Supplemental Vitamin E needed for good sheep health | Livestock | agupdate.com

2022-09-17 01:51:40 By : Mr. Jenson Yang

Green grass has Vitamin E that ewes need. Photo by Andrea Johnson, the Burren, Ireland.

Vitamin E is very important for gestating ewe and newborn lamb health. An antioxidant, Vitamin E is essential for preventing or repairing cell damage. Fresh grass is a good source of Vitamin E, but that’s not available when lambs are born before May.

At the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, ewes in the 40-head teaching flock are given a shot of Vitamin E subcutaneously four weeks ahead of lambing. Newborn lambs also receive a shot of Vitamin E subcutaneously shortly after birth. In addition, lambs receive Vitamin E orally as part of a “get up and go” product –such as Baby Lamb Strength Oral; Survive! Fast-acting Energy and Vitamin E; or a similar product.

“Our lambs receive two injections in the lambing jug (ewe/lamb pen after birth),” said Kyle Rozeboom, senior lecturer at the University of Minnesota and sheep production management and researcher. “Our lambs get a shot of penicillin for general health, and it helps a little bit for tetanus, and they get the Vitamin E shot. We also dip their navels, or some people spray to cover the navel with iodine.”

Built on the work of the late Dr. Kennedy of Pipestone Veterinary Service, Premier 1 offers Baby Lamb Strength Oral for a “10-fold increase in blood level Vitamin E.” The product also serves as a rapid energy source for lambs, according to the premier1supplies.com website. Today’s product is an all-natural nutritional supplement that contains vitamins A, D3 and E, as well as high energy fat.

Premier 1 Small Ruminant Nutritionist Dan Morrical, Ph.D., suggests that sheep producers look carefully at various methods for ensuring sufficient levels of Vitamin E and selenium. Morrical prefers to feed trace minerals year- round, although every producer needs to determine what works best for them.

The primary reason for supplementing Vitamin E is to prevent white muscle disease in lambs. A form of muscular dystrophy, white muscle disease causes wasting of the skeleton and muscles of lambs.

Look for an arched back and lambs that can’t walk properly.

Rozeboom says that flocks raised on soils with below-average selenium face the added challenge of selenium deficiency that can interfere with Vitamin E availability in lambs.

A lot of times, products are manufactured with both selenium and Vitamin E to prevent white muscle disease. Selenium deficiency in sheep can also reduce conception rates and increase stillborns.

In addition to hay, grain, and water, the flock at the university receives sheep mineral year-round.

About 4 weeks ahead of their due date, ewes receive a booster annual vaccination to fight of clostridium perfringens Types C & D plus Tetanus Toxoid (C/D&T).

“It’s very important that the ewes get this vaccine because baby lambs are very prone to clostridial diseases when they are young,” said Rozeboom. “Hopefully you’ll get some passive colostrum immunity to the lamb. That will hold the lamb over until they are 30-40 days of age and ready to get their C/D&T vaccine.”

Lambs receive another C/D&T vaccine about four weeks after the first.

When the ewes are getting their C/D&T booster, Rozeboom says that’s also a good time to give that injection of Vitamin E to the ewes – or a Vitamin E/Selenium combination injection.

Ewes also need deworming ahead of lambing but work with your veterinarian for the best plan to avoid anaphylactic shock.

“Once we get that lamb on the ground, it’s very important we give them a chance to live,” said Rozeboom.

At the University of Minnesota, each newborn lamb receives 20 milligrams of colostrum per pound as soon as possible, hopefully from its ewe. Colostrum replacements and/or supplements are also available for lambs if problems occur, and the ewe can’t provide colostrum.

Then, each lamb receives an injection of penicillin and an injection of Vitamin E, as well as Baby Lamb Strength or a similar product given orally to the lamb.

Once lambs are 7-10 days old, they have access to a balanced creep feed with trace minerals.

“It’s amazing how important adequate trace minerals are to the health of an animal,” Rozeboom said. “More research is coming out every day about a proper and good mineral program.”

Longtime sheep expert Mike Caskey was working with the Pipestone Lamb & Wool Program when Kennedy recognized the importance of Vitamin E.

“We were having problems with white muscle because we tend to be a little selenium deficient in this region,” said Caskey in a phone interview. “Those producers lambing in March or later, we had lambs that were deficient, and had levels too low in selenium and/or Vitamin E.”

White muscle was more of a problem for sheep producers before Kennedy’s research on this. Many areas have selenium deficiency in the soil.

“Anytime we are feeding roughages that are older than 7-9 months, then the Vitamin E levels drop low, and we run out of Vitamin E in the ewe’s system and in the lambs.”

None of the sheep trace mineral products had enough selenium and/or Vitamin E when Kennedy began his research. With advances in knowledge, sheep producers now can purchase and feed sheep trace mineral salt that is fortified or enhanced with selenium or has enhanced selenium levels that are much higher in selenium and prevent that deficiency.

“Our only shortage for white muscle today would be Vitamin E,” said Caskey. “We would much rather correct that before the lambs are born than trying to rescue lambs at birth.”

Sheep trace mineral salt that is fortified or enhanced with selenium or has enhanced selenium levels is made specifically for sheep.

“If a producer buys trace mineral salt at the farm store, it’s not going to have the higher levels of selenium in it,” he said.

At least three companies have those products specifically designed for sheep.

He tends to think of Baby Lamb Strength as a product to give weak lambs for quick energy. It could be a tool to help alleviate a Vitamin E deficiency, but there are other ways to help lambs that are at risk of white muscle disease through feeding ewes trace minerals and vitamins.

“If we are doing a good job, we shouldn’t have to rescue lambs at birth from being deficient in vitamins or selenium,” he said. “If we are feeding sheep trace minerals with selenium to the ewes year around, the lambs aren’t going to be deficient.”

If ewes are eating older and/or low-quality roughages and don’t have access to Vitamin E, the vitamin can be fed as a sheep trace mineral salt supplement in the last month of gestation.

“We want a lamb that is born with plenty of Vitamin E and selenium so it’s just not an issue,” Caskey said. “It’s not just about the age of the roughage, but also corn stalks or corn sileage – those feeds don’t have Vitamin E in them, as well.”

Producers who are new to sheep production or have ewes at risk will want to educate themselves about the need for Vitamin E and selenium. Never feed cattle mineral that contains copper to sheep as it can be toxic.

For more information see “Goat and Sheep Birthing and Animal Health,” a youtube.com series from the University of Minnesota.

Have a question about sheep or goats? Visit https://www.premier1supplies.com/pages/sheep-advice to ask Dan Morrical, Ph.D., Premier 1 Small Ruminant Nutritionist, or Dr. Larry Goelz, DVM, Windy Ridge Veterinary Clinic.

Kyle Rozeboom can answer questions via email at rozeboom@umn.edu.

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Green grass has Vitamin E that ewes need. Photo by Andrea Johnson, the Burren, Ireland.

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