Sounds like they need salt or mineral. Mine will always eat the tree
bark off the trees in the pen if they get nervous. Do you keep hay
available near the barn. If they do not have something to nibble on
they get nervous. Blackbelly Ewes have 2 gears, Eat and Crap. If
they can't eat
Hello, I have had a new born Jacob who won't lower his back legs . He wants
to keep them drawn up . Any ideas? I have had 2 others born that couldn't
stand. The legs would fold under at the first joint. Like they were weak.
they never got any stronger. Each of these lambs were born with soft
Cecil Bearden wrote:
Sounds like they need salt or mineral.
Cecil,
I agree. But...mine do have free access to salt and minerals. The baby
lambs love to teeth on my barn so a little spray of halt cribbing deters
them. I have a beautiful wooden barn...I don't want it eaten by
anyone. I
I haven't had that exact problem but have had weak lambs with very stiff
joints that wouldn't want to try to stand. We would work with them, moving
the joints slowly until they would get full range of motion and also
massaging the muscles of the back, hips and thighs and helping them stand up
and
Nancy,
There are several viruses which cause weakness and neurological problems
in lambs whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy. Only a percentage of the
flock may be infected. I couldn't find anything that described the soft spots
though. Also what about the genetics of your sheep. Are
any period of time, say within the first trimester, that the ewe would have
gotten too warm? Any vitamin/ mineral deficiency throughout/ or a period of the
pregnancy? Especially of B vitamins-- Any injuries to the ewe prior to lambing
or during the last trimester? breech births? Are their
Aside from the afore mentioned minerals (loose minerals specifically for
sheep, or a sheep mineral block, or a Sweet Lick for sheep), you can also
try some Cider Vinegar. Poor in a bucket. Preferably raw unfiltered apple
cider vinegar.
I discovered that my sheep have recently taken to nibbling
I can't speak specifically to shortened or tight ligaments or soft spots,
but for many lamb weaknesses/deformities I've seen in the last five years,
at least on the West Coast, selenium has been the issue.
You might give him a dose of selenium and Nutri-drench an see if it helps.
If the ligaments
I have had this happen with 3-4 goat kids this year. This is the first time
I have had it in any number.
The kids are all about 4 weeks old now and are fine and walking normal.
I think it may be just due to positioning in the womb, or cramping.
Was the ewe a smaller size?
Chris H.
- Original
Nancy,
Are the hind limbs contracted? In other words, are they unable to be
straightened even if you try to pull them straight?
If the joints are bent and seem to be fixed that way (contracted),
that is called arthrogryposis, and, as has been said already, can be
due to genetics, or to some
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