PREGNANCY toxaemia can be a fatal disease affecting pregnant and stressed ewes that do not receive sufficient feed in the last four to six weeks of pregnancy.
Ewes carrying either twins or triplets are most likely to suffer pregnancy toxaemia.
The condition occurs when the ewes have insufficient energy intake at a time when high energy consumption is needed.
Poor appetite in fat ewes, bad weather causing reduced grazing, and disease such as footrot and foot abscess can bring on pregnancy toxaemia.
Farmers looking to identify pregnancy toxaemia in their flock can look for dullness and depression, lack of coordination, progressing blindness, fine muscle tremor and teeth grinding. These symptoms may progress over the course of two to eight days, with death being common unless treatment occurs early in the disease.
Treatment for the disease includes providing good shelter and administering glycerol or propylene glycol orally and twice daily as well as calcium borogluconate under the skin. Long term problems with ewes suffering from pregnancy toxaemia are low birth weight in lambs, poor lactation in ewes and reduced lamb survival. For more information contact the nearest animal health officer at the Department of Primary Industries.
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