Welcome to the home of Spered Breizh Ouessants. The name is in Breton and translates to "Spirit of Brittany". The breed of sheep 'Mouton d'Ouessant' originate from (funnily enough) the île d'Ouessant, part of a tiny island archipelago just off the north coast of Finistere, Brittany. These rufty tufty sheep survived on poor grazing from salty clifftop meadows and through a process of natural selection adapted perfectly to the rigours of the atlantic coast. It is also claimed that it was the women of the island who cared for the sheep whilst the men were away at sea for long periods of time. The women found their diminuative size easier to handle and so the breed was born...............
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Aine Update
The photo says it all really, no significant change, well unless you count a further week of not being well and eating virtually nothing. It seems the diarrhoea is under control but worryingly Aine has no appetite. Nimue joined her for a few days earlier in the week until I found Nimue ( who was doing a wonderful impression of a very healthy lamb) preventing Aine from getting to the water bowl. For the last few days with the mild weather I have put Aine out with the other lambs for a few hours a day, today, perhaps, there is a slight improvement , she voluntarily nibbled some ivy and after a few hours outside did actually seem to acknowledge the presence of the other lambs.
On the menu is vegetable soup to keep things going on the digestive front and to keep her strength up, how much longer she can continue like this I'm not sure, I will have to reappraise things in a couple of days if there is no improvement.
UPDATE on the update. Monday the vet exam showed an abdominal mass The x-rays showed that her bowels were in stasis, Aine was put to sleep. I am none the wiser and a lamb has lost her life. There are no words to describe that feeling.
6 comments:
Have you dosed her with live natural youhurt? Its very good for getting the gut flora on the move and the rumen going. I assume you have wormed and fluked....?
Hi Val, wormed and fluked and shes had probiotics designed to do the same thing as yoghurt. She has been ruminating. Today the vet found a large mass in her abdomen and x rays showed that her colon was in stasis. She was put to sleep.
Really sorry to hear that Renee, thats a real shame as she was really nice.You did everything you could have done so its just one of those things that happen, I do feel for you though because you really do your sheep well. xx
thanks I appreciate your comments x
Just had a thought.....last year Koudou was ill at the same time of year.....is there anything they are getting access to that you are unaware of?????
two very different presentations Koudou may well have been mushrooms if you remember there was an unseasonal dump of snow and the sheep were scratching through the snow to get to grass. its quite conceivable that he ate mushrooms some what frozen and thawed without realising what he was eating. Presentation was acute abdominal pain pulmonary oedema and responded quickly to pain relief and support. Aine was in a totally different paddock with access to plenty of grazing. onset was chronic she was subdued but no other signs and none of the other sheep with her were or have been affected. dunno
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