- Thread starter
- #81
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Thank you. 
Sheep not well, sad news and some helpful info pg 9-10
- Thread starter big brown horse
- Start date
freemotion
Food Guru
Yes, I want a full report. I saved your instructions to my goat files for future reference....those are some great tips your vet gave. Let us know how it goes. Here's another 
- Thread starter
- #83
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Yes ma'am! Apparently this vet is "THE ruminant expert" and he is into more natural approaches.
aggieterpkatie
Swiss Army Wife
Hey BBH, are you close by any large ag schools or dairy farms? They may have a fistulated cow and may let you have some rumen juice.
Good luck!
Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #85
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Hey guys, sadly Dolly didn't make it. I had a feeling. As soon as he got an iv going she rolled her eyes back and died instantly. We were heart broken. In a way it was a blessing in disguise, she had retained the placenta (surgery) and desperately needed a cud transplant. Sam has dr visits all day tomorrow, I didn't know how I was going to find the time to gather cuds in the storming rain tonight.)
The silver lining is that he spent the time to teach me a few things that I can share with you, if you ever find yourself in a really bad situation. (He also gave Sam and me a big hug and said how sorry he was. I never had a vet do that before. On top of that, the bill was really small...I was shocked.)
1. You can steal a cud from another ruminant using a plastic tube and syphoning one out. (If the spoon and stick trick didn't work, which they didn't for me.)
First you MUST buy a 6 inch (1/2 inch hole) cpvc pipe (you probably have to cut it to size).
Get some plastic tubing from a vet supply place, make sure it is the right size for a goat/sheep etc. A rounded end is easier to put in place, but an open flat ended one makes syphoning more successful.
Put goat/sheep on milk stand to hold them as still as can be.
Measure how far you need to stick the tube down. You do this by measuring on the outside of their body from her mouth down her neck and to the back of the top of their front leg aka the arm pit area.
Put a lubed plastic tube (from the vet) through the pipe, stick it deep into her mouth. (The cpvc pipe keeps them from biting off the plastic tube and swallowing it.) Someone will have to hold it in place for you while you do the rest.
Then start pushing (gently) the tube back through the (well held) plastic cpvc pipe. Try sucking air out of your end of the pipe just a few inches past the pipe. If you get air, you are in the wrong place, try again. No air, (as if it were corked) keep pushing gently. I tried to suck air out again a few inches deeper, just to be sure.
While pushing, if you run into a bit of resistance, blow into the tube to expand the esophagus a bit.
Once you are at the measured length, syphon a tad...you should smell the contents of the rumin, if not push it in a bit more.
Use a big syringe fixed to the end of the tube to try to pull some up. You might have to keep trying, sometimes the fiber contents blocks the tubing. (I think you should have a few big syringes ready too...the vets use a great big ss syringe for this job.)
Put whatever you get into a double boiler (or two ss pails) that is full of warm tap water (make sure it isn't over 104). It needs to stay warm though until you are ready to do the next step.
When you are ready, make a drench by adding a syringe full of that same warm tap water swirl around and drench the sheep/goat etc.
When you pull the tube back out, keep the pipe in place, and put your thumb over the end of the tube (creates a vacuum) so nothing dribbles out and goes into their airway as you pull it out.
You probably need two people to do this. One to hold the cpvc pipe in their mouths and one to do the rest.
I know this may sound sad, but he taught me how do this with Dolly post mortem. It was hard, but I need to know how to do it.
2. How to tell if aborted/birthed lambs/kids were born dead (if you weren't there) is to cut them open and cut a bit of lung tissue out. Put it in a cup of water, if it sinks they never took a first breath, if it floats, they did.
3. A premature kid/lamb will have no bottom teeth.
4. I also got to see first hand how to give a sheep cpr. You punch the area just behind their front leg on the chest. You will have to move their front leg out of the way, b/c you are aiming at the "arm pit". You can do this with either side's pit b/c a sheep's heart (not sure about a goat) is pretty much right in the center. I think he did this 4 times and then pushed on her lungs (behind the rib cage) firmly 4 times. Repeat until you get a heartbeat.
5. If you have a big sheep/goat go down, like we did, and you have to transport them. Make a "tarp sling" by pushing them onto a tarp little by little. Once they are on, two people can easily lift up the animal and put it into the car, truck etc. The tarp helps with messes too.
