Calcium deficiency in ewes

jd06

Hi all
Had a ewe with calcium deficiency today she couldn't get up and was out of breath. The vet have her calcium in the vein and she jumped up and was grand after
After I had another one
I gave her 70 ml of calcium under the skin as told by the vet I also gave her ceto for energy
Does anyone else get this problem what causes it or is there any prevention

greysides

I read in a book for shepherds some years ago, that before the science was advanced enough to separate Twin Lamb disease and Milk Fever the condition was referred to as Lambing Sickness. As one brings on the other I would take an approach based on 'Lambing Sickness' and treat for both together.

(Being kept on a starvation diet after weaning can also bring on Milk Fever, BTW)

Prevention for Milk Fever would be to increase the calcium and Vitamin D in the ration during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. As it often happens after the stress of movement, provide hay and concentrates before and after and keep the calcium bottle handy.

jd06

Thanks greysides
How would I increase the calcium in the feed is it powder?
Plus is 70 mls enough under the skin seeing as I wouldn't be able to get the vein.

rangler1

jd06 wrote: »

Thanks greysides
How would I increase the calcium in the feed is it powder?
Plus is 70 mls enough under the skin seeing as I wouldn't be able to get the vein.

Are they getting meal, it should be in it

jd06

Yes there getting plenty of meal and are out on grass 2 weeks to lambing

greysides

Some useful notes here from Phil Rogers.

rangler1

jd06 wrote: »

Yes there getting plenty of meal and are out on grass 2 weeks to lambing

Talk to the nutritionalist that supplies your meal then, they might put extra calcium in a batch for you.
I see our agri merchant claims to have sweetened cal mag inour ration, never had calcium deficiency here

rangler1

greysides wrote: »

Some useful notes here from Phil Rogers.

Looks like formulating rations is a bit of a mine field......Problem can be too much calmag as well

greysides

Sweet Cal-Mag is a highly palatable form of calcined magnesite (cal-mag). It is basically a combination of salt, feed-grade cal-mag and a flavour.

Sweet Cal-Mag contains less magnesium than conventional Cal-Mag and it is approximately 33% Magnesium (Mg). Therefore it is important to note that the daily feeding rate is higher in order to provide the required amount of magnesium.

Feeding Rate:
Cows = 84 grams Sweet Cal-Mag per cow per day.
Ewes = 15 grams Sweet Cal-Mag per ewe per day

Calcined Magnesite is produced from the raw material Magnesium Oxide which is quarried around the world. Cal Mag offers the most commonly used and economic source of supplementary magnesium for Ruminant Livestock.

Typical Analysis:
Dry Matter 99 %
Magnesium 50 – 52 %

Note: Cal-Mag does not contain calcium. Effective regulation of calcium also relies on an adequate magnesium (Mg) status as it stimulates the mobilisation of calcium from the bone.

The vast majority of Irish dry cows will be on a grass silage diet this winter, a diet that is typically high in Potassium. The high potassium levels are caused by the slurry applications to silage ground during the spring, which are required to grow the grass for good yields of silage. The excess Potassium is not necessarily a bad thing, but farmers must be aware of the need to balance the Potassium with supplementary Magnesium, in order to avoid costly Milk Fever issues at calving time. The Potassium to Magnesium ratio in the diet of the dry cow should be between 4.5:1 and 5:1 – any higher than this and Milk Fever is likely to be a significant problem in a few months’ time.

Bleating Lamb

Don't know how correct it is but I have heard in past that if you have a ewe down and give her injection of Calciject (say 60ml) ,that it is dangerous to give them much Calciject again after that ( if they are still not coming right) .......as it can cause them to abort their lambs.So if you were giving them more Calciject say 24hrs later the most you should give is 30ml.

jd06

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Don't know how correct it is but I have heard in past that if you have a ewe down and give her injection of Calciject (say 60ml) ,that it is dangerous to give them much Calciject again after that ( if they are still not coming right) .......as it can cause them to abort their lambs.So if you were giving them more Calciject say 24hrs later the most you should give is 30ml.

Thanks for that. She's up and going around now. But she not grazing or eating much meal.- standing around a good but. I'm still giving her the ceto energy dose and I gave her 30 mms of calcium again yesterday
Don't know what else to do