ever have gotten by without them.<\/p>\n
It is important to be prepared when it comes to lambing, this does not\u00a0 just mean having all the essential lambing equipment\u00a0on hand (though that will no doubt help). The following are 7 of\u00a0the most common newborn lamb problems and dangerous illnesses that newborns lambs can suffer from.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0Hypothermia<\/p>\n
One of the most prevalent killers of newborn lambs, hypothermia occurs when a lambs body temperature drops too low and they go into shock. Being ruminants, sheep produce their body heat from digesting their food, and when they are older their developed digestive systems and thick wool is effective at warding away hypothermia. As lambs, especially newborns, have neither of these they are highly susceptible to it; in fact the ‘brown fat’ they are born with will only keep them alive for several hours at most.<\/p>\n
Lambs that do not feed within the first few hours of life will die from hypothermia. Heat lamps\u00a0and the like might buy you a little bit of time, but not much. If for what ever reason a ewe is unable to feed her lamb, man-made lamb colostrum\u00a0can be used to provide them with the energy to survive, but this should only be done in an emergency. Other ways of staving off hypothermia are basically common sense, and generally speaking so long as you keep them fed, watered, dry and sheltered\u00a0from cold, windy weather they should be fine.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0Watery Mouth<\/p>\n
Caused by E. coli, watery mouth (also\u00a0rattle belly) is an infection of the small intestines and can easily result in a newborn lamb’s death. Fortunately, as far as common lambing problems go this is one of the most obvious as its symptoms are clear and numerous. Lethargy, extreme saliva production and an unwillingness to feed are three of the most likely warning signs, but often the lamb’s abdomen will become swollen too as a result of the infection.<\/p>\n
E. coli lives, breeds and thrives in wet, dirty places, which is why it is more important than ever during lambing season to keep\u00a0your sheds, pens and shelters clean. Watery mouth can also be caught directly from the lamb’s mother whilst feeding, as E.coli can fester\u00a0around the tail if\u00a0the wool has become soiled. Keeping this area shaved and cleaning it as often as possible are good ways of\u00a0lessening the risk of watery mouth being contracted in this way.<\/p>\n
Treating watery mouth will not be pleasant for you or the lamb, but it’s definitely better than falling into a coma that you will never wake up from. Fortunately, depending on how severe or far along the infection is, there are a number of things you can do to help, including:\u00a0Soap-water enemas,\u00a0Mild laxatives,\u00a0Antibiotics (early stages only),\u00a0Electrolyte therapy and\u00a0Penicillin injections.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0Meningitis<\/p>\n
Meningitis is caused by bacteria that invades the lamb’s body by the stomach or lungs and then travels to the brain, causing painful, and most likely deadly, tissue inflammation. Certainly not an easy one to treat, even with antibiotics and everything else available to vets, meningitis is not going to give up without a fight.<\/p>\n
Prevention is better than cure, as they say, and when it comes to meningitis, and all other bacterial infections for that matter, we are inclined to agree. Luckily there is a lot you can to do keep meningitis at bay, and if you take the right precautions chances are it will never bother you.
\nWe would recommend the following:<\/p>\n
– Clean navels as soon after birth as possible with iodine solution.<\/p>\n
– Keep living areas clean<\/p>\n
– Provide easy access to colostrum<\/p>\n
– Feeding less than 1 hour after birth<\/p>\n
– Tail docking\u00a0and castration<\/p>\n
– Do not allow pens and sheds to become overcrowded<\/p>\n
– Immediately quarantine lambs or sheep that fall ill<\/p>\n
– Good nutrition and living conditions for the ewe prior to giving birth<\/p>\n
4. Dysentery<\/p>\n
Though perhaps not as common as hypothermia, dysentery is definitely the more dangerous, and unlike many of the other common newborn lamb problems mentioned it does not like to broadcast itself. Though it can affect older lambs and sheep, dysentery generally takes its toll on lambs during their first week of life and does so by causing sudden death, which is why treatment is never really an option.<\/p>\n
The only way to really combat dysentery is to immunise the lamb by vaccinating its mother, so that her defenses\u00a0against the illness is passed on during feeding. Dysentery vaccinations cannot simply be administered a couple of days before birth, in fact to ensure the best chance of survival the first vaccination would had to have been administered whilst the mother herself was still a ewe, and then topped up with boosters every year after.<\/p>\n
5. Hepatic Necrobacillosis<\/p>\n
Caused by an infection of the liver, usually due to the navel not being cleaned sufficiently directly after birth, lambs with Hepatic Nectobacillosis normally start to present symptoms during their second week of life. They will appear drawn and thin, constantly fatigued, uninterested in everything (even their mother), will not run away if approached, and will have adopted a peculiar standing position in which all their legs are close together and their backs are arched.<\/p>\n
As far as common lambing illnesses go Hepatic Necrobacillosis is one of the worst. Whether or not a lamb develops it is highly dependent on its first 15 minutes of life and once the liver is infected there is nothing that can be done. A lamb with this disease will undoubtedly die, which is why as soon as it is discovered it is considered good practice to euthanise the animal to spare it from a painful, drawn-out death.<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0Septic Peritonitis<\/p>\n
Septic Peritonitis is an infection of the abdomen that manifests itself within the first week of life. Newborn lambs affected by it will spend a lot of time lying down, or standing with an arched back and a limp, drooping head, and they simply will not feed\u00a0or drink.<\/p>\n
Similar in the manner it is contracted and prevented to Hepatic Nectobacillosis, Septic Peritonitis will quickly result in dehydration and it will not be long until the lamb succumbs to the disease. There is no cure, and would be kinder to euthanise the lamb as soon as the illness is discovered.<\/p>\n
7. Twin Lamb Disease
\nAlso known as Pregnancy Toxaemia, twin lamb disease normally occurs, as the name would suggest, when a ewe gives birth to a pair of lambs; but it can also affect single births.\u00a0Pregnancy toxaemia takes place when the mother has not been able to absorb enough energy from her food – this is more common in mothers of twins as the two lambs growing in her womb restrict the rumen and greatly inhibit its ability to store and draw nutrients from its food.<\/p>\n
Providing food at intervals no longer than four hours apart during the last two months of pregnancy has proven to be a very effective way of preventing twin lamb disease, but only if nothing else goes wrong. Giving birth is taxing enough on the ewe’s energy reserves, but also having to deal with illnesses or physical ailments at the same time can completely exhaust the mother, and if the ewe has no energy then the lambs developing inside shall not be getting much either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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