Bloat treatment-lambs

[Jerry]

I don’t get many lambs with bloat, just a couple a year normally but it never seems to be a good outcome.


Lost one last night. In the middle of the day he started to look a little tucked up and swollen.

he was in his mum and had a load of colostrum. She’s a very milky ewe. Other lamb look perfectly normal.

Born 4 days ago. Never had any supplementary feed.

So I dosed him with some baking soda dissolved in warm water and also gave him a bit of vegetable oil. As per instructions I saw on a vets website.

Dead in the night.

How do others approach bloat?

 

[Pistonbroke]

Sounds like ecoli/ watery mouth. 1 ml betamox down the throat and try soapy water up the backend with a tube to get things moving out.

 

[Jerry]

Sounds like ecoli/ watery mouth. 1 ml betamox down the throat and try soapy water up the backend with a tube to get things moving out.

No. Not watery mouth. Mouth warm and dry.

He was blown up like a ballon.

 

[tepapa]

Did it have an anus?

 

[Jerry]

Did it have an anus?

yep. And it had used it as well. Crud stuck to tail.

 

[Pistonbroke]

No. Not watery mouth. Mouth warm and dry.

He was blown up like a ballon.

Fair enough. Seen it cause the gut to slow and the sh!t go hard and backup the system. Wouldn't have thought a lamb that young would have eaten anything dodgy and doubt if milk would cause bloat that young

 

[Farmer Fin]

Could be abomasal bloat. Unfortunately very little you can do from them as a tube won’t let the gas out. More common on replacer milk lambs, but can also happen with greedy little sods on mum.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

https://beeflambnz.com/knowledge-hub/PDF/artificial-lamb-rearing-managing-abomasal-bloat

 

[Farmer Fin]

https://beeflambnz.com/knowledge-hub/PDF/artificial-lamb-rearing-managing-abomasal-bloat

Have you tried the yoghurt thing? Yet to know anyone give it a go due to the perceived faff. There is another product which works well to stopping the bacterial overgrowth in the milk. If you goggle it some American websites will come up with that solution.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Have you tried the yoghurt thing? Yet to know anyone give it a go due to the perceived faff. There is another product which works well to stopping the bacterial overgrowth in the milk. If you goggle it some American websites will come up with that solution.

It was the first time I had heard of it when I posted it here.
I will probably be setting up a feeding station this week and may well follow the advice. I would think adding a bit of yoghurt mix once a week would be a cheap little insurance policy.

 

[Farmer Fin]

It was the first time I had heard of it when I posted it here.
I will probably be setting up a feeding station this week and may well follow the advice. I would think adding a bit of yoghurt mix once a week would be a cheap little insurance policy.

I’m sure it is and would be keen to hear your feedback.

 

[andybk]

Could be abomasal bloat. Unfortunately very little you can do from them as a tube won’t let the gas out. More common on replacer milk lambs, but can also happen with greedy little sods on mum.

yes i have lost more at 4-5 weeks old on the ewes than at birth , just when they start taking creep , though think i have found answer ......

 

[Six Dogs]

We have had a few in the past,when I have opened them up the urethra is blocked so that’s what blows them up,normally 3 day old lambs

 

[Jerry]

We have had a few in the past,when I have opened them up the urethra is blocked so that’s what blows them up,normally 3 day old lambs

Interesting, was about 3 days old.

Blocked as in blocked by an obstruction of a physical defect?

 

[Six Dogs]

Interesting, was about 3 days old.

Blocked as in blocked by an obstruction of a physical defect?

So a deformity,the bladder was full to bursting point but like a kink in the tube

 

[steveR]

It was the first time I had heard of it when I posted it here.
I will probably be setting up a feeding station this week and may well follow the advice. I would think adding a bit of yoghurt mix once a week would be a cheap little insurance policy.

Same here, used live yoghurt for cades over the past two years after seeing the suggestion on here. Cheap prophyalactic treatment!

 

[cowboysupper]

Had a lamb born yesterday morning. Looked slightly bloated when born but he was lively and up sucking quickly. Seemed grand this morning but I gave him bicarb soda and a little vegetable oil as he still was still a little bloated. Also blew water up his backside which produced quite a lot of meconium. After giving him the bicarb he went downhill very quickly and became increasingly bloated and began to shake. Unfortunately died this evening. Don't recall having bloat in lambs this young before. Any thoughts?

 

[Al R]

Had a lamb born yesterday morning. Looked slightly bloated when born but he was lively and up sucking quickly. Seemed grand this morning but I gave him bicarb soda and a little vegetable oil as he still was still a little bloated. Also blew water up his backside which produced quite a lot of meconium. After giving him the bicarb he went downhill very quickly and became increasingly bloated and began to shake. Unfortunately died this evening. Don't recall having bloat in lambs this young before. Any thoughts?

Some just arn’t plumbed up right
I’ve tried a few different things like superlube etc to try and free the blockage or what looks like a blockage and never had much success sorry

 

[andybk]

Had a lamb born yesterday morning. Looked slightly bloated when born but he was lively and up sucking quickly. Seemed grand this morning but I gave him bicarb soda and a little vegetable oil as he still was still a little bloated. Also blew water up his backside which produced quite a lot of meconium. After giving him the bicarb he went downhill very quickly and became increasingly bloated and began to shake. Unfortunately died this evening. Don't recall having bloat in lambs this young before. Any thoughts?

watery belly type bloat ?

 

[cowboysupper]

watery belly type bloat ?

No. The lamb was full of life for about a day but always looked slightly bloated so I just gave him a dose of bicarb for what I thought was precaution but he blew up like a balloon shortly after. Something must not have been right inside. Is it just one of those things or are there any known causes for bad plumbing?