I have been noticing recently on my daily physio walks with the sheep that Lambie has been shaking his head a lot. Upon examination, I found this worrying granula growth above his eartag.
I immediately panicked and spent a good day trying to get a halfway decent photo of the back of Lambie’s lug to send to the vets for their advice.
I sent the photo over to the vet and a reply duly came back with the words “to try blue spray initially but the tag may need to come out. No need for anitbiotics at this time.”
So Daisy and I spent a few mornings letting Lambie into the house to be rugby tackled into a headlock while one of us sprayed blue spray on his lug. It was not an easy task.
Things did not seem to be getting better so, after my chat with the shearers yesterday, I made the decision to have a better look and possibly cut out the ear tag.
Lambie refused to be caught so we had to lure him into the house with Daisy sitting on the sofa noisily eating Lambie’s animal shaped biccies at him!
Another rugby tackle/headlock and I saw that the eartag had been pushed through the hole and it was looking nasty. So we cut the tag out, cleaned the hole with blue spray and returned Lambie to his field.
I went over later to have a wee chat with him.
I was grudgingly tolerated but he was not a happy Lambie.
I think Lambie must’ve rubbed the tag out of position.
I noticed later on, when I let the Boyzens out of their field this evening, that Lambie is not shaking his head as much so hopefully it will all calm down now.
I doubt Lambie will ever come into the house again, which is a pity because I want to blue-spray his lug daily.
Hope Lambie is better soon – give him a hug for us if you can! That must be a really tough go; to get him in a place and position where you can “anoint” him with the med. Always something, isn’t it. Take care – MMR
Oh my, hope you didn’t get blue spray all over the house! I sure hope it clears up now.
Oh dear, poor Lambie. I know how you feel about ear tags on your pet sheep in the first place. :(((
Hope he gets better soon and forgives you and Daisy. I feel certain he will! (the lure of the biccies)
Poor Lambie and those dumb ear tags! I’ve never heard of the blue spray before. Hope it does the trick on such a nice fella! Love your blog Frances….always so interesting. I had a good laugh over Daisy noisily eating Lambie’s biccies on the sofa!
Big hug to Lambie, the cutest sheep ever!
Jean
Oh dear poor Lambie. Sounds as if, like you say, he has rubbed his ear tag and it has caused a bit of infection. I am sure he will forgive you eventually as he usually enjoys his time in your house. Hope it clears up quickly and I hope you don’t have to put the ear tag back (although I know you are obliged to by law – unfortunately!!). Hope your panic is over – these animals have a lot to answer for with all the worry they cause us. Keep up with the blue spray – if you can.
Poor Lambie! Bad ear, someone else eating his biccies, blue spray (not a good color for him) and all of it being photographed! Hoping the ear heals, the biccies are given and someone gets a cuddle in the living room.
That tag must have been so irritating for him; good call, Frances! (Had the same thing w/our dog and it turned out to be a prickly foxtail way down in his ear).
P.S. I bet he’ll come back into the house
Is it possible to build an outdoor equivalent of a cattle pen for a sheep. One of those narrow pens where they go in for vet treatment. Then train Lambie to go in it with sweet feed. It would take a while. But it may be worth trying for similar happenings in the future.