After peak birth, young lambs still need attention
Young lambs on pasture begin to eat grass. However, a lamb cannot survive without sufficient milk for the first 5 weeks of life and will only develop properly if sufficient mother's milk is available for about 8 weeks.
Detect breast infection
A milk production problem can occur if a ewe suffers, for example, from mastitis. Udder inflammation can be caused by several organisms. Bluetongue is the most spectacular form. In this case, the mother becomes seriously ill and, if she survives, the udder tissue dies and then falls off. With prompt intervention from your veterinarian, the death of the mother can be avoided, but the ewe's udder is lost to the future. It is obvious that the lambs must be separated from the mother. If they are less than 7 to 8 weeks old, they should be bottle fed four times a day. It is not easy to get lambs that are not used to a bottle to drink. Even patience is not always rewarded. When they reach 15 kg, lambs can go without milk, provided they can eat concentrated feed as well as grass. At this age, with grass alone, growth will be limited.
Other forms of mastitis can be detected by careful observation of lactating ewes in flocks. If one of them seems to be limping on one of the hind legs, an orange light should immediately come on, as this usually indicates that one half of the udder is already very inflamed. Immediate treatment is necessary. In a ewe with 2 lambs, one or both lambs will generally not be able to suckle. If the necessary treatment is given, the pain will subside after a few days and breastfeeding will be allowed again, but as a general rule it can be assumed that half of the infected udder will no longer produce enough milk, or even more of the anything to feed the lamb that suckled on that side enough. This half of the udder will most likely also be lost for the future. It will therefore be necessary to find a solution for the young lamb deprived of milk and to consider separating from the ewe after the season.
If a ewe nurses 3 or 4 lambs, in addition to udder problems, you can sometimes see a difference in size between the young. Indeed, some lambs dominate the suckling and the smallest receive too little milk. If they are taught to drink some (artificial) milk from a bottle soon after birth and have access to powdered milk several times a day, these lambs can stay with their mothers without problems. If left to their own devices, they can be content with solid food but with much slower growth, but also weaken further following an attack of coccidiosis (see below) or die altogether.
Nutrition: roughages, milk and concentrates
In order to make the lambs more resistant and to promote their growth, it is advisable to give them the possibility of absorbing roughage from the week following their birth. In the pasture this will logically be grass, but in the barn too it must be ensured that they can start tasting hay or haylage if they wish. At two weeks, it is advisable to give them the opportunity to learn to eat concentrates. If a lamb does not get enough milk, it will quickly compensate by eating more hay or grass. Do not forget, however, that a lamb will only be able to reach a maximum growth of 30-35 kg with roughage and without milk or condensed feed. Supplementary concentrates can be fed to young lambs by placing them in a room that only the lambs have access to through a small opening.
Prevention of enteroxemia
Sometimes, when fed generously, one of the healthiest lambs can suddenly be found dead. This phenomenon is the result of enterotoxemia. It is a form of self-poisoning resulting from excessive bacterial growth in the stomach and intestines. The death of these bacteria releases toxins (poisons), which act on the nervous system and which, in a short time, after some spasmodic movements of the legs, lead to death. There is no remedy for this. The solution lies in prevention. In order to protect the lambs during the first months of their life, it consists of vaccinating the mothers in the month preceding their birth. The lambs will then receive antibodies which will protect them for 2 to 3 months via the colostrum. When lambs are weaned, it is advisable to vaccinate them against enteroxaemia in order to further protect them against this sudden death during their second phase of life.
Coccidiosis
Young lambs are susceptible to coccidiosis from 4 to 8 (to 12) weeks of age. We have been experiencing cold and sometimes wet weather lately. These conditions greatly increase the likelihood of coccidiosis in lambs. Coccidiosis is a threat to many animal species around the world. The risk of infection is present in all sheep farms. Coccidiosis is caused by single-celled organisms that damage the intestinal wall. These protozoan organisms belong to one of the species of Eimeria. Two of them can cause infectious intestinal disease in young lambs: Eimeria ovinoidalis and Eimeria crandallis.
