Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4 Western Australia, Series 4
Volume 6
Number 11 1965 Article 4
1-1-1965
Starvation in newborn lambs Starvation in newborn lambs
Stanley M. Dennis
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Dennis, Stanley M. (1965) "Starvation in newborn lambs," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4: Vol. 6: No. 11, Article 4.
Available at: https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture4/vol6/iss11/4
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STARVATION IN NEWBORN LAMBS
Thousands of young lambs starved to death in the lambing sea- son just finished, just as countless lambs have died in every other season.
This article summarises the causes of starvation of lambs.
By S. M . D E N N I S , B.V.Sc,, Ph.D., Senior Veterinary Pathologist, A n i m a l H e a l t h Laboratory
I N V E S T I G A T I O N S over the past three years have shown that most lamb deaths in West- ern Australia occurred w i t h i n the first three days of life. Sixty per cent, of these losses were due to starvation/mismothering.
The term starvation/mismothering is somewhat misleading as it describes a complex and refers to starvation in the newborn lamb, that is starvation around the time of birth which mainly results from the effects of mismothering. This starvation results from disruption of the normal ewe/lamb relationship. This essential bond for survival may be broken by the ewe or the lamb, or man.
Lambs are born alive with substantial reserves of body fat or energy and tissue fluids. Providing that a lamb is not suffer- ing from any disease or is not subject to any lethal stresses such as chilling or pre- dators, it will remain alive for two or three days. During this period the starving lamb is active, walks around seeking its mother and trying to obtain milk from other ewes, and may ultimately nibble grass. Death does not occur until all the body fat reserves are completely depleted and the lamb is dehydrated. This is referred to as
uncomplicated starvation.
When death is accelerated by either infection, exposure to cold, wet, windy weather or predators it is classified as complicated starvation.
Starving Lambs are Easy Prey
Starving lambs are easy prey for pre- dators. Foxes and crows are ever on the look-out for dying or dead lambs. Fifty- eight per cent, of all lambs dying from starvation which have been examined
over the past three years showed evidence or mutilation by predators after death. It is these losses that are considered by many to be predator deaths.
Post Mortem Findings
Post mortem examination of lambs which die from starvation reveals the following:—
• Evidence of walking and breath- ing.
• Fat reduced in amount instead of being abundant.
• Fat soft and red instead of being firm and white.
• Empty stomach.
• Dehydration.
There may be signs of crow or fox damage.
Predisposing Factors
As starvation is the major cause of lamb loss in Western Australia let us examine some of the known predisposing causes of starvation in Merinos.
This is summarised in the diagram.
EWE FACTORS
Mismothering may result from the following:
• Dead ewe.
• Sick ewe.
• Exhausted ewe, the result of pro- longed birth.
2J09i_(J) 645
Journal of Agriculture, Vol 6 No 11 1965
NORMAL E W E - L A M B
BOND
| BIRTjfrl
BROKEN E W E - L A M B
B O N D
WEATHER
P R E D A T O R S
{ P n e u m o n i a ) ( E n t e r i t i s )
• Undernutrition of ewe during the last six to eight weeks of preg- nancy.
• Lack of milk.
• Mastitis.
• Cut or blind teats.
• Multiple births.
• Poor mothering instinct.
LAMB FACTORS
• Under or over-weight lambs.
• Weakness at birth from any cause such a s : prolonged birth, pre-
mature birth, disease—acquired before birth, accidents or trauma during birth (aspiration, pneu- monia, ruptured liver, etc.).
• Congenital abnormalities such as:
cleft palate, blind anus, undershot lower jaw, deformed legs, etc.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND MANAGERIAL FACTORS
• Climate—cold, wet, windy, condi- tions, or sometimes heat.
• Lambing in heavy wool.
• Excessive disturbance of lambing ewes.
• Yarding lambing ewes.
• Time of lambing—may influence losses from starvation on some properties.
UNKNOWN FACTORS
Some predisposing factors are as yet unknown.
It is obvious from this list of predispos- ing factors that starvation in the new- born lamb is complex in origin and should always be regarded as being indicative of a flock problem.
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T E L E P H O N E 6 8 3 2 9 1 O F F I C E S O R A G E N T S I N A L L S T A T E S
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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 6 No 11 1965
THE GREAT THIRST . . . THINKING BIG WITH WATER • • • • H H H i H H M B H I H I ^ B I I M H B H B H M i
The two
Australias
THE PROBLEM OF A NATION WHOSE THINKING IS DIVIDED ACROSS THE MIDDLE
• We live in a spectacularly empty continent • It is almost equal in area to the U.S.A., but half of our people are crowded into five mainland cities • It is also the driest continent on the face of the earth • Herein lies the challenge of our future . . . and water will be the final arbiter.
To most, the Southern half of the continent offers prosperity and security, and the North is just vaguely worrying. Thought- ful men are pondering the ques- tion: Should we continue to concentrate papulation in the South, or should we launch a development planning offensive in the North? Perhaps the simple answer is that our future may well depend on doing both.
Important in the focus of our immediate future is simply—
food. Right now we eat most of the food we produce and our export surplus is sufficient only to feed 3 million people on a balanced diet to our standard of living. To highlight this point, Mr. E. R. Hoare of the C.S.I.R.O.
Irrigation Research Laboratory at Griffith, N.S.W., says "within
30 years, we will need a fourfold increase in food production, firstly to feed ourselves and secondly, to maintain our pre- sent export ratio, bearing in mind the fact that wool produc- tion will not increase in pro- portion."
Australia has nearly 2Vz million acres of irrigated land predo- minantly in food production. Of this, 2 million acres are in the South. Within a mere 10 years, expansion of these Southern areas, both planned and in pro- gress, will have committed most of the readily available water.
Thus, if we look beyond the short term, the Northern top half of Australia becomes the logical area for continuing development, because it is here that three-quarters of our water resources lie virtually untapped.
It is our area of greatest water potential. According to Mr. F. B.
Haigh, Commissioner of the Irrigation and Water Supply Commission, Queensland, this potential could provide water for around 6 million acres of irrigated land.
Sir William Hudson, Commis-
sioner, Snowy Mountains Hydro- Electric Authority, sums up the position when he says "A con- tinent of three million square miles has to develop in both the North and the South, but it is futile to talk of large-scale development unless people are prepared to make the effort and sacrifices that go with these kinds of projects."
Extension programmes for irri- gation and town water supply call for highly specialised tech- nical knowledge. The water engineer needs a fund of "case- history" experience to back his judgment; his "case-book" is the whole history of Australian water development.
This is why Hardie's place so much emphasis on the broad picture of past and future devel- opment in Australia. We and our national chain of distri- butors are pledged to its future.
Hardies
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Journal of Agriculture, Vol 6 No 11 1965
