Ewes aborting

[paul&mandy]

4 days off due date. For the last week to 10days we've had at least 1 ewe a day abort. 1 premature looking and 1 dark colour with buttons or a small fetus.
Had 3 sets today. A triplet with 2 small weedy live lambs 3rd 1 black dead fetus.
Another twins not bad size and another just now bit premature 2nd lamb dark fetus.
Got about a dozen shearlings with no lambs now out of 430.
Still waiting for results to come back from vets.
Looks very much like toxo to me but where has this come from? All these sheep are home bred.
Is there anything we can do this late on?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Looks very much like toxo to me but where has this come from? All these sheep are home bred.
Is there anything we can do this late on?

Cats not from your sheep

 

[paul&mandy]

Cats not from your sheep

Only couple old cats about. They were wintered backing into a town but I never seen a cat there.
Could it be anything to do with dog shite? Neospora? Some were grazing the church fields..

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Only couple old cats about. They were wintered backing into a town but I never seen a cat there.
Could it be anything to do with dog shite? Neospora? Some were grazing the church fields..

You never saw a cat there? Were you there 24/7?

 

[paul&mandy]

You never saw a cat there? Were you there 24/7?

Well no, how much could cats spread it on a big field the sheep were in for a week? All the other fields were further away.

 

[primmiemoo]

Just a couple of young cats hunting across 50 acres of keep alongside a village were enough to lead to a toxo breakdown in the flock here. A newish housing estate, with families who moved in and, not unreasonably, bought a kitten.

Couldn't work out which of the fields was affected, or which part of any of the fields, but it happened when the flock was rotated on the two blocks. Cats range more widely than their owners think.

 

[Jonp]

4 days off due date. For the last week to 10days we've had at least 1 ewe a day abort. 1 premature looking and 1 dark colour with buttons or a small fetus.
Had 3 sets today. A triplet with 2 small weedy live lambs 3rd 1 black dead fetus.
Another twins not bad size and another just now bit premature 2nd lamb dark fetus.
Got about a dozen shearlings with no lambs now out of 430.
Still waiting for results to come back from vets.
Looks very much like toxo to me but where has this come from? All these sheep are home bred.
Is there anything we can do this late on?

Anything put up here will just be helpful speculation. You've done the best thing by getting the vets involved. Try and be patient and wait for the results, then consult the vets.
Best of luck.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Well no, how much could cats spread it on a big field the sheep were in for a week? All the other fields were further away.

It wouldn’t matter if they’d been in an hour or a week if they are infected

 

[spin cycle]

is it just cats that spread toxo or can some wild animals spread it?

 

[Jerry]

is it just cats that spread toxo or can some wild animals spread it?

Foxes carry it....

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

4 days off due date. For the last week to 10days we've had at least 1 ewe a day abort. 1 premature looking and 1 dark colour with buttons or a small fetus.
Had 3 sets today. A triplet with 2 small weedy live lambs 3rd 1 black dead fetus.
Another twins not bad size and another just now bit premature 2nd lamb dark fetus.
Got about a dozen shearlings with no lambs now out of 430.
Still waiting for results to come back from vets.
Looks very much like toxo to me but where has this come from? All these sheep are home bred.
Is there anything we can do this late on?

Can come from hay or silage that cats have been among. It’s young cats that are the main spreaders

 

[copse]

Only couple old cats about. They were wintered backing into a town but I never seen a cat there.
Could it be anything to do with dog shite? Neospora? Some were grazing the church fields..

I had some unvaccinated shearlings near the town a few years ago and there was about 150 of them and half slipped lamb or had rotten lambs. And was toxo so have vaccinated since and shoot every one I see now.

 

[paul&mandy]

I've had a good chat to the vet this evening, no results yet but he said it sounds like toxo. Hopefully we'll start getting better lambs born alive as the due date gets closer. Just disinfecting boots after going in sheds. Got another 900 outside due on the 7th April.
They are all olders ewes but I guess just as likely to get it.

How long does cat shite live/carry toxo in the soil if they have done the business on a field?
Also if foxes carry it surely dogs could spread it too but I can't find anything on that.

 

[Jerry]

I've had a good chat to the vet this evening, no results yet but he said it sounds like toxo. Hopefully we'll start getting better lambs born alive as the due date gets closer. Just disinfecting boots after going in sheds. Got another 900 outside due on the 7th April.
They are all olders ewes but I guess just as likely to get it.

How long does cat shite live/carry toxo in the soil if they have done the business on a field?
Also if foxes carry it surely dogs could spread it too but I can't find anything on that.

Dogs and foxes are different taxonomy groups and unrelated if I understand it correctly ( dogs and foxes can’t cross breed).

So don’t think dogs can carry the issue.

 

[ladycrofter]

Toxo defo. And there to stay. Feral cats are everywhere now. Your aborted ewes will be immune but best get a vaccination program going.

The first year's a pain as you need to do all stock. After that, just replacement hoggs and any bought in stock.

We went through the same scenario a couple years back, what you're seeing are the range of effects of them getting infected at various stages of pregnancy. Toxo destroys the placenta. Weirdly it can affect only one of twins, so a good twin and a poor/dead/mummified one.

 

[beardface]

We had a run with it and a bit of campylobacter a few years ago. Vet reconed birds can spread toxo as well. We vax all replacement shearlings now. Best thing you could do with the aborted ones is chuck them in with gimmers if you breed your own and there running dry.

 

[paul&mandy]

We had a run with it and a bit of campylobacter a few years ago. Vet reconed birds can spread toxo as well. We vax all replacement shearlings now. Best thing you could do with the aborted ones is chuck them in with gimmers if you breed your own and there running dry.

How does mixing them with dry gimmers help if it can't spread between sheep?

 

[paul&mandy]

Dogs and foxes are different taxonomy groups and unrelated if I understand it correctly ( dogs and foxes can’t cross breed).

So don’t think dogs can carry the issue.

Just looking at foxes, could foxes spread it to these sheep directly? Winter land was back of a town and foxes were rife there.

 

[Jerry]

How does mixing them with dry gimmers help if it can't spread between sheep?

Sheep to sheep I think is possible via infected bodily fluids, so birth fluids can pass it in I think.

 

[Jerry]

Just looking at foxes, could foxes spread it to these sheep directly? Winter land was back of a town and foxes were rife there.

Very possible I would think.

Luckily I don’t have many foxes but have experienced toxo and vaccinate all shearlings. Mine came via bought in sheep vet believes. But after 6 years of vaccinations I rarely see any slip lambs now. Just two this lambing season and that could just be one of those things.