Please Help! Dorper sheep keep dying

6 posts
Sat, 01/07/2017 - 16:24 #1

Member for

7 years 3 months
JessicaYbarra
Last seen: 01/07/2017 - 16:28
Joined: 01/07/2017 - 15:01

Please Help! Dorper sheep keep dying

Tried vet, dewormer, feed dewormer, all the vet can say is something is whiping out their liver. My feed stores keep giving me bags that say sheep and goat and have tried several times just giving me goat feed, evan when ive went to other stores, Ive lost over 30 sheep this year and cant quite seem to figure out exactly why, the vets been no help other than charging me money, feed stores no help. Ive exhausted all my finances and resorces, i dont know at this point what has caused so many losses, or what to do about it, unsure weather its copper, feed toxcicity or some kind of paracites........any advice anyone? please help

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Mon, 01/09/2017 - 19:29 #2
Terry
Last seen: 02/29/2024 - 14:20
Joined: 09/13/2013 - 18:57

Hi,

 

Where abouts are you? I've got Dorpers and haven't lost any outside of two. One with necrotic mastitis that I had to put down and one got stuck in a dam.

 

They are generally very hardy and eat anything. I'm intersted in why are you giving them pellets in the first place. I only give mine ewe supplements when lambing. I would suggest that this is somesort of local problem. There is a very good facebook page for Australian Dorpers and the people on it are fantastic with helping out with advice.

 

Good luck with it all.

 

regards

 

Terry

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Mon, 01/09/2017 - 20:24 #3
Cloverleaf
Last seen: 01/09/2017 - 20:30
Joined: 01/09/2017 - 20:15
Hi! Where do u live? I will preface this with 'I am not a vet'. Flukes can cause havoc please look these up (Fasciola hepatica) and see if this is a possibility. Do they have salt/mineral blocks? I am not sure if this is a big issue but micronutrients etc are always supportive of the immune system. I just dosed all my girls with 'Anitone' supplement last months and they r all bouncing around.... Let me know how you go.
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Fri, 01/27/2017 - 09:59 #4
bugalugs
Last seen: 04/30/2018 - 18:19
Joined: 10/29/2015 - 17:15
Have you moved them into a new paddock/pasture which may have some toxic plants?
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Fri, 01/27/2017 - 12:49 #5
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi Jessica,

so sorry that you are losing your livestock.

I have some questions for you:

 

1. What is in the feed you are giving them? i.e. minerals, grains, urea(a no- no for sheep and goats) goat pellets can be fed to sheep.

2. are you feeding copper supplements?

3. Has the vet taken a liver sample to send to the lab for analysis.

4. does hydatids exist in your area?.

5. are you giving them molasses suppliments of more than just a taste?

6. How old are the animals and do they have symptoms of weight loss and scouring?

7, What are their symptoms and how long after they begin do the animals die.

8. Are their noxious weeds in their paddocks. Do you know what they are grazing on?

 

A lab test needs to be done urgently on these animals to find the cause of their deaths.

Several possibilities come to mind.

(a) Copper suppliments: copper is stored in the liver and when it cant' store anymore, it is released all at once causing death within a few minutes. Often the animal is thought to have died of snake bight.

(c) access to urea: turns to ammonia gas in the rumen suffocating the animal. Also destroys the liver.

(d) feeding molasses which has an ezyme in it that destroys vitamin B1 which is needed to process glucose in the brain. No B1 = dead animal

(e)Various noxious weeds: Patterson's Curse (causes copper poisoning and liver failure), Lantana, St Johns Wort, etc.

 

If you can answer these questions I may be able to help. Other than that, you will need to get your vet, or another one to send samples blood, tissue, liver, kidney and so on to a lab for analysis.

 

I hope you find an answer to your problem soon, as I know how awful it is to lose stock unexpectedly especially when the cause is unknown.

Kind regards,

Barb

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Sat, 10/07/2017 - 03:10 #6
greggy
Last seen: 03/09/2019 - 21:43
Joined: 10/07/2017 - 02:38

It has been a while, did you work it out ?

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