Death in young lambs

MayoAreMagic

I have found a recurring issue with lamb mortality. Lambs of around 2-4 weeks old dying in a particular garden every year. They are good strong lambs off ewes with plenty of milk. Their stomach swells a bit after death. Now I would think it is a clostridial disease, (blackleg maybe?) and if I injected the mother I would probably prevent it (or that is my take on it anyway, if anyone else has any other info please give me your opinion).
What I am asking is do people notice this in particular fields and not others (literally yards away), and is there a particular area of a field that the disease would exist in? i.e. a drain or pond etc

Thanks.

tomwaterford

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

I have found a recurring issue with lamb mortality. Lambs of around 2-4 weeks old dying in a particular garden every year. They are good strong lambs off ewes with plenty of milk. Their stomach swells a bit after death. Now I would think it is a clostridial disease, (blackleg maybe?) and if I injected the mother I would probably prevent it (or that is my take on it anyway, if anyone else has any other info please give me your opinion).
What I am asking is do people notice this in particular fields and not others (literally yards away), and is there a particular area of a field that the disease would exist in? i.e. a drain or pond etc

Thanks.

Are they not thriving or just dying overnight??
Or are eating something poisonous

rangler1

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

I have found a recurring issue with lamb mortality. Lambs of around 2-4 weeks old dying in a particular garden every year. They are good strong lambs off ewes with plenty of milk. Their stomach swells a bit after death. Now I would think it is a clostridial disease, (blackleg maybe?) and if I injected the mother I would probably prevent it (or that is my take on it anyway, if anyone else has any other info please give me your opinion).
What I am asking is do people notice this in particular fields and not others (literally yards away), and is there a particular area of a field that the disease would exist in? i.e. a drain or pond etc

Thanks.

Clostridia is in clay, so its in every field, for the cost of vaccination it's foolish to be chancing it, to get proper cover at this stage, you have to inject the ewes twice, 6 weeks apart before they lamb and that covers the lamb for the first 10 wks or so

MayoAreMagic

No they are thriving, actually the stronger ones in the group. They just die overnight. If it was something poisonous then wouldn't more than a couple of lambs be dying?

Thanks rangler, and you are right, ultimately that is probably what I need to do to cure it. Im just wondering is it unusual for it to be in one field yet none of the neighbouring ones. Maybe farmers out there have similar experiences with it, it is good to share what we know about it, and indeed all aspects of losing lambs. Maybe I could end up saving one for you and you for me.

Dickie10

never used clostridial vaccination here, but lose one or two like that out in the field every year usually the biggest, im chancing it this year and if i lose two again thats it for next year. how much is the vaccination per ewe?

MayoAreMagic

How close to lambing could you do them? Would it have an effect via the milk a week or so after lambing?

Ard_MC

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

How close to lambing could you do them? Would it have an effect via the milk a week or so after lambing?

I would plan to be giving the second shot about 3 to 4 weeks before lambing. Think it is best before so the antibodies past to the lamb in the colostrum. No sure will the same affect occur in milk.

Only have to vaccinate the ewes twice the first yr, once a yr is enought after that.

rangler1

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

How close to lambing could you do them? Would it have an effect via the milk a week or so after lambing?

No it's transferred in the colostrum, I don't know why but lambs are only able to absorb the antibodies that's in colostrum ideally in the first 12hrs of life, after that the colostrum isn't as effective and I'd say after 24hrs, they don't absorb any antibodies at all....
I do them about a month from lambing, but it's important to do the ewes twice in 6 weeks to start them in the system

early_riser

rangler1 wrote: »

No it's transferred in the colostrum, I don't know why but lambs are only able to absorb the antibodies that's in colostrum ideally in the first 12hrs of life, after that the colostrum isn't as effective and I'd say after 24hrs, they don't absorb any antibodies at all....
I do them about a month from lambing, but it's important to do the ewes twice in 6 weeks to start them in the system

Never done them here but like op lose a few every year. have early lambing ewes lambing 2nd wk jan and mid march lambing ewes here. So if i wanted to do the early ones would it be ok do them 4 wks before lambing and then there second shot 2wks after lambing or what would be the best plan?? they are 6 wks from lambing at the minute

greysides

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

I have found a recurring issue with lamb mortality. Lambs of around 2-4 weeks old dying in a particular garden every year. They are good strong lambs off ewes with plenty of milk. Their stomach swells a bit after death. Now I would think it is a clostridial disease, (blackleg maybe?) and if I injected the mother I would probably prevent it (or that is my take on it anyway, if anyone else has any other info please give me your opinion).
What I am asking is do people notice this in particular fields and not others (literally yards away), and is there a particular area of a field that the disease would exist in? i.e. a drain or pond etc

Thanks.

It certainly has some of the hallmarks of a Clostridial disease.. sudden death, best lambs. Perhaps Lamb Dysentery, not Blackleg. If the earth gets bare in one part of the garden could the lambs be getting the bug via contamination from the ewes teats?
Apart from vaccine one possibility is to not use the garden...

Clostridial diseases are soil originating, some soil types are more preferred than others so one part of a field could be a source......... of course, that might have been where carcases were buried or animals died and 'became one with nature'.

However suspicious we are jumping to conclusions, a carcase or two to the regional lab may help with that.