Lamb with no ears !!

foxylock

Howya lads, this is a bit of a strange one....

I had the flock in the pens at the weekend, doing a bit of work with them when I noticed a lamb with just a bloody stump where her ear should be. At first glance it looked to have been bitten off but when I caught her to examine I noticed her other ear had become hard like old boot leather and had split almost seperating from her head. While examining her she became agitated and shook her head violently until the second ear went flying across the yard!! She has no outward signs of any disease, maggots, ticks etc, a perfectly healthy march born ewe lamb but with two bloody stumps where her ears used to be. Anyone know what the fup I'm dealing with coz I never even heard of this happening before.

On a lighter note how am I going to tag her !!!

moy83

We had a calf last year and a donkey that was in the field with them chewed the tips of his ears off . They swelled up till the ear was nearly closed then they split and dried out and another bit fell off the tip of both of them .
He is sound now but has a funny looking head on him with only half sized ears .
I dont know if anything like this could of happened your lamb but hopefully it wont slow him down

foxylock

Nothing here but sheep, could I have cannibal sheep:eek::eek:

moy83

Well we had a cannibal donkey so you never know :D:D

foxylock

might be easier to sneak up on her too.......... Not that I condone that behaviour or anything.... right, I'll shut up now. Seems I picked the wrong night for straight forward advice :D

supersean1999

ring a vet first and get proper advice,

Username John

foxylock wrote: »

Howya lads, this is a bit of a strange one....

I had the flock in the pens at the weekend, doing a bit of work with them when I noticed a lamb with just a bloody stump where her ear should be. At first glance it looked to have been bitten off but when I caught her to examine I noticed her other ear had become hard like old boot leather and had split almost seperating from her head. While examining her she became agitated and shook her head violently until the second ear went flying across the yard!! She has no outward signs of any disease, maggots, ticks etc, a perfectly healthy march born ewe lamb but with two bloody stumps where her ears used to be. Anyone know what the fup I'm dealing with coz I never even heard of this happening before.

On a lighter note how am I going to tag her !!!

Weird...

Bit of googling, and I found this - you'd hardly think sunburn was an issue this year? :eek:
Might not be the answer to your issue at all, just something I found and was surprised at.

Username John

Found this image in a sheep health book I have - is it similar to the issue you have?

DMAXMAN

foxylock wrote: »

Howya lads, this is a bit of a strange one....

I had the flock in the pens at the weekend, doing a bit of work with them when I noticed a lamb with just a bloody stump where her ear should be. At first glance it looked to have been bitten off but when I caught her to examine I noticed her other ear had become hard like old boot leather and had split almost seperating from her head. While examining her she became agitated and shook her head violently until the second ear went flying across the yard!! She has no outward signs of any disease, maggots, ticks etc, a perfectly healthy march born ewe lamb but with two bloody stumps where her ears used to be. Anyone know what the fup I'm dealing with coz I never even heard of this happening before.

On a lighter note how am I going to tag her !!!

we had a ewe a number of years ago that lost her ears as a ewe lamb. vet sais it was like sunburn but not related solely to sunshine.the ewe was here for about 6 years and it never bothered her .see a little bit of it every year in charolais lambs

foxylock

Got my answers this morning lads, it's a pretty severe form of photosensitization. The cause is twofold it is brought about either by the animal eating certain plants that deliver chemicals into the bloodstream and sensitize the skin to light or it can be through impaired liver function. So fair play to all who replied ye were on the ball. The wee lamb is now in a darkened room and is expected to make a full recovery.

Thanks again, take care.

bob charles

foxylock wrote: »

Got my answers this morning lads, it's a pretty severe form of photosensitization. The cause is twofold it is brought about either by the animal eating certain plants that deliver chemicals into the bloodstream and sensitize the skin to light or it can be through impaired liver function. So fair play to all who replied ye were on the ball. The wee lamb is now in a darkened room and is expected to make a full recovery.

Thanks again, take care.

we get a few cases every year with cattle, always the lighter colored coats