Over July we have had more cases of milk fever in early lambing ewes than in previous years. A lot of this problem has been to do with climatic conditions and sudden changes in feed quality and types. 99% of cases of milk fever in ewes occur in triplet or twin bearing ewes. There is a number of things that can be done to avoid the problem.
¨ Don’t change the type of feed multiple bearing ewes are on from 4 weeks before lambing. Avoid changes such as grass to crops (swedes / kale etc), plantain / chickory to grass (see our last newsletter about plantain) and new grass to old grass.
¨ Minimise ewe yarding time for vaccinations or late crutching. Get ewes back on grass as soon as possible. This may mean processing ewes in batches rather than whole flocks at one time.
Milk fever ewes can be successfully treated if caught early. It always pays to have some injectable calcium and oral calcium on hand at this time of the year to treat ewes ASAP. Don’t confuse milk fever with sleepy sickness. The two conditions are similar however milk fever tends to:
¨ Often be more rapid in onset.
¨ Affect more ewes all at once.
¨ Be associated with feed changes rather than an outright lack of feed.
¨ Often milk fever ewes assume a sitting position with their legs out behind them and have a clear discharge from the nostrils. They may get up when disturbed and waddle off a small distance before stopping and sitting down again.