Joint ill lambs

Kip

Member
Anyone having more than usual in their lambs? Feel like It’s never ending at the moment, must be jabbing at least 15 -20 every day out of about 650 lambs. Using betamox and metacam at the moment anyone anything better I can try? Thanks
 

Jerry

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Devon
Anyone having more than usual in their lambs? Feel like It’s never ending at the moment, must be jabbing at least 15 -20 every day out of about 650 lambs. Using betamox and metacam at the moment anyone anything better I can try? Thanks

Ive had a few thus year. First in a couple of years.

I give them 3ml if betamox for 5 day’s. It’s a high dose but needs to be I think. Also metacam.

but funny enough just if the phone to vet as git done that won’t improve. Always seems to be back legs.

They are suggesting Zactran
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Anyone having more than usual in their lambs? Feel like It’s never ending at the moment, must be jabbing at least 15 -20 every day out of about 650 lambs. Using betamox and metacam at the moment anyone anything better I can try? Thanks

Everyone I’ve spoken to has been having a pig of a problem with it this year, my vet included.
His thoughts were that the winter has drained all the ewes reserves so much that perhaps colostrum quality has suffered?
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
I've had 1 or 2 lambs... but not as many as I had last year - YET!

I normally get Betamox for joint ill, but my vets said they couldn't get it... so gave me Vetrimoxin LA instead. They said it is just Betamox under a different name.

But the box has no dose rate for sheep, they said it's 1ml per 10kg body weight. 1.75-2ml per lamb (its a small 2.5ml syringe, but the numbers have worn off) and treat for 3-4 days. Agree with the comment of hitting them hard.

Its working much better than Betamox did last year
 

twizzel

Member
I had one last week for first time- 3 week old lamb, one of triplets but reared as a twin, front knee joint, tried betamox but lost it in the end. Cut it open and although the joint itself wasn’t pussy all the tissue around the knee was a pinky red pussy watery mess and a large area of swelling where it originated from :banghead:
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Everyone I’ve spoken to has been having a pig of a problem with it this year, my vet included.
His thoughts were that the winter has drained all the ewes reserves so much that perhaps colostrum quality has suffered?

I don't buy the colostrum thing.

Its the Texel lambs, every time, here. Regardless of management /feeding - even if I swap the mobs round and lamb in different fields, it's always the Texel lambs which get bothered. I don't get bother with it every year, but if I do get bothered, it is that group.

Hard pull/lambings?? Genetic?? I'm not sure but there is a link somewhere!
 
I don't buy the colostrum thing.

Its the Texel lambs, every time, here. Regardless of management /feeding - even if I swap the mobs round and lamb in different fields, it's always the Texel lambs which get bothered. I don't get bother with it every year, but if I do get bothered, it is that group.

Hard pull/lambings?? Genetic?? I'm not sure but there is a link somewhere!
Breed susceptibility we call it. We dip everything inside with iodine. Everything we handle or move also gets dipped with iodine too. Bactakill is better but we think we get a big enough dose of formaldehyde without using it for navels. We have had a lot of calves with swelled navels this time. I set fear in because the outcome can be bad if not treated. My lad is playing hell about the iodine. We’ve used pen and strep up until now this time. We were using Synulox
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Breed susceptibility we call it. We dip everything inside with iodine. Everything we handle or move also gets dipped with iodine too. Bactakill is better but we think we get a big enough dose of formaldehyde without using it for navels. We have had a lot of calves with swelled navels this time. I set fear in because the outcome can be bad if not treated. My lad is playing hell about the iodine. We’ve used pen and strep up until now this time. We were using Synulox

Agree there must be breed susceptibility, or it is at least hereditary from one/some of the tups...


But, I'm lambing outside. I think I've had 1% of the entire lamb crop show symptoms
 

Farmer Fin

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
I don't buy the colostrum thing.

Its the Texel lambs, every time, here. Regardless of management /feeding - even if I swap the mobs round and lamb in different fields, it's always the Texel lambs which get bothered. I don't get bother with it every year, but if I do get bothered, it is that group.

Hard pull/lambings?? Genetic?? I'm not sure but there is a link somewhere!
Hard pull/lambing = lamb that’s slow to suck. Sounds like you just convinced yourself it is the colostrum thing!
 
Ive had a few thus year. First in a couple of years.

I give them 3ml if betamox for 5 day’s. It’s a high dose but needs to be I think. Also metacam.

but funny enough just if the phone to vet as git done that won’t improve. Always seems to be back legs.

They are suggesting Zactran

Is Zactran cleared for use in sheep??? :cool:

Our vet said PenStrep for at least 7 days. Plus metacam. Alamycon LA wasn't working on two lambs which showed symptoms.
Lambing inside plus iodine on navels.
 
Agree there must be breed susceptibility, or it is at least hereditary from one/some of the tups...


But, I'm lambing outside. I think I've had 1% of the entire lamb crop show symptoms
In calves, I know we aren’t talking about cattle, it’s nearly always the ones that have had little or poor colostrum that ail badly or die from it. I don’t know if that is the case with sheep. We usually associate it with it being picked up inside with sheep. Although like you we lamb the majority outside and still get a few that haven’t seen a shed or a trailer.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
I've had 1 or 2 lambs... but not as many as I had last year - YET!

I normally get Betamox for joint ill, but my vets said they couldn't get it... so gave me Vetrimoxin LA instead. They said it is just Betamox under a different name.

But the box has no dose rate for sheep, they said it's 1ml per 10kg body weight. 1.75-2ml per lamb (its a small 2.5ml syringe, but the numbers have worn off) and treat for 3-4 days. Agree with the comment of hitting them hard.

Its working much better than Betamox did last year
We are using it too but they told us it was equivalent to ultra pen ie long acting. I’ve been giving a big dose with metacam and if caught early done a great job
 

Filthyfarmer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hertfordshire
So far very little here, touch wood!

Up until 2 years ago we gave all lambs 1ml betamox LA at 24 hrs when ringing. This was after a year of a joint ill storm.
Last year we injected about half of them and did not see a marked rise.
This year no AB but are spraying Iodine on navels again at 24hrs old.
Hope I haven't spoken too soon................
 

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