Sheep Ailments
As you are about to see, there are a great deal of illnesses/ailments that sheep can have. Some are serious, some not so serious. I'm only going to list a few, and please don't rely on this information, it's just intended as a general guide...
Bloat
Bloat is something that can affect sheep who have grazed on too much rich vegetation or frosted cabbage. This needs to be sorted out otherwise it can be fatal. Go to the vet if it looks serious. Don’t change your sheep’s diet too quickly as this will cause it to be ill. You should instead make the change gradual. This is because the bacteria which break down the food need to be given a chance to adjust to the change in food. Sheep are chewers of the cud, which means that they have four stomachs - they swallow the food, regurgitate it, chew it, swallow it again, and then it gets passed onto other stomachs for the bacteria to work on.
information from "Sheep a Guide to Management" - Edward Hart
Sheep Scab
Sheep scab causes itching so intense that the sheep knows no rest, becomes emaciated and eventually dies.
Scrapie
This disease attacks the nervous system, causing severe itching, lack of coordination and eventually death. There is currently no cure. All you can do to prevent it is by trying to buy sheep that are scrapie free in the first place. Sheep under eighteen months are not usually hit by this disease, and if foundation stock of five years old and upward is bought, chances of an outbreak are lessened but that's not to say that they won't have it.
Flock recording is well worth the time and expense. If scrapie appears in the flock, the only way to try and control it is by culling all descendants and known ancestors of the sheep concerned. This means accurate recording and a willingness to be ruthless when it means having to put down perhaps your favourite sheep.
Preventable diseases
Swayback
Swayback is a deficiency of copper affecting the brain and muscle control in young lambs. Afflicted lambs are born normally, but after a few days lose proper use of their limbs, particularly the hind ones. Some can drag themselves along. It can be prevented by injecting the ewes with a copper preparation supplied by the vet around mid-pregnancy.
Orf
Orf is a condition of older lambs, and sometimes ewes which develop unsightly lesions on the face and lips. Orfoids given orally, or terramycin spray on the lesions, usually gives a cure, but far better 'scratch' the lambs with a preventative from the vet. The vet's advice is essential, for if the condition is not orf, it will be after using the live vaccine. The disease is difficult to eliminate once it appears on a farm.
Footrot
Footrot brings lameness, and should be suspected as soon as a sheep hobbles. It is caused by an organism that can live in the soil for at least a fortnight. It brings on sore places between the claws or at the side of the hoof. Ewes cannot milk properly with footrot, and lambs will not fatten. It spreads rapidly, especially on wet land which, though not being a direct cause, softens the hoof. Checks feet at certain specific times, and pare off surplus hoof. Individual cases are treated by a spray, or a paste containing copper sulphate, but a regular walk through a footbath containing copper sulphate solution or formalin is recommended.
Read this article if you live in the UK and own sheep.
Pregnancy Toxaemia
As lambing approaches, the nutritional needs of the ewe increase while her stomach capacity is lessened by the unborn lamb's growth. If she carries two or more the problem increases. At a certain point the deficiency may become so acute that the sheep falls into a stupor or semi-coma, and several animals may be affected, as if an infection had hit the flock.
The answer is to feed less roughage, only of the highest quality, and plenty of easily digested concentrates. This usually works in a shed, but if the ewes are outside another factor enters the equation. Bad weather, notably driving rain, causes further energy loss from the ewe, who then goes down. In that case feeding glucose solution, or injecting glucose into a vein, may help. Anabolic steroids from the vet are now being more widely used.
Hypomagnesaemia (Grass Staggers)
This is preventable in theory, as it is simply a deficiency of magnesium and/or calcium in the blood stream. The animal's body cannot store magnesium; requirements must be met daily. Only a trace is needed but, particularly when there is a sudden flush of grass, that trace may be absent.
The sheep collapses, with glazed eyes, and may throw a 'staggers fit'. If caught in time, 60 to 80ce of calcium burogluconate injected under the skin in different parts of the body may save the situation. If attacks occur, carry bottle and syringe on every round; by the time you have reached the veterinary cupboard and returned to the field it may be too late.
Calcined magnesite is spread on dairy pastures to combat the problem, but you can't do that on a hill. Mineral licks should be offered, but there is no certainty that every sheep partakes. They won't eat magnesium from choice; it must be disguised, and liquid feeds mixed with molasses are a suitable carrier. High-magnesium concentrates may be fed right into June, and certainly help, but it goes against the grain to pay for cake when the pasture is shooting ahead.
Draft hill ewes put on rich spring pasture can drop like flies from grass staggers. One practical point is never to use a compound fertiliser on sheep pasture in spring; leave the potash element till midsummer.
Other diseases
Foot and Mouth
Foot and mouth disease is notifiable, the symptoms being high temperature (normal is 104-5'F, 40-40.6'C); lesions between the claws which cause lameness, and salivating. On the slightest suspicion, you must call your vet immediately.
Abortion
Ewes can abort through fright or rough handling, and then you have an abortion "storm". A lambing may start badly, with a few ewes lambing weak or dead short-term lambs, and then settle down. If more than the occasional ewe aborts in mid- or late-pregnancy, seek immediate professional advice with samples for the veterinary investigation, as there are a number of different types of infectious abortion.
Vaccination is possible against this killer that can affect sheep indoors or outdoors. At the first sign of abnormal breathing, a penicillin injection should be given, 6cc for an average weight adult sheep, followed by 4cc on the next two days. Pneumonia can occur on hot days, especially if the nights are cold, and in soaking wet weather, particularly if it follows a dry spell and the sheep are unaccustomed to the change. Vaccination is possible, but is neither sure nor straightforward, because of the number of types of pneumonia.
Urinary Calculii
A blockage of the urinary tract can occur, particularly if housed on dry feed. There is no practical cure - send the sheep to slaughter (if you are breeding sheep for this purpose), before it suffers more pain. Symptoms are lassitude and straining, and swelling around the wether's pizzle. Feeding soaked sugar beet pulp or roots does help as a preventative with housed stock. Adding salt to the drinking water to raise input is also recommended.
Lamb Diseases
Watery mouth
Watery mouth is self-descriptive, and occurs in young lambs. It is an E.coli infection, and an oral antibiotic plus an antibiotic injection usually works.
Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis comes with intensification. It is treated by medication, but is so serious that veterinary advice should be sought.
Joint ill
Joint ill will arise if navels are not treated immediately after birth with iodine or antiseptic spray. Lambs become lame and stiff-jointed.
Obviously, I can't give the amount of information you need on sheep ailments, so I’ve collected some excellent links you should find more than adequate to help you with this:
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