[Jacob-list] Baking soda overdose?

[Johann Kuntz]

Linda,

I keep a salt lick for my sheep, but to be honest the ram didn't have access to it for sometime before he was shorn.  Your speculation makes a lot of sense.  He may have been craving salt.  I'll have to make sure he has regular access to the salt lick in the future.

I'm not sure I know all the reasons for offering baking soda, but I know it can help to balance the ph of their stomach if it becomes too acidic.  However, I thought they would only eat it if they really needed it.  

On a side note, when I offered the baking soda to my ewes and lambs at an earlier date, they made quick work of it too.  However, they finished it off in a few days (between two ewes and three lambs) rather than a few minutes.  I'm not sure why they liked it so much.  They have had regular access to the salt lick, so it can't be the salt craving for them can it?  None of them got sick from it either.

Johann

Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 19:59:21 -0400
From: patchworkfibers at windstream.net
To: johanndiedrich at msn.com
CC: zach at fattoaster.com; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] Baking soda overdose?






  


Do you offer any other free choice
mineral? If your ram was gorging on baking soda, might he have been
salt starved? 

I've heard of putting out free choice baking soda as a preventative for
bloat. Are there other reasons to offer baking soda? Just curious as to
why it was recommended.

I'm very glad to hear that your ram got through the problem - sounds
like the mineral oil dose worked. 



Linda



Johann Kuntz wrote:

  Well... 
I guess it's a good thing that no one else has a baking soda overdose
experience to share right?  

  

Update:  My ram is back to normal today.  No shivering, and no muscle
spasms (the spasms were pretty bad before).  Also, he seems to have
fully recovered his appetite and readily consumed the grain I offered
him today.

  

I'm sure my ram's previous owner had given him baking soda with no
issues.  This leads me to believe that maybe he was not in his right
mind when he downed ALL the baking soda.  He was probably just stress
eating due to having been shorn by a noob right before he was given the
baking soda.

  

I'm not sure if I'll ever offer him baking soda again, but if I do I
will definitely keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn't over do it.

  

Johann

  


> From: zach at fattoaster.com



> Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 16:30:34 -0400



> Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] Baking soda overdose?



> To: johanndiedrich at msn.com



> CC: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com



> 



> Johann,



> 



> Humans can overdose on sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). You can

also


> individually overdose on either sodium or bicarbonate. Either way,

an


> overdose can cause drastic reduction in potassium levels, which can



> cause all kinds of symptoms... severe vomiting and cardiac arrest



> among them.



> 



> Although I have no idea if that translates directly to sheep, first



> guess would be you just confirmed it.



> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^



> Zach Oaster



> zach at fattoaster.com



> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^



> Visit Zach's worship resource and blog site:

http://www.fattoaster.com


> Visit Zach & Lindsay's farm blog:

http://fattoasterfarm.wordpress.com


> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^



> 



> 



> 



> On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 2:09 PM, Johann Kuntz

<johanndiedrich at msn.com> wrote:


> > Hi everybody, my name is Johann and I've just joined the

Jacob sheep list.


> > I've been learning a lot from the archives.



> >



> > Has anyone else has experienced baking soda overdose in

sheep?  Until


> > recently, I had never given baking soda to any of my sheep. 

I've seen free


> > choice baking soda recommended by so many sources online, and

the previous


> > owner of my ram also recommended it as well, so a couple

weeks ago I put out


> > a tray of baking soda for my ewes and lambs.  They seemed to

like it and


> > over a period of days consumed it all.  Then a couple of days

ago I sheared


> > my ram for the first time.  After shearing him I decided to

offer him some


> > baking soda to see if he liked it.  I put out a tray full and

then left him


> > for a few minutes.  When I came back the baking soda was all

gone.  I know


> > he didn't spill it either, because there wasn't any on the

ground.  I don't


> > know exactly how much I put out as I didn't measure it

thinking the sheep


> > only eat a little as needed.  Anyways, when I checked on him

he appeared to


> > be shivering.  I thought he was cold from having his fleece

removed, so I


> > offered him some grain so he'd have extra calories to burn

for heat.


> > However, he wouldn't eat.  He began to have muscle spasms and

was very weak


> > on his feet.  He fell down a number of times when trying to

stand up, and he


> > bashed his chest against a piece of wood when I tried to

catch him.  It was


> > very sad.  I couldn't find any information online about sheep

overdosing on


> > baking soda, so I thought maybe he was just so cold that he

lost muscle


> > coordination.  I put a blanket over him for the night, but he

was still in


> > horrible condition the next day.  This either went on for one

or two days (I


> > can't remember for sure cause I've been busy).  Yesterday I

decided to give


> > him about two tablespoons of mineral oil, because I thought

there was no way


> > he could be that cold.  It had to be the baking soda. 

Probably within an


> > hour of giving him the oil, he began to nibble at grass

again.  He remained


> > very weak with lots of muscle spasms through out the day, but

he continued


> > to regain his appetite.  This morning when I checked on him

he seemed to


> > have regained a lot of his strength.  I don't think he's near

fully


> > recovered, but definitely getting better.  I think he could

have died if I


> > did not give him the mineral oil.  I just don't understand

why I could find


> > no information online about sheep overdosing on baking soda. 

Has anyone


> > else had a similar experience?



> >



> > Johann



> >



> > _______________________________________________



> > Jacob-list mailing list, sponsored by Swallow Lane Farm &

Fiberworks


> > Jacob-list at jacobsheep.com



> > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/jacob-list



> >



> >


  
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