sheep abortion

[Lovegoodstock]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

 

[Gator]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Sorry i can't like that mate,
still getting the odd one here. But as @Mcnulty24 says your spirits life a little when you get an healthy one.

 

[yellowbelly]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Can't 'like' that, it's horrendous. Very sorry to read your post.
If I've read it right, 60 dead + 150 aborted out of 520 is 40% You must all be devastated. To add insult to injury, all tests are negative. Until this year any tests we've had done have also come back negative. This year they've shown exposure to toxo - at least we now have something to go on. How can you have confidence to restock for next year? You might just expose more naive ewes to whatever has caused it

I don't know if it's just this thread that has highlighted everybody's problems, or does it seem that there is more abortion about everywhere this year Could some of it be stress related brought on by the wet weather, somehow making the sheep more susceptible???

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Sorry to hear that, devastating
Sometimes wonder if sheep are actually worth the stress

 

[exmoor dave]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Bloody hell

Were the ewe's bought in? & first time lambers?

 

[Gator]

Could some of it be stress related brought on by the wet weather, somehow making the sheep more susceptible???

That's just what I was thinking, wet from July more or less had more prolems this year than I can remember. Started with pink eye, went through most of the flock then lost a good few with the snow.....twice . Then the prolapses startedgave over counting them now. Then the abortions started. Must just be one of them years
Beginnig to wonder why we do it sometimes.

Tis is grand though when you get some lambs running about in the creche kind of lifts your spirits

 

[Mcnulty24]

Whilst I wouldn't wish it on anyone, there is some comfort in knowing I am not the only one going through it. It can't last forever, had campy confirmed by the vet so at least I know it is in the flock and can try to do something to avoid a repeat performance.

 

[msheep66]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Very sorry to hear of your troubles. Would a dog or something got amoung the ewes to cause all those dead lambs?

 

[Lovegoodstock]

Main bunch were on a busy footpath, but didn't see anything. However I have 3 sets of buildings about a mile apart,so if I was up the road they could easily resettle by the time seen again. this would have been their 3rd lambing on this farm so nothing new, same tups used on them. Hogs just started, only a dozen but thankfully so far so good

 

[Six Dogs]

Did they test for sordelli?
So sorry to hear about your rubbish time

 

[Lovegoodstock]

Yes, that was my thought as they went off like a ewe dead for weeks in heat of summer, within an hour or two so thought a clostridial thing

 

[cotswoldcs]

OMG that's horrendous @Lovegoodstock . We've had about10% of our flock abort with Campylobacter which has been sickening and depressing. Worst year ever. Starting to get some live lambs now but not going to be a great year. So sorry to hear your news which seems so much worse it's untrue.

What are you doing about your Campy problems @Mcnulty24 ? I'm putting all my aborted ewes with my running ewe lambs and hoping they will pick up immunity from them. We should be OK next year but I don't know whether I'm going to vaccinate for it or not in future. We've never had it before and I never want it again but will have to consider carefully whether or not to vaccinate as it's yet another big cost. I've decided to carry on with Enzo & Toxo vaccines for the whole flock at any rate.

 

[neilo]

OMG that's horrendous @Lovegoodstock . We've had about10% of our flock abort with Campylobacter which has been sickening and depressing. Worst year ever. Starting to get some live lambs now but not going to be a great year. So sorry to hear your news which seems so much worse it's untrue.

What are you doing about your Campy problems @Mcnulty24 ? I'm putting all my aborted ewes with my running ewe lambs and hoping they will pick up immunity from them. We should be OK next year but I don't know whether I'm going to vaccinate for it or not in future. We've never had it before and I never want it again but will have to consider carefully whether or not to vaccinate as it's yet another big cost. I've decided to carry on with Enzo & Toxo vaccines for the whole flock at any rate.

Although the Campy label says to boost annually, I understand most kiwis jab them twice as ewe lambs, boost as shearlings, then rely on background infection to infer immunity to the older sheep. That’s certainly the approach i’m Using anyway, although I understand others are boosting annually.
Thankfully, the Campyvax costs considerably less than the robbing barstewards are charging for Toxovax.

 

[neilo]

Lost 60 ewes trying to lamb their lambs that had died 4/5 days earlier inside them, blown up then toxic. Had 150 abort, toxo, Enzo, campo, salmonella, listeria, all negative. Out of 520 ewes, been demoralising, killed 130 of 150 last Tuesday, all negative on bloods but cant sell as breeder as id be furious if I bought such a ewe, daren't risk keeping them another year as problem not been found. Hated loading 130 young ewes fit, looking healthy and quality ewes, made upto 140 but really not bothered, if made 180 I wouldn't be happy, not in the habit of killing young good ewes for muslim mutton

Bugger! But fair play to you for killing them out, rather than selling them on for breeding as some would, not that I would expect you to do anything else.

 

[cotswoldcs]

Do you vaccinate for Enzo, Toxo and Campy Neil?

We've been farming here for 100+ years and never had it before. Could it be a fluke or is it now on the farm and never going to go away?

 

[neilo]

Do you vaccinate for Enzo, Toxo and Campy Neil?

We've been farming here for 100+ years and never had it before. Could it be a fluke or is it now on the farm and never going to go away?

I dropped Enzo a couple of years ago, after using it ever since Enzovac was launched and sorted an ongoing problem with the old Coopers vaccine (but that’s another story). My thinking was, not bringing females on generally, the Enzo risk is comparitively low in my flock, and the ridiculous hike in Toxovax prices that year needed finding from somwhere.
I now vaccinate replacement ewe lambs for Toxo and Campy, then boost shearlings for Campy.

Every farm is different though, depending on what issues you have already, and what risks your replacement system might expose you to.

 

[David.]

What does campylobacter abortion look like?

 

[Lovegoodstock]

What was the price last summer for Enzo and toxo? Have someone each year desperate for my mule shearlings, but has to have them vaccinated against both, doubt he is that desperate to pay the premium though!!

 

[neilo]

What was the price last summer for Enzo and toxo? Have someone each year desperate for my mule shearlings, but has to have them vaccinated against both, doubt he is that desperate to pay the premium though!!

Toxovax a bit over £4.50, Enzo just under £2, IIRC

 

[msheep66]

I was quoted £2.20 a dose for Enzo by my vet. Toxo I believe is considerably more.