Sheep Question

[Elyse Nicholson]

Okay, so I know this is a Nigerian Site, but I know some of the members either have sheep or know someone who does....so here goes!

 

We have an Aged Suffolk Ewe who is having health problems. It seems after she eats her mouth starts foaming, snot comes from her nose and then her face is covered in a incky, sticky looking stuff. Her belly appears as though she bloated and she just stands there like she is miserable.

 

We tried a mix of baking soda and mineral oil - like our sheep care book said - then just baking soda in the feed. No change. She looks so sad.

 

Does anyone know what could be wrong????? . I feel so sorry for her. :(

 

Any suggestions?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Dusty hay would definitely do it. And as I said in earlier comments, dental issues can also cause this reaction. Funny to have this resurface now because I just had a 10-year-old ewe give birth after being accidentally bred when a ram busted into the retired ewe pen five months ago. Because of her advanced age and poor body condition, I wanted to give her some grain, and she nearly choked herself again and was spewing foamy half-chewed grain. If your doe had lung worms, I'd expect her to be coughing all the time, not just when eating, although with goats there are no 100% situations.

Traci Gardner said:

My 5 year old doe is doing this too! It is definitely scaring me. She was eating her ration (2 parts alf pellets, 1.5 part goat feed pellets, .5 part BOSS) while I was milking the other doe and the foamy cough went on almost the whole time! I've seen little bouts of this, but not this long. I was getting worried that it might be lung worms b/c of the cough, but I only hear her cough when she's eating. She will cough when eating hay sometimes and I figured it was b/c it was dusty? The hay is not moldy and she's never had foam/mucus involved with hay eating. Should I be worried about lung worms?

[Elyse Nicholson]

This ewe only gets grain at night - it's just to keep some weight on her. She's had some weight problems in the past. But we are going to try not giving her grain tonight. See if it helps any.

Ans I guess my terms are wrong in sheep. In the show ring she is an Aged Ewe, but apparently that doesn't mean she old - she'd only four I'm told! I say goats a much easier!! :) But anyways, my brother said it may be dental....he's going to look at her I think.

Thanks so much Deborah! We'll see how it goes. I'll let you know what happens!

Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

I'd agree she might be eating too fast, but I wonder why she'd suddenly do that. My sheep are a primitive breed, so they don't normally get grain. One time I was using grain to lure them into the barn, and one of the ewes was gobbling it up, then started choking, mucous flying everywhere, and she fell down to her knees. Scared me half to death! She was like a kid in a candy store, because she never got grain, so I can understand why she went nuts for it. If your ewe is old, I wonder if she's starting to have dental problems?

WorkingGoats4 said:

We were just thinking about the grain thing, but not for the reasons you were....I didn't realize the hay was eaiser to digest. We'll have to try that.

Also, I talked to my brother. It started on Aug 6, then she stopped for 8 days, then it happened again, stopped for little while, started, stopped, and then she's been doing it every night this week. He talked to a sheep breeder who said she may be eating to fast. Agree?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

I'd agree she might be eating too fast, but I wonder why she'd suddenly do that. My sheep are a primitive breed, so they don't normally get grain. One time I was using grain to lure them into the barn, and one of the ewes was gobbling it up, then started choking, mucous flying everywhere, and she fell down to her knees. Scared me half to death! She was like a kid in a candy store, because she never got grain, so I can understand why she went nuts for it. If your ewe is old, I wonder if she's starting to have dental problems?

WorkingGoats4 said:

We were just thinking about the grain thing, but not for the reasons you were....I didn't realize the hay was eaiser to digest. We'll have to try that.

Also, I talked to my brother. It started on Aug 6, then she stopped for 8 days, then it happened again, stopped for little while, started, stopped, and then she's been doing it every night this week. He talked to a sheep breeder who said she may be eating to fast. Agree?

[Elyse Nicholson]

We were just thinking about the grain thing, but not for the reasons you were....I didn't realize the hay was eaiser to digest. We'll have to try that.

Also, I talked to my brother. It started on Aug 6, then she stopped for 8 days, then it happened again, stopped for little while, started, stopped, and then she's been doing it every night this week. He talked to a sheep breeder who said she may be eating to fast. Agree?

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

That sounds terrible. I would have suggested baking soda. If you're giving her grain, I'd stop that and just give her hay, because it's supposedly easier to digest. How long has this been going on?