All Sorts Acre

July 26, 2011 Posted by niffer in Sheep

The consequence of an open gate: Part 2

Well, The barn gate had already been left open so now I had to just deal with it.

Dr. Swackhammer wasn't very long at all. He was going to drench them with a magnesium carbonate mixture to bring the PH levels back to normal. It had a few other constituents in it too, notably ginger and capsicum. Acidosis is generally caused when sheep, or other ruminants alter the PH levels in their rumens. Usually through eating grains. Essentially they desperately needed an antacid.

Dr. Rob, and his assistant Jemma, came in with a bucket, hose, funnel, and a bottle of powdered antacid for sheep. Of course Izzy and Thomas wouldn't just open up and say AWWW politely waiting to have a tube down their gullets. No, Dr. Rob had to catch and restrain the poor animals while getting that long tube down into their stomach.

Izzy was the first to be fed the tube. I turned on the light and Dr. Rob, promptly got Izzy into the stall and caught her. Izzy is not the best patient for anything. Even while trimming hooves she never completely settles down. She was no better today. Jemma mixed up the solution, the dosage was approximately one quarter of what a cow would get. (There are lots of reasons for this and I don't know what they are so I wouldn't try this at home without a vet present!)

Inch by inch the tube disappeared down Izzy's throat. I have done this to animals after they have expired in various classes I have taken. It is far easier when the animal can't move around. Watching Izzy thrash about is a good reminder of how strong even a small animal can be when they don't want to be cooperative. Once the tube was in her stomach Dr. Rob had to blow into the tube. I guess to make sure it was in the right place and to get things moving. He also could have been sucking like trying to get a water flow going too?

Dr. Rob had Jemma get the funnel ready and pour the antacid mixure into the funnel. Izzy really didn't like this but she took her dose. Once it was done the hose was pulled out of her like a long white worm. It looked very odd, like a magic trick. She stood there dazed for a moment, not sure what to do. Once she had realized she was no longer being held she walked towards the door slowly and calmly.

Watching an animal that has just been manhandled walk away is a strange sight. If you move too fast around most sheep they startle. We startle if something moves unexpectedly. But no, Izzy just walked and looked very dejected.

The same thing happened with Thomas. Thomas wasn't feeling well at all because he also walked out of the stall slowly.

Both of our poor sheep just stood there with their ears back staring. I felt so bad for them. The good thing is they should be better in a couple of days. Dr. Rob thought it was good it was caught early. Much shorter journey to recovery than if it had been left for another day.

So, there is my lesson of always being present when I am working with animals.

Here are the pictures!