Rotavirus is treated with supportive care. Young animals become very depressed and dehydrated. Rotavirus generally causes diarrhea in lambs and kids at 2-14 days of age. Lambs and kids are infected with a group of B rotaviruses, whereas most other animals and humans are infected with group A rotoviruses. Adequate ingestion of colostrum by newborns decreases the incidence of the disease.
The use of neomycin in lambs that appear normal may stop the progression of the outbreak. coli vaccine before they give birth to increase passive immunity. Ewes and does can be vaccinated with bovine E. Spectinomycin oral pig scours medicine is commonly used, though it is not approved for sheep and goats. Fluid therapy is the mainstay of therapy.Īntibiotics are used for both treatment and prevention of E. It is also called “watery mouth,” because affected lambs salivate and have a cold mouth. It usually presents itself as an outbreak in lambs and kids between 12-48 hours of age. It is seen in lambs and kids less than 10 days of age, but is most common at 1-4 days of age. coli scours is an opportunistic disease associated with sloppy environmental conditions and poor sanitation. The four major causes of diarrhea in lambs and kids during the first month of life are E. Diarrhea in lambs and goats is a complex, multi-factorial disease involving the animal, the environment, nutrition, and infectious agents. Sheep Experiment Station (Dubois, ID) showed that diarrhea accounted for 46% of lamb mortality.
It is usually not necessary to dock the tails of hair sheep or rat-tailed breeds.ĭiarrhea in young (neonatal) lambs and kidsĭespite improvements in management practices and prevention and treatment strategies, diarrhea is still the most common and costly disease affecting neonatal small ruminants. Otherwise the feces will run down the lamb’s back end. If a lamb can “wag” its tail, it will be able to use its tail to project away feces. On the other hand, the dock should be left long enough to cover the vulva of the ewe and an equivalent length on a ram lamb. However, the tail should not be docked too long nor too short. To help prevent flystrike, it is recommended that lambs be docked. Sheep that have diarrhea are more prone to flystrike (blowflies or maggots). There can be many causes of diarrhea: bacterial, viral, parasites, and diet. A definitive identification requires a sample for microbiological analysis. However, it is not possible to definitively determine the infectious organism by looking at the color, consistency, or odor of the feces.
The feces may contain blood or mucous and be smelly. (Image Source: National Animal Disease Information Service)ĭiarrhea is defined as an increased frequency, fluidity, or volume of fecal excretion.
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