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"Hi, my name's Maisie. This is my best friend Hank."
The boys have been begging to join the main flock. Today was a nice cool day so I decided to give it a try. Other than a Chocula leg hook by (always) mean Heidi and a nasty sucker punch to Hershey courtesy of (always) mean Rebecca Boone, everyone seems to have made it through the first day. Evening feeding time was a little exciting, but not much gets between Maisie and a meal ;-).
Bitey Whitey's lab results came back as extensive bladder stones. This afternoon was spent pulling soil plugs from all over the farm. As he was not getting a ton of concentrated feed (the standard cause), there's got to be something wrong with our grass. Hopefully those lab results will point us in the right direction.
17 comments:
Between watching for leg hooks and sucker punches and plucking grass clumps, you've had quite a gut wrenching day yourself!! I recommend a bottle of wine as a cure tonic for the above. Good grief!
Cute captures, tho!
I am glad the boys are being accepted into the main flock with no major problem.
It is important to know the cause of Bitey Whitey's passing. But since your other sheep seem to be fine, can it be that he, for some reason, was unable to process the calcium, or whatever causes bladder stones in sheep?
If he had been the only sheep to have a problem, that would be my first thought. However, with the three last year...you've got to think something's wrong here. It seemed like everything settled down last year when I added in extra salt to their minerals. The boys have had the same extra salt block but weren't eating on it. Could that be part of it? I switched them to loose salt to see if they just didn't "get" or have a taste for licking the block. I've seen them all grab a mouthful...
I was under the impression that was the same problem with some of the other sheep that have died. ???? But how could he have developed "extensive " stones so fast? You haven't had the new sheep that long.
On a lighter note, hope to see you at the Wool Fest! And I also hope the strips Comby is guarding mean you are making some wreaths!
In a feedlot situation (way not what we have here) they can develop in 4-6 weeks. He'd been here 7 weeks. In no way fits the classic causes, but that's what the report came back with.
If sheeps are like people then some are stone makers naturally, changing your PH can help. I drink Lemonade all year round to keep the stones at bay as does my daughter. Just a thought not that you should put everyone on Lemonade..but it may be an easy fix. Your vet will point you in the right direction:)
Sara, are you on well water or community water supply, have your water tested. I end up with a lot of white residue on everything from my water.
Also another factor is age at neutering. Talk to your vet about addubg the ammonia sulfate.
Hope you share pictures of your wins at fiber fest here ...... you rock girl.
Oop that should be adding ammonia sulfate .......... fingers are tired and old.
Let us know about the results of the tests please. With us being so close, it could come in handy here. Hope you figure it out.
"Pictures of your win at fiber fest"!? Which fiber fest, which pictures??!!
Not nosy, just wondering:-). Love pictures.
Learning, learning. So many interesting comments here as to the causes/fixes of the stones problem. I will store all in the back of my head for my 'someday' dream.
And...I have seen the blue ribbons. Well deserved Dear Lady,
Your sheep are beautiful and I hope you can fix your grass problem. I would love to have sheep, but it just seems like it would be cruel where I live and I would never get the great coats I adore.
you deserve the blue ribbon of life
Hope you get down to the bottom of this...
congrats on your blue ribbon...pictures please
Wow, so many pieces... you'll get it figured out!
Best of luck at the wool fest! :-)
I so hope you get things figured out as to why the problem with the kidney stones. It is always a guessing game, to some extent, with sheep, isn't it. Wishing you the best, and happy for the relatively painless integration! I know I was a nervous wreck for days when we took our two babies out from our backyard to the field with "The Uncles"!
Did you mention to the vet how much watermelon he ate? I don't mean to be knowledgeable in this area, I am just a problem solver by vocation.
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