# stiff hind legs



## mariaricarto (Jul 1, 2010)

I have another thread Newborn Problems. 

A 5 day old ewe lamb is walking stiffly with the hinds. Sort of drags the toes. I see manure on one of her hocks. 

Anybody have experience with this?


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

I'm thinking Navel Infection, a common cause of loss of young lambs.

Have you given Penicillin? Follow the instructions on the bottle with regards to amount and course length. You should see an almost immediate improvement (as in within the day) but continue to give the full course. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

First thing that comes to mind for backend weakness is selenium deficiency.
Where are you located/do you give your lambs Bose injections ?

Deb


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

First thing that comes to mind for backend weakness is Selenium deficiency.
Where are you located/do you give your lambs Bose injections ?

Deb


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Agree with both above, the selenium should work very fast the joint ill could take quite a while. We use a supportive dose of asprin (baby dose) or even dexamethasone with PenG. I've used tetracycline too but it really isn't as effective.


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## mariaricarto (Jul 1, 2010)

I'm in Hawaii. No problems with selenium deficiency. Have not given a Bose injection. I haven't seen any in the feed store.

I dunked the cord all the way up to the abdomen with iodine right after birth.

I talked with a cattle man today and he says he has a weak calf that is stiff legged like my lamb. Maybe it is a sign of a bad start in life, neither of these animals got much colostrum or milk.

I brought her in the house and am bottle feeding her. Maybe she will perk up.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Maria, have you given your lamb any penicillin? or are you just going to trundle on and hope for the best? If selenium is not a problem in your area that is probably discountable. Spraying with Iodine at birth will definately help combat against the bacteria but it is not a given so a course of penicillin will not hurt the lamb if it isn't needed and go a long way towards making it healthier and more comfortable if it is. It will also help combat any bacteria related problems arising from the lack of colostrum/milk it may have suffered.

I'm not into giving antibiotics for every little thing but in cases like this it is the better option when there doesn't appear to be any others. And penicillin is cheap at the price.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I agree and a delay in treating joint ill will make it harder to cure. if its not joint ill I don't see a big problem giving some PenG.


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## arrowlsm (Nov 2, 2010)

Maybe it's overkill but I don't just dunk the navel. First I trim it to about 1 1/2 inches then I hold the lamb upside down in my arms and soak the whole thing while pressing the iodine container, which is a wide mouth medicine bottle, tightly against the lambs belly for about 30 seconds.


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## mariaricarto (Jul 1, 2010)

I put the navel and cord in a wide mouth jar and bring it up to their belly making sure it is on the abdomen. Not for 30 seconds though. I use strong iodine. 

The lamb is dead. She may not have gotten enough colostrum or milk. I am thinking today that I should have taken the strong ram lamb for a bottle baby and left the weak ewe lamb with the mother in the jug.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

mariaricarto said:


> I put the navel and cord in a wide mouth jar and bring it up to their belly making sure it is on the abdomen. Not for 30 seconds though. I use strong iodine.


As I said earlier, iodine is only a precaution and is not guaranteed to stop infection no matter what strength you use, how wide an area you cover or how long you leave the cord immersed. If a lamb isn't found until an hour after birth, that is more than enough time for infection to have found it's way in. 



mariaicarto said:


> The lamb is dead. She may not have gotten enough colostrum or milk. I am thinking today that I should have taken the strong ram lamb for a bottle baby and left the weak ewe lamb with the mother in the jug.


While several good feeds of colostrum are desireable, one feed will be sufficient and I doubt this lamb died because of this or insufficient milk - neither cause stiffness in limbs and this lamb had had a feed of colostrum. The exception is when they have had no colostrum at all and that can lead to all sorts of problems. If you come across this again, get penicillin into the lamb immediately and I mean immediately. Naval Ill is blood poisoning and a new born animal has little in the way of resources to fight this.

You could have taken the strong lamb as a bottle baby and left the weak lamb with the ewe but it would have still died because that was not the problem.

Maria, there is no point in coming on here and asking for advice if your not going to take it, or ring your vet if you're still unsure - and in fact your vet should probably be the first port of call in a situation like this.

Despite probably sounding a little terse, I'm sorry you've lost the lamb.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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