[Jacob-list] Hypocalcemia

[MView16 at aol.com]

Hi,

I had a very young, small Shetland ewe get this calcium defficiency when her 
first, large lamb was a couple of weeks old.  She staggered about in a crazy 
fashion and fell down, panting.  The vet came immediately and gave her the 
appropriate solution under the skin in several parts of the ewe's body.  
Without more experience, I would not like to attempt this treatment...even 
though I give all routine injections.  The ewe's recovery was immediate, but 
I had to supplement the lamb with about 3 bottles a day.  He was almost as 
big as his mother!  This same ewe raised twins the next year with no 
difficulty.

As a result of this incident...and a couple of other problems with very 
young, small ewes at lambing time, I chose to delay breeding to the second 
year for most of my ewes, using their size as the selective factor.

Jeanne Massey
Marsh View Farm