kajarrel Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 Rebecca (and anyone else who can help), Did you have problems with blackleg a little while back? If so, what were the symptoms? I have a otherwise healthy looking ewe who is limping and has a swollen left flank and back leg. She has a hematoma on her belly (left side) just in front of the udder and it's weaping serosanguinous fluid from a small puncture. There's also crepitice on the left side. She's eating, drinking, standing. She was OK until yesterday when she held back when I moved the sheep to a pasture about 1/2 mile up the road. I thought she might have a foot problem and kept her close to home (noticed too late in the day). Checked today and found all of above. I'm at loss as to the cause. The only thing I can think of is that the sheep got out of the electric fence about 5 days to a week ago (day before shearing :mad: ) and she could have possibly been hit by a car, but the time line doesn't really make sense. Also, I got right out there and didn't see anything. We also have thorn apples in the pastures and she could have received a puncture wound in the abdomen. A friend mentioned Clostridial infection . . . No other sheep appear affected. I'm treating with 2 cc/lb. Pen G just in case. Would appreciate input. Thanks, Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 It's not mastitis migrating to sites beyond the udder, is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted July 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 No, I checked the udder and it looks fine. I've seen necrotic mastitis and this looks different. I'm puzzled . . . Ki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 Do you vaccinate with a seven or eight-way like Covexin? If you do it isn't blackleg. If you don't use a multi clostridium, continue the pen on a daily basis (use the daily dosing stuff) and pray hard. Two cc per pound seems like a lot? We treated with 10 per hundred pounds and THAT was a lot, but what the folks at NC State recommended. More tips if this really is blackleg: Banamine is also really helpful - if the ewe goes down there's a huge danger that edemous fluids will build up and literally smother her or cause bloat (this happened to one of my best ewes who we had PMed by the way to make sure of what we were dealing with). Isolate, offer extremely high quality hay (but no concentrates) and make sure she doesn't have to go more than a couple steps for water. She is most contagious to any ewe that has recently lambed, any newborn lamb, and after that any sheep male or female with an open wound. It's not contagious through shared water, nor is it airborne, but sheep bump and scrape themselves in the darnest ways and the tiniest boo-boo WILL offer entry to the organism. If you vaccinate every sheep on your place, you will prevent its spread, but you must continue to use the multi-clostridium as your soil is now contaminated. I've gotten various stories on this but I've heard it stays in the soil for up to six years. That's what I'm assuming - I'm on year two since the disease was active here. Healthy sheep do not spread the disease. There's a slight chance that organisms can spread in your soil to another farm, but probably not to the extent that the "normal" exposure is raised significantly. Very rarely, shearers can spread it by nicking a diseased sheep and not cleaning the contaminated shears, but I don't personally know any shearers that irresponsible. Probably that's the sort of thing you see more in high-volume situations like down in Australasia. You can find a ton of info on blackleg on New Zealand and Aussie sheep sites. I hope you aren't dealing with this, but you've definitely caught it early enough, it seems. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted July 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 Oops - I'mm giving 2cc/100 lbs., so I guess I'm underdosing. Looks like you give the "listeriosis" PCN dose . . . I'll do this and add banamine. I mentioned that we sheared last week and was wondering whether that could be a source of the problem. My shearer is great, but she brought along two helpers this year. Maybe I'll need to be more assertive from a biosecurity standpoint next year. I don't really ask questions (am so grateful to get a skilled shearer). I gave Covexin up until this year. Stopped because most people I know don't give it, and don't have problems. I'm hoping that she (the ewe) still has immunity (it's only a few months late). She still looks perky tonight - eating, drinking, bright-eyed. Were your affected sheep febrile? Thanks for your (and Bill's) help. Will keep you posted. Kim Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Yes, the sheep that had it bred back last year, no problem - BUT, we got it around lambing. I'd say it takes about a month for the sheep to get over it completely - they can drop condition like overnight. It's probably worse for rams - ours didn't breed anything until the heat lessened some in October (after I'd given him to someone else). The reason no one vaccinates for it is it's so difficult to actually get onto your place. We had such a bad outbreak (the NC State people think) because we happened to be lambing at the same the cows were calving, and then had a coyote attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Oops. I just re-read what you wrote - "febrile" not "fertile." Darn dyslexia - I usually do better than that. Seems like it varied with the stage - it wasn't associated with slight lameness at the beginning but went up as the disease progressed. One thing that was a dead giveaway was the diarrhea - very nasty, similiar to coccidea. Every sheep that caught it had the diarrhea from onset, and it was the last thing to go away. It was confusing to my vet because it potentially pointed to so many other things - coccidea, acidosis, salmonella (she wasn't happy about my free range ducks but they didn't have access to my sheep water), etc, etc. We initially treated for both salmonella and blackleg but it turned out to be the blackleg. Possibly there IS some leftover immunity if it's only been eighteen months in an adult. I had several ewes that should have been high risk - senior ewes that lambed at the height of the outbreak - but they were vaccinated with Covexin the first couple years I had sheep, just a few year previously. They all escaped, as did several younger ewes that were yearlings the last year I did Covexin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Kim -- Our vet always has us use Penn G at 1cc/15 lbs twice a day. Sub-Q in non-life threatening situations, IM if it is. That means that average ewes are getting 10 cc twice a day. Anytime you're dealing with an inflammatory infection (and most are) I think it roughly doubles the cure rate to use flunixin (BAnamine or Flunixamine) for the first three to five days. Of course, everything I've just discussed is extra-label, so you should consult your own vet. -------------- As far as vaccination goes, we have been using Covexin 8 on all adult breeding stock for about three years now. It adds about $40 to the cost of vaccine for the flock compared to plain old CD/T, and even though we have never seen blackleg, I feel it's worth it. Be careful of the seven-way cattle vaccines, as many of them do not cover tetanus, so you would need to do CD/T as well just to get the coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted July 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 I initially thought about using Banamine, but then held off because of the large hematoma she has. I did give it last night, and am monitoring closely. The ewe still appears comfortable and her color is good (no obvious signs I'm dealing with hemorrhaging). The IM injection issue is a little dicey because I'm limited in sites if I try to avoid her affected side . . . Right now I'm splitting up the (IM) doses between both sides of her neck and unaffected rump. I hope I see some improvement soon -- but I guess no deterioration is a good sign at this point. I'll run the PCN dose by my vet. Unfortunately, my old vets stopped doing large animal work and the guy I'm using now is new and we haven't established a comfortable working relationship yet. But that's a seperate problem . . . If this girl doesn't make it, I will have her posted to definatively r/o blackleg . . . decided to go ahead and revaccinate with Covexin again this year regardless. Valley Vet's really getting a work out from me this month Again, it's nice to be able to bounce ideas off both of you. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Well, you know, someone's got to keep those good folks in business. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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