Lecture 14: Small Ruminant Health Management Flashcards
What is the most common cause of death for lambs in the first week of life?
-Hypothermia and hypoglycaemia
Symptoms:
-Empty abomasum
-Depressed
-Convulsing
-Dead
-Cold body temp (< 37 can be revived so important that act quick)
Why do lambs get hypoglycaemia/hypothermia?
Starvation
-Too weak to nurse
-Dam has no colostrum/milk
-Cant find mother (rejected, animals moved, etc)
Chilling
-Unable to make energy (no fat stores)
-Environment is cold, crafty, wet
-Brain damage during birth- can’t thermoregulate well (from dystocia)
Limited energy stores at birth
-Brown fat for quick energy- depletes in hours
-Body temp drops quickly
-Depressed, comatose, dead
What is treatment look like for hypothermia and hypoglycaemia?
-Involves supplying nutrients and warming
- Can it suckle? (put finger in mouth see if have a suckle reflex)
-Tube feed 50ml/Kg warm colostrum or
-Supply energy by intraperitoneal 20% dextrose
-Before warming - Is it cold?
-Warm to 39 C before returning to dam (warming box or blow warm air under surface not directly on)
-Determine why got in trouble in first place
Goal: When cold decrease metabolism so when warm up want to make sure kid/lamb has enough energy source bc increase in temp w/ increase metabolism so can die if warm up too quick with no energy
What is Enterotoxaemia/Pulpy Kidney?
-3w-1y of age BUT most common in 3-6m (older lambs)
-Clostridium perfringens type D
-Bacterial spores in manure, soil, that contaminate feed (lives lots of places and won’t cause disease unless increase in carb diet)
-Excess carb in diet (grain/lush pasture)
-Bacteria will grow in abomasum/upper intestine
-Secrete exotoxins that are absorbed into the body
-Kills the animal very quickly- brain, heart, kidney damage (don’t have a chance to save)
How do you control Pulpy Kidney?
Vaccination program to protect young stock
-Primary series @3&4 m
-Annual booster 1 m prior to parturition
-Vaccine must contain antigen for Cl.tetani (tetanus) and Cl. perfringrns type D (pulpy kidney)
-Feeding management to reduce risk of undigested carbs in intestine (introduce pasture slowly)
What is Vitamin E Selenium deficiency? What are the symptoms and who are at risk?
White muscle disease (extreme case trans muscles white)
-Severe muscle necrosis
-Stiff, unable to rise, death
May appear like pneumonia (issues with diaphragm bc poor contractions, may be down/puffing like a cow would with phenomena)
Add Se and Vitamin E to ration
-Gestating dams: pass through placenta and colostrum
Or inject lambs/kids at birth
-Suffifent selenium for ~2 w
-Sufficent Vit E for ~3 d (doesn’t last long)
What are clinical sings of pneumonia?
-Severe bronchopneumonia- usually Mannheim haemolytica
-Dull & off feed/may find dead
-Fever > 40.5 (normal ~39.0-39.5)
-Roused easily if jump in pen-observe from outside (easier to observe normal behaviour)
-Key to treatment is easily recognition
What are risk factors for pneumonia?
*note: no vaccine so centre around controlling environmental conditions
-Environment stresses predispose to development of disease
-Stocking density
-Air changes (w/o having draft)
-Ammonia (can smell it so can get dictators, but may allow other infections in)
-Temperature fluctuations
-Humidity (impacts how volatile pathogens are)
-Transport
-Mixing
What is coccidiosis?
-Causes GI signs bc damage to lining
-Very common in young stock
-Intestinal protozoal parasite
-Destroys lining of intestine
-Pasty stool to bloody diarrhea
-Poor leading to sudden death
-Can be subclinical
How do you control Coccidiosis?
Don’t mix feces and feed:
-Keep feet off of feed (elevate feed)
-Reduce build-up of oocytes (coccidia eggs)
Prevention-ionophores (feed)
-Included in supplement/creep feed
-Need to consume enough
-Need to consume AHEAD of infection
(last 2 are in pre-wean phase so challenge to make sure animals are eating enough grain not just milk)
Prevention totrazuril (Baycox, Bayer)
-Drench once 1 w before onset of clinical signs
-Usually 3-4w of age
What are the production limiting diseases of sheep and goats?
-Lameness
-Footrot
-Copper Toxicity
-Gastrointestinal paracites
-Haemonchus contortus
What is lameness causes by and what other injuries can it lead to?
Can either cause:
Foot scald
-Interdigital dermatitis from wet, dirty conditions (necessary cause)
-Fuscobacterium necrophorum (found in environment)
Foot rot- more extreme
-Fuscobacterium necrophorum + Dichelobacter nodosus
-D. nodosus lives only on sheep foot
-Dies on pasture after 1 w
-Many strains (benign to virulent)
-Virulent strains “eat” the sole of the foot
*pasture wet and softening of pad+ bacteria present to cause infection
How do you control/treat foot rot?
Foot bathing
-10% solution of zinc sulphate foot baths
-Soak for 20 mins 2x week
Systemic antibiotics
-not penicillin (not effective some resistance)
Hold off “infected pastures” until clean
Cull non-responders
TRUE OR FALSE: unlike cows, sheep will walk on their knees if they have an hoof infection since it hurts to put pressure on their hoof.
TRUE
What is copper toxicity?
-Dietary copper needs in seep and 1/4 of cattle
-Goats same as cattle
-Store extra Cu in liver until too much and liver cells start to die
-Sudden onset of toxicity (bc sudden release into circulation)
-Damages red blood cells
-Dark urine
-Jaundice (mucus membrane supposed to be pink not yellow)
-Death
-Critical to avoid extra Cu in ration
-Mineral source, some feeds
-Pig & poultry manure (can be higher in copper)
-Ration < 10ppm dry weight (DW) copper
-Molybdenum, zinc and sulphur complete with Cu uptake - need to be balanced
