# Help!! My sheep are dying



## Silver Marten

We have had 15 sheep die in the last few days. At first it was a couple of new lambs that was sad but understandable. We had 2 ewes die in labor, a first for us. Then, last night and today, we have had 11 die, a couple of big wethers, some older, some younger, some of our best ewes. We only had 28. We are shocked and scared for the rest of the sheep. I do have a call into the vet but am looking for information as quickly as possible. We moved them to the pasture next to our house today.

Their signs and symptoms were
-lethargy
-staggering
-white gums where they were pink just days ago 
-Up to date on worming and shots
-the vulva of one of the first to die was extremely swollen. It looked like a balloon with the skin almost transparent
-the other ewes dead today and yesterday had a dark dark purple ring around the inside of the vulva, almost like a dark slit
-the males were dark in the anal area
-they had normal temp and normal pills

I have 2 more that are showing the above signs. We are not going to put them down until my vet calls back. I am looking for info as quickly as possible.

My ex-step father lives down the hill and is almost as crazy as a bat and can be very vindictive. He was mad at me the week before Christmas and so he came into my yard and shot my bulldog who he knew was my âbaby.â We were stunned, not realizing how violent he could be. Yes, it would be nice to move but we are living in my grandparentâs home and donât have the finances right now to buy somewhere else. 

I donât know if this is some illness that is spreading like wildfire through our sheep or if they have been poisoned.

Any suggestions?


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## Ronney

What your describing sounds very much like blood poisoning - Blackleg, Malignant Oedema. They fall into the category of Clostridial diseases - do you vaccinate for these? If not, you should.

Clinical signs: Affected sheep are often found deat with blood-stained froth at the nose or die after an illness lasting about 12 hours to two days. They are depressed, may be lame and have a *dark swollen area* on some part of the body.

Blood poisoning is a common disease of all ages of sheep, caused by the organisms _Clostridium chauvoei_ and _Clostridium septicum_, which enter the body either through wounds or by being swallowed. In the latter case they often remain dormant until activated by injury or possiby severe excercise, which creates suitable conditions for their growth, and the disease appears within one or two days. Outbreaks in sheep may follow docking, shearing, dipping, vaccination, assistance at lambing, and Bearing trouble.

I've copied that out of my vet book because they can write it better than I can

You really need your vet to inspect these sheep to confirm what is ailing them and to prescribe the correct antibiotics for them. I am really hoping that it is not your mad step-father.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Bearfootfarm

> -lethargy
> -staggering
> -*white gums* where they were pink just days ago


Your wormer isn't working.


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## Ronney

BF, I thought about that too but without completely discounting it as a possibility, unless it is Barbers Pole, the deaths would not be that quick and in "outbreak" proportions, nor would they have the bruised swellings on parts of their body as described by SM.

There is always the possibility that it is a combination problem.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Silver Marten

I don't think it is Blackleg or Malignant oedema as they are acute wound infections. I looked both of them up and my sheep have no signs of stress, open wounds or other injury. I don't think it would take out 11 sheep all at once. I also don't think it is a normal wormer problem - 15 out of 28 sheep in 3 days? I know the lethergy and staggering and white gums can be signs of worms but so can other things - rat poison?

The swelling or "injury" was only in the vulva area. No other bruising or wounds.

I will look up barbers pole and see if my wormer covers it.


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## Ronney

SM, a neighbour lost 10 calves in a 24 hour period to blood poisoning and hadn't vaccinated against it, so it could definately take out 11 sheep in a hit. A small scratch is all that it takes, or ingestion.

The swelling isn't an injury, it is caused by oedema and there is no way that death due to Barbers Pole would leave that type of swelling. The following link may make it a bit clearer but it is still your vet that will hopefully come up with the final answer.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/50706.htm&word=Malignant,Oedema

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Ross

I agree you could have a vacination or worming problem but with your ex step father acting so erratically I would be looking there first. Get what you can posted by the vet (let him or her know what you suspect) , phone the police with your suspicians too, and yes keep your sheep close.


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## thequeensblessing

I'd suspect barber pole worms too, especially with the rapid blanching of eyelid color. A heavy load of these worms can drink up to a cup of blood a day and that can bring a healthy ewe down quickly. The lethargy and staggering are also typical of advanced parasite load. With blackleg there is always fever, and the OP says there was none. There were, evidently, no gaseous areas either.

What type of sheep are they? Could your ewes have been in heat? That may account for the swollen and reddened vulva. Or were they within a week or two of delivery? Had they already delivered? Could they have a uterine infection? Are they kept in a barn or allowed access to pasture?

It could well be a combination problem with some infection that moved in when the worm load became too high and compromised their immune systems. Unfortunately, these parasites are getting so resistant that if you are using a wormer your sheep are resistant to, all you are doing is killing off any susceptible worms and leaving the resistant ones to reproduce unchecked, and create a big problem on your farm.


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## Silver Marten

The vet does not have any real suggestions. He does not think the clostridiums are causing the problem although it is possible. He thought maybe insecticide poisoning but not rat poison but was not willing to say it is for sure. Not that I blame him. He asked about change of feed (no) change of minerals (no). The only thing that changed was that we moved them to the pasture on the other side of the driveway, far enough away that we don't see them all the time. They have gone back and forth between the pastures before and we did not have this problem. 

I am going to the feed store in the morning and I will get Levasole and see what I can get for vaccines for the other clostridium diseases as we only vaccinated with the CDT. 

