Delilah has Scours

Delilah has settled in very well. She is enjoying her time with Katielyn, and I'm sure has no idea she is a lamb, but thinks she's human. She even talks "Maaaaaa" she hollers each morning when she wants her bottle.

Delilah before she started scouring (no sticky butt)

We're feeding her 8oz of milk replacer 3 times a day, 7, 2, 10 (or just before Katie goes to bed). She spends her nights in an animal cage on the porch to protect her from predators and her days with Brandy in a little pen made from chicken wire and electric fence posts beside our yard.

This weekend I noticed Delilah has scours -very runny and stinky poop. I tried cutting back her milk over the weekend, and supplementing with a homemade electrolyte solution (recipe below) but it hasn't helped. I then tried peptobismal (3 cc 3 times a day) and cutting out the milk replacer yesterday and only feeding the electrolyte solution, but it hasn't had any affect. She's still eating well, her temperature is 102 which is in the normal range of 102-103, and very alert but I know how quickly lambs can go downhill with scours - and I'm not losing this one.

Off to the vet we went this morning. The vet weighed Delilah, she's 5 pounds. He gave us some Tribussen (a sulpha based antibiotic) as well as panacur (wormer) to give her for 5 days. I asked if he thought we were overfeeding her. He responded that "overfeeding" is "overblamed" for scours in bottle lambs.

I'm hoping she responds well to this treatment-I'm hopeful because she certainly doesn't act like a sick lamb.

Here's the recipe for a homemade electrolyte solution (electrolytes are not expensive but if you find yourself needing some and are in a town like ours which doesn't have much in the way of sheep products, it may come in handy:

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION

You can make in a pinch

1 quart water

2 ounces dextrose (corn syrup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Combine all ingredients

Electrolyte supplements help to restore electrolytes that may be lost by dehydration or used for the stress associated with moving, sorting, or vaccinations. It is best to feed electrolytes at least 30 minutes before or after feeding milk. Milk digestion is slowed when combined with oral electrolytes.