Premature lambs

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Always get a few prematures , often weak , can or can't suck , can or can't stand up, you know the sort of thing. Feed them colostrum then milk little and often ,and keep them warm. To be honest, despite all this faffing about , we have a very poor success rate ? and many fade away ,often ,sometimes ,after initial giving some hope. Have I missed something ? What do other people do ? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks NHF

 

[Woolless]

Have you tested/vaccinated for Toxo?

 

[primmiemoo]

Take the next to be post mortem'd, and have a sample of ewes bloods tested for Toxoplasmosis and Enzootic Abortion.

We had an abortion storm one year that gave a heartsink of fragile, premature lambs. Tested, and both were found.

Vaccinated the whole flock for both, then just the replacements for Toxo [Edit: No it's not, it's Enzo. Doh!] when lambs 4 weeks before tupping. Barely any premature now.

 

[Chris123]

why did you decide to not vaccinate replacements for enzo out of interest

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Have you tested/vaccinated for Toxo?

Vaccinated for Toxo , not thinking there's a particular problem ,it's not a big percentage. To give another example of what I'm getting at, perhaps a lamb has a difficult birth and doesn't stand or suck, I often fail to get them up and functioning.

 

[primmiemoo]

why did you decide to not vaccinate replacements for enzo out of interest

Apologies, it's enzo that's vaccinated against.

(I blame Brexit for my error.)

 

[primmiemoo]

Vaccinated for Toxo , not thinking there's a particular problem ,it's not a big percentage. To give another example of what I'm getting at, perhaps a lamb has a difficult birth and doesn't stand or suck, I often fail to get them up and functioning.

Short of a mineral, perhaps? Or vitamin E?

 

[Chris123]

That makes more sense how much does it cost you a head to vaccinate against enzo?

 

[marco]

Short of a mineral, perhaps? Or vitamin E?

Could be on to something here, we had problems with our cows at the start of calving and changed to a seaweed based lick. It solved the problem almost immediately. Cow lick is calsea precalver. Might be an idea to mineral blood test any ewe that has lost lambs. Me Id get some licks asap. Could be iodine

 

[Chris123]

If it’s only a few I would say they are lacking something mineral wise as suggested how many are we talking out of how many ewes? We always get a few and to be honest as much as we try and get them going find most don’t make it anyway or fool you into turning them out and then die a week or 10 days later

 

[primmiemoo]

That makes more sense how much does it cost you a head to vaccinate against enzo?

Depends on which vaccine is available from the Vet, but far, far less than the potential price lost of a prime lamb.

 

[Woolless]

That makes more sense how much does it cost you a head to vaccinate against enzo?

£2-3

 

[Chris123]

£2-3

?

 

[Woolless]

As above, have you done any trace element sampling/supplementing? The other thing is, lambs born with high levels of BHOB (from ewes that were short of energy pre-lambing) could be dopy.

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

The ewes get plenty of minerals and energy, the point of my thread is what do other people do with " dopey lambs" I'm not thinking I've got a particular issue. Don't get lots ,but some, perhaps other people don't get them ?

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

As above, have you done any trace element sampling/supplementing? The other thing is, lambs born with high levels of BHOB (from ewes that were short of energy pre-lambing) could be dopy.

What is BHOB ?

 

[Woolless]

What is BHOB ?

Beta hydroxy butyrate. It's a product of fat getting broken down (IIRC).

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

Beta hydroxy butyrate. It's a product of fat getting broken down (IIRC).

That could be something like the TLD process ?

 

[Boydvalley]

Vaccinated for Enzo, never looked back. Straight into good lambs this year. Had loads tested over the years never with anything positive, then had one lamb come back with possible Enzo. Decided to vaccinate Even though vet thought maybe not worthwhile.

Not much you can do with these lambs. Always disappointing.

only have to vaccinate replacements after first year so cost doesn’t work out too bad going forward. Certainly cheaper than all the time you have to spend on poorly lambs when you could be looking after others.

 

[neilo]

Vaccinate for Campy & Toxo here and get very few premature lambs or abortions now.

However, last March and this, I have had a number of full term, multiple lambs born that just don’t seem to be able to regulate temperature properly. Saved some with the warmer & tubing, but too many have just given up the ghost and died. Single/ET lambs have been OK both years, presumably as ewes under lower challenge. These are bolused sheep, lambing indoors on (mineralised) ewe rolls & haylage. They had a TE drench at housing, two weeks before lambing and boluses (at scanning) were some very high iodine ones to try to head it off.
Last year and this, the problem has been stopped almost overnight with a dose of Potassium Iodide drench, which I have tried to avoid close to lambing as too much iodine can apparently affect the absorption of colostrum antibodies. Vet out to help investigate both years, energy levels fine from ketone testing and Iodine was OK in bloods last year (still waiting on this year’s blood results).
Back to healthy multiple lambs and negligible losses now, post drenching.

Something to consider perhaps @Norfolk Hill Farmer ?