[Jacob-list] Grass Tetany or Magnesium Deficiency

[Neal and Louise Grose]

It is probably too late to get the necropsy done now unless the ewe has been 
"on ice". But I recommend that you find out if you have a state lab that 
will do them for free. We are fortunate to live 20 minutes from a lab.

We had a bout with copper toxicity several years ago, ewes went into labor 
and had difficult deliveries, didn't clean off and then died on the weekend. 
By the time I could get the body to the lab on Monday, they were 
characterized as "too decomposed for analysis".

I resorted to putting a ewe that was going down in the back of the truck and 
letting her die en route before we got a good diagnosis - THEN it was 
obvious. Oddly enough, we never lost a Jacob to copper toxicity, only the 
longwools.

One additional note, if you lose one for neurological symptoms, call them in 
on an emergency basis. They get real concerned when rabies may have been the 
culprit and you have been treating the animal.

Neal Grose
North Carolina