Monday, January 16, 2012
East Friesian - Tetanus ( Lockjaw )
East Friesian tail docking and castration can put lambs in danger of Tetanus. We boost our East Friesian dairy ewes with Covexin 8. Karras Farm administers 300-500 units units of tetanus antitoxin at the time of tail-docking or castration. The antitoxin will protect the lambs for about two weeks while the wounds are healing. Since there is no known cure for Tetanus, protecting your sheep by taking preventative proactive measures is worth the effort.
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You write: 'Since there is no known cure for Tetanus....'
ReplyDeleteActually tetanus antitoxin and penicillin if given promptly and in sufficient amounts, can cure tetanus- I know because I have done it. The hardest part was getting enough milk into the lamb to keep her alive until the lock jaw went away (before I knew about feeding tubes).
It is recomended to give the ewes their booster shot 2-6 wks before lambing so that some immunity will be passed to the lamb. Then vaccinate the lambs at 10-12 weeks.
Jennif Chandler
Hello Jennifer and thanks for the comment. We are glad to hear your lamb made it. We encourage all sheep breeders to post helpful experiences for others to learn from. It is however fact that there is no cure for Tetanus only preventative treatments such as the one you have mentioned and worked for your lamb. If you were to google "cure for Tetanus" this is the typical response: Is there a treatment for tetanus?
DeleteThere is no "cure" for tetanus once symptoms develop, just supportive treatment and management of complications. The best "treatment" is prevention through immunization. Thanks you again for reading the blog and getting involved. We wish you, your family and your animals a very prosperous and healthy 2012.
Hello hello! My family is looking to bring some dairy sheep onto our family farm, where do we find information on purchasing them? We live in Fuquay Varina NC. Thanks!
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