I had a feeling. As soon as he got an iv going she rolled her eyes back and died instantly. We were heart broken. In a way it was a blessing in disguise, she had retained the placenta (surgery) and desperately needed a cud transplant. Sam has dr visits all day tomorrow, I didn't know how I was going to find the time to gather cuds in the storming rain tonight.)The silver lining is that he spent the time to teach me a few things that I can share with you, if you ever find yourself in a really bad situation. (He also gave Sam and me a big hug and said how sorry he was. I never had a vet do that before. On top of that, the bill was really small...I was shocked.)
1. You can steal a cud from another ruminant using a plastic tube and syphoning one out. (If the spoon and stick trick didn't work, which they didn't for me.)
First you MUST buy a 6 inch (1/2 inch hole) cpvc pipe (you probably have to cut it to size).
Get some plastic tubing from a vet supply place, make sure it is the right size for a goat/sheep etc. A rounded end is easier to put in place, but an open flat ended one makes syphoning more successful.
Put goat/sheep on milk stand to hold them as still as can be.
Measure how far you need to stick the tube down. You do this by measuring on the outside of their body from her mouth down her neck and to the back of the top of their front leg aka the arm pit area.
Put a lubed plastic tube (from the vet) through the pipe, stick it deep into her mouth. (The cpvc pipe keeps them from biting off the plastic tube and swallowing it.) Someone will have to hold it in place for you while you do the rest.
Then start pushing (gently) the tube back through the (well held) plastic cpvc pipe. Try sucking air out of your end of the pipe just a few inches past the pipe. If you get air, you are in the wrong place, try again. No air, (as if it were corked) keep pushing gently. I tried to suck air out again a few inches deeper, just to be sure.
While pushing, if you run into a bit of resistance, blow into the tube to expand the esophagus a bit.
Once you are at the measured length, syphon a tad...you should smell the contents of the rumin, if not push it in a bit more.
Use a big syringe fixed to the end of the tube to try to pull some up. You might have to keep trying, sometimes the fiber contents blocks the tubing. (I think you should have a few big syringes ready too...the vets use a great big ss syringe for this job.)
Put whatever you get into a double boiler (or two ss pails) that is full of warm tap water (make sure it isn't over 104). It needs to stay warm though until you are ready to do the next step.
When you are ready, make a drench by adding a syringe full of that same warm tap water swirl around and drench the sheep/goat etc.
When you pull the tube back out, keep the pipe in place, and put your thumb over the end of the tube (creates a vacuum) so nothing dribbles out and goes into their airway as you pull it out.
You probably need two people to do this. One to hold the cpvc pipe in their mouths and one to do the rest.
I know this may sound sad, but he taught me how do this with Dolly post mortem. It was hard, but I need to know how to do it.
2. How to tell if aborted/birthed lambs/kids were born dead (if you weren't there) is to cut them open and cut a bit of lung tissue out. Put it in a cup of water, if it sinks they never took a first breath, if it floats, they did.
3. A premature kid/lamb will have no bottom teeth.
4. I also got to see first hand how to give a sheep cpr. You punch the area just behind their front leg on the chest. You will have to move their front leg out of the way, b/c you are aiming at the "arm pit". You can do this with either side's pit b/c a sheep's heart (not sure about a goat) is pretty much right in the center. I think he did this 4 times and then pushed on her lungs (behind the rib cage) firmly 4 times. Repeat until you get a heartbeat.
5. If you have a big sheep/goat go down, like we did, and you have to transport them. Make a "tarp sling" by pushing them onto a tarp little by little. Once they are on, two people can easily lift up the animal and put it into the car, truck etc. The tarp helps with messes too.
miss_thenorth
Frugal Homesteader
Oh, BBH, I am so sorry!!
Henrietta23
Yard Farmer
I'm so sorry!!
savingdogs
Queen Filksinger
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How thoughtful you shared all that with us while your heart is breaking! I'm so sorry to hear that. Sounds like a nice vet.
justusnak
Almost Self-Reliant
I am so sorry she didn't make it Sounds like you have a wonderfull vet tho.
Sounds like you have a wonderfull vet tho.
freemotion
Food Guru
