I have a pen of 3 market lambs for 4-H. They are suffolk crosses (brown legs, beige off white fleece) 2 of them are very healthy an fat. One is rapidly dropping wight He essentially is a walking skeleton. He was always somewhat weaker looking than the others conformation wise, but he is just getting skinnier and skinnier. He eats well and drinks well. He also appears to be off and on lame on various limbs. (usually the hind end) which appears to be sinking underneath him. It appears as though he is very weak in the hind quarters I would like advice as to what he has (i was told of spider, and selenium defficiency, ) He is currently on penecillin.

-- Holly Ginny (evo2ndthumb@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002

Answers

Check for coccidiosis also. Sounds like he needs a BoSe shot. If you wait too long you will loose him. Call the vet if you think that he is worth the money.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), March 15, 2002.

I agree with the above post, also take in a fecal (about 5 bucks to do) and the vet can tell you if your dealing with coccidious or a worm overload, which at one time I wormed my lambs with a wormer that wasn't getting the worms so...no weight gain. Are your lambs on any minerals with selenium and Vit. E in them. He if on Penn would need something else for the good bateria like phobios or yogurt. I wouldn't waist time right now guessing, if he is a 4H project take a fecal in or the lamb now.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), March 15, 2002.

Not very likely to be spider syndrom in a cross bred, besides he made it this far! Could be a cronic selenium deficency, what type of mineral sup. are you using? Salt? Free choice or block? What is thier feed exactly? Worming history and with what? You could get a fecal checked to make sure your targeting the right worms, but I'd guess a double dosed Safeguard (fenbendasole) to nab tape worms would be a good idea. Cocci is a thought a chronic infestation will not show the same symptoms as a severe problem. Do they get anthing as a preventative? He probably will need a rumen boost, and some easier to digest feeds as there's probably damage to his digestive tract too.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), March 15, 2002.

Take a fecal sample to your vet which can tell if its parasites or coccidiosis. Check his gums and scelera ( menbranes visable when you pull eyelid down) Are they a healthy dark pink or very pale oer white, a sign of anemia from a heavy parasite load. Compare the gum color with your other two lambs. What's his temperature.Rectally 101 to 103 is normal.How old is the lamb? I don't think a Bose shot will do much good once they are weaned. Selenium deficiency affects muscle developement but wouldn't cause the weight loss and failure to grow. Giving antibiotics without knowing exactly why is literally a shot in the dark. Can you separate him from the other two, where they can see each other, but he can eat without the competition? Get some nutradrench, a vitamin mineral proplyene molasses supplement , available at farm stores, animal health catalogues or maybe your vet. You will lose him if you don't intervene soon.

-- Kate henderson (kate@sheepyvalley.com), March 15, 2002.

Another thing you must be aware of is that when you are dealing with worms, worms are farm specific, which means that you may have totally different worms on your farm than your neighbor, so don't assume that using a brand of wormer that your neighbor or someeone else around you is using will do the trick. Take a fecal sample to the vet and find out specifically what type of worms if any you are dealing with before worming. wish you and your lamb the best of luck and hope allworks out for you.

-- kathy in southeast ohio (katelyn_123us@yahoo.com), March 15, 2002.