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
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
Message -
From: Nancy Tom Richardson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 12:41 PM
Subject: [blackbelly] Crippled new born -
Hello, I have had a new born Jacob who won't lower his back legs . He
wants
to keep them drawn up . Any ideas
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