The vet said $50 for the autopsy but that was just opening it up; he would need a "fresh" sample. Sending samples away would be $200 easy. I will probably open one up that will die tonight. If I can't see signs of a heavy load of worms, we will get the next one autopsied.

I have a small amount of water from their containers- my husband dumped out all but the dregs before I got to it. I know the extension service will test water for irrigation and livestock. They want 2 pints worth though and I only have maybe 1/3 cup. Still, I will take it to them to see if anything was in their water. If so, I will file a police report. I hope it is the barberâs pole worm or clostridium illnesses!


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## thequeensblessing

Remember, even if you can't see the worms themselves, if the true stomach contains a lot of reddish/brown matter, it will be from the worms as they cause bleeding into the stomach from feeding. 
I'm sorry you have to endure all this.


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## Silver Marten

Oh, the vulva swelling - I am not talking about an in heat type swelling. I mean it looked like the vulva was a water balloon. Sorry, that is the only way I can describe it. About the size of an orange with translucent skin. It litterally looked like it could pop. She was an ewe from last spring, if she was bred, it was not heavy bred. The others just had the odd color but no swelling. Some were bred and some had already delivered. Some were this years lambs. There was also one ram, two wethers and the rest adult ewes.

Is levasole good for taking out a heavy load of barber's pole or should I buy the cydectin?


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## Ross

This why I recomend using an 8 way vacine, you can potentially rule out a lot of causes of mysterious deaths. Which wormer you should use depends what you used last. if they're up to date with that use something else!


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## eieiomom

My heart goes out to you, I can't imagine losing those numbers and in such a short time.
Clostridium A can cause sudden deaths, but I can't imagine in the magnitude and the short amount of time you are describing.
With the unusual symptoms, the first thing that comes to mind is poison.

I would go as far as to get them posted and blood drawn from those that are symptomatic. Have the state and /or University look into the reason for the deaths. They should be able to at least give you a cause.
As well as having it documented with the authorities, this seems very serious.

I hope things turn around for you.

Hugs,

Deb


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## Shannonmcmom

I am sorry you are going through this. Maybe he sprayed the pasture with a pesticide. You could always take samples and see if there is any residue left. The liver would be one thing affected rather quickly if it was poisoning. You can just look at their livers to see if they look abnormal or spotty. I would also look at their lungs as well.


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## Bearfootfarm

> The vet said $50 for the autopsy but that was just opening it up; he would need a "fresh" sample. Sending samples away would be $200 easy.


If there are any universities near you, they may have a lab that will do it cheaper.
Our State Veterinarian runs labs that do post mortems for less than what your vet wants to cut one open



> Is levasole good for taking out a heavy load of barber's pole or should I buy the cydectin?


It works great but has been out of production for about a year, so I'll be surprised if you find any. I've had mixed results with Cydectin Sheep Drench.


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## Ross

What is it with Levamisol!!?? I havn't been able to get it in years here, but its always worked great!


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## eieiomom

Ross said:


> What is it with Levamisol!!?? I havn't been able to get it in years here, but its always worked great!


It was taken off the market.
One reason is because it was being used (abused) to mix with Cocaine.

Bummer, it really works great as a dewormer !


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## Ross

> One reason is because it was being used (abused) to mix with Cocaine.


 Say what!?? I know it stings like the devil if you get it on a cut, probably the only down side to Levamisol.


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## Bearfootfarm

Ross said:


> What is it with Levamisol!!?? I havn't been able to get it in years here, but its always worked great!


 What I heard is the factory that produced it was destroyed in an earthquake in China.
Supposedly they are trying to get a new location set up


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## eieiomom

Bearfootfarm said:


> What I heard is the factory that produced it was destroyed in an earthquake in China.
> Supposedly they are trying to get a new location set up



I also heard this before the use with Cocaine.

I asked a couple companies and vets and no one really seems to know.
Contacted the company who manufactured it, here in US a while ago and never heard back,

It would be nice to know !


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## bruce2288

You can get levisole powder to mix as a drench online, I don't remember where though. oops maybe it was tramisol. Different?


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## Heritagefarm

You should definately get some cydectin down them, pronto! We give ours pour-on, oraly, that nasty purple kerosene stuff! Check online to make sure they can handle it, though, our Kahtahdins handle mega over doses when they need it! What sheep ARE they? Check to make sure, but it sounds like worms to me!


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## sheepish

Your ewe with the swollen vulva may have had a vaginal prolapse. That may have been unrelated to the rest of the problems.

The cost of an autopsy would be less than the cost of the rest of your herd, if it will tell you something that will save them.


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## wendle

Just a thought have you ruled out plant poisoning. Wilted choke cherry leaves are supposed to be toxic. If grazing is scarce, they could very well eat leaves off the ground. Not sure about this time of year, but have heard of it being a problem in the fall. 
"
How It Affects Livestock
Although the hydrocyanic acid content of chokecherry leaves varies, ingestion of about 0.25 percent of an animal's weight in leaves can be fatal. Wilted leaves, as well as fresh leaves, are poisonous. Poisoning occurs when an animal consumes a relatively large amount over a short period of time (30-60 minutes). Hydrocyanic acid inhibits cellular respiration and the animal&#8217;s ability to use oxygen. Signs of poisoning begin rapidly, and death may follow within a few minutes."


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## Bearfootfarm

bruce2288 said:


> You can get levisole powder to mix as a drench online, I don't remember where though. oops maybe it was tramisol. Different?


Tramisol and Levamisole are the same drug

Lots of places still* show *it, but when you try to buy, it's out of stock, and they arent taking backorders


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