The life cycle of coccidia
A lamb ingests parasite eggs or oocysts through contaminated drinking water or spoiled feed. These oocysts can come from adult animals (mothers). Older animals may excrete limited amounts of oocysts. In the period around parturition, increased shedding may occur. The oocysts are very resistant to cold, heat or (chemical) disinfection and overwinter in pastures.
Under the influence of digestive juices, sporozoites develop from oocysts and enter the cells of the intestinal mucosa. There, different phases of asexual multiplication can take place. After that, a phase of sexual multiplication takes place. This eventually results in the formation of new oocysts which, after breaking the cell wall, end up in the intestinal contents and are therefore excreted in the faeces and can infect new animals. The time between the absorption of an oocyst and the excretion of new oocysts is 12 to 20 days. One oocyst can give rise to millions of new oocysts in lambs. The spread of an infection can be rapid and dramatic.
If young lambs absorb oocysts through food or drink, the (first) internal cycle begins. If the lambs have received enough good colostrum at birth, they are protected for 2 to 4 weeks. Lambs between 4 and 12 weeks old are particularly susceptible to the disease.
What happens to the lamb?
After being ingested through water or food, coccidia attack the intestinal wall. The intestinal cells are damaged and the nutrients are therefore less well absorbed. On the other hand, cell damage leads to loss of fluid and blood. This blood is digested in the intestine and we get manure with a specific dark to black color.
Lambs with mild infection develop immunity. In the case of higher infection, the damaged intestinal wall affects the digestion process, with less absorption of nutrients, but it also happens that we observe a decrease in appetite, a reduction in the consumption of food and , hence, a reduction in growth.
In case of severe infection, diarrhea (black or bloody in color) is observed. These lambs push with their backs bent to relieve themselves, the movement is often accompanied by a plaintive noise. It can also result in a prolapse of the rectum. The discovery of constant outbreaks and diarrhea in one or more lambs should be more than an orange signal for the sheep farmer. Urgent action is then more than desirable, but it is sometimes already too late for seriously affected lambs.
Older lambs, which have developed immunity, may still shed oocysts themselves. This means that if young lambs are with older lambs in the barn or on the pasture, the young lambs will be under high disease pressure. It is therefore advisable to avoid introducing young lambs into a group of older lambs. Thoughtful grazing can also be helpful. Grazing with young lambs in wet/cold conditions is often problematic. The weakest lambs are usually the most affected. Mortality is frequent. Animals that have recovered often show significant growth retardation.
Since coccidiosis is a group disease that often occurs in young lambs between 4 and 6 weeks of age, it is recommended that all lambs in the group be treated in the event of an outbreak. There are good drugs, ask your veterinarian for advice.
A crusty and sore mouth
Ecthyma is a contagious disease of the skin and mucous membranes that causes blisters and crusts on the skin, usually around the mouth, but it can also be transferred to the udder and lead to udder inflammation. The causative agent is a virus that belongs to the smallpox viruses (parapoxia virus). This problem mainly occurs in lambs, but older animals are also susceptible to it. Through sucking, the mother's udder can become infected. The problems disappear after a few weeks, but the virus is very persistent and can survive for a long time (among other places in fallen scales, but also on walls, etc.). The disease is transmitted by direct contact. Be careful, it is also contagious for humans! There is no real medicine against this disease, only an emergency vaccination in the event of a serious epidemic.
Within a farm, the virus is usually introduced by purchasing animals (or by attending events). After an outbreak, animals develop resistance, and every year a small infestation can be seen here and there. Until a more virulent type enters the farm from the outside, then there may be another major outbreak. Livestock hygiene and thorough cleaning of barns and paddock fencing are strongly recommended to avoid this problem.
According to André Calus
