A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 16,1989 Keystone (Continued from Page A 1) Lamb mortality “If sheep producers can reduce lamb mortality to 10 percent, they can increase their profitability by 65 percent,” stated Joe Rook, D.V.M., qf Michigan State Uni versity. Rook added that “a lot of lamb losses are actually management-related diseases.” Based on a four-year study con ducted tm Michigan sheep farms. Rook reported that 85 percent of total lamb losses result from star vation and hypothermia, pneumo nia, difficult births, abortion, and trauma. Other major findings from the study include that individual farms or flocks have different patterns of losses; evidence that producers spend money to treat diseases their sheep don’t have and don’t spend on the things actually causing death; that most lambs are bom alive and have a chance to survive: and that producers are usually unable to make management changes during lambing. Producers should keep a record of lamb losses and try to discover the cause as soon after discovering the death as is possible. “Keep a record in the bam of why lambs die and look it over at the end of the year to see if there’s a pattern,” Rook said. Farmers should take time during lambing to do a short autopsy on the lambs, according to Rook. “Submitting every lamb that dies to a state diagnostic lab is usually cost prohibitive. Reserve the diag nostic lab for further identification of persistent problems and as a support facility,” he added. Many farmers may find that doing the examination themselves is most effective in terms of money and time. Rook cautioned that fanners should be be careful when doing autopsies and that pregnant women or those of child-bearing age should particularly be careful when handling an aborted lamb because they may catch whatever caused the abortion. The record should include the death date and weight of the lamb. Low-birthweight lambs are extremely prone to hypothermia Cause of Death Hypothermia/Starvation Pnuemonia Stillborns Abortions Trauma Shepherds’ Symposium and starvation, and older iambs dying of starvation often weigh less than their flockmates. It is important to connect this weight loss to the mothering and milking ability of the ewe. When beginning an autopsy, the person should examine the exter nal surface of the lamb. “Many newborn lambs thought to be still born actually died from hypother mia and starvation,” Rook stated. Stillboms usually are coated with a thick mucous varying in color from clear to bright orange or yel low. The bright coloring is due to meconium staining and often is a sign of a difficult delivery. Briefly check under the tail for scouring and check for any fractures, defor mities, or swollen joints. Also check the feet for manure and degree of hardness, which will indicate the lamb was alive at birth. Stillboms have clean, pliable hooves. If a farmer intends to check lambs internally for cause of death, he may wish to first have his veter inarian show him exactly how to open up the lamb. Rook explained that first the lamb’s hide should be cut from under the front leg to the hip and folded back to expose the rib cage. Check to see if the ribs have been broken or if there has been any internal bleeding, which would indicate a difficult birth. There also should be fat deposits where the ribs attach to the spine and ster num. A lack of fat may indicate a lamb that starved to death. The next step is to make an inci sion through the cartilage junction of the ribs and sternum back to the point of the hip. Pull the rib cage up and away; the ribs may break and the diaphragm muscle may need to be cut Internal examination Check the lungs to see if the lamb has taken a breath. Stillborn lungs will be dark, slimy, and shiny, sort of like the appearance of a liver. Normal, aerated lungs look pink and spongy. The lungs will look bruised if the stillborn tried to breathe in the womb. Lambs that had pnuemonia have lungs with a dark purple, firm feeling area to the front and bottom Diagnosing Lamb Mortality Signs Lungs appear pink and spongy; lack of fat anywhere especially over the ribs, where ribs attach to spine and sternum, and around the heart and kidneys; stomach and intestinal tract are empty unless lamb was tube fed shortly before death; stomach may contain com silage or hay, indicating the lamb was looking for anything to supply energy; usually occurs within first three days of life. Lungs watery looking and dark purple, toward front and bottom of lung will be firm and have dark purple demarcation, especially right side, while back and top of lungs may look normal; may be a result of weakness from starvation; usually occurs during first three weeks of life. Lungs are dark purple color, similar to liver; stomach and intestines have no milk in it; if tried to breathe in womb, lungs look bruised; lungs or liver may be ruptured; feet are soft and clean rather than hard and dirty, which indicates the lamb lived for even a short while; will often have a thick mucous coating. In vivriosis. will see round, donut-like lesions on the liver and some swelling; in toxoplasmosis abortion, see leathery mummified fetus; hard to detect because at labs because need fresh corpse, placenta. If see fetuses with mummies, take a sample of chest cavity fluid to send with corpse for lab test May see fractured ribs, ruptured lungs or liver, or ruptured limbs; might have bright orange or mustard-colored stain. with more normal spongy areas to the top and back. The infected por tion of the lungs is usually on the right side. The heart should have a certain amount of fat attached to it In star vation lambs, the fat is missing, which means it used up all avail able fat in the body. In addition, there is little fat anywhere else, especially the kidneys. Examine the liver for large blood clots, which would indicate trauma to the abdomen, or yellow masses, which result from infec tion from the navel. Vibrionic abortion also may create small tan, donut-like lesions on the liver as well as swelling. If the lamb is stillborn, there will be no milk in the stomach or intes tine. With lambs that have starved or had hypothermia, there also may be no milk in the stomach or intestines, however, if the lambs have been tube fed shortly before death, there will be fluid milk in the stomach. Age at Time of Death (Starvation/Hypothermia) purpiv .i-lnflated lungs and straw-colored mucus In the stomach. Notice the fat reserves at the left of the lungs surrounding the kidneys above the Intestines. In a starvation lamb, there would be hardly any fat in the chest and abdominal cavities. “Don’t rule out starvation simp ly by the presence of milk in the stomach,” Rook cautioned. Hay or other ewe feeds in sto mach also indicates a starving lamb, which tried to obtain nutri ents any way it could. Examine the abdominal cavity for other problems. An absence of fat on the kidneys would indicate starvation; localized areas of dark puiple bowel may indicate intesti- Days of Age PSU Dean Judges UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) — Dr. Lamartine F. Hood, dean of Penn State’s College of Agriculture, served as a judge at the 1989 National FFA Extempor aneous Public Speaking Contest He was one of three official judges who selected winners at the con test which was held at the 62nd National FFA Convention in Kan sas City, Mo., recently. Gene Graham, assistant pro gram director of the agriculture and rural development committee, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Jerry Cordrey. assistant director of the Organization of the American Farm Bureau Federation, also judged the contest Each contestant drew three spe cific topics relating to vocational nal obstruction from twisted bow el. Post castration hemorrhage or urine from a ruptured bladder may also be found. Peritonitis often fol lows scours recovery and navel ill. Other speakers included Jim Beicrlein, Dan Meyer, Clair Engle, and Harold Harpster of Penn State. Lode for a summary of their pre sentations in upcoming issues of Lancaster Farming. State Unlvaratty Collage of Veterinary 'fnirf Of Agriculture Conference agriculture and the industry of agriculture. After choosing one topic, they had 30 minutes to develop their speech and four to six minutes to present it. They were also questioned on the topic by the judges for up to five minutes. . “Competitions like this are an excellent educational experience for the agricultural leaders of tomorrow and I’m glad that I was asked to take part,” said Hood. “The young people who partici pated in the national finals demon strated a great deal of maturity and skill. I’m sure that they have learned some valuable lessons that will help them no matter what type of agricultural career they are planning.”
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