lamb walking on tip toes - twinkle toes

I brought some bummers (lambs whose mums can't feed them) home this week.  A couple of weeks old

One of them is walking strangely.  She has her front feet up on her toes like a ballerina.  As if keeping her feet flat on the ground bothers her.  Today she's shown a slight stumble and disinclination to walk.  Not much, but enough I'm curious to know what's going on.

At her old farm, she was on a mixture of processed cow's milk and cream as well as medicated creep ration.  I've transitioned her to the vitamin-rich formula (unmedicated).   She drinks just under 1L a day spread out in three meals (the other farm was feeding her twice a day, about the same amount, but she was also bumming drinks off unsuspecting ewes).  She has had her SE and other vitamin shots.  She's nibbling on hay happily.  

My first thought goes to SE deficiency, but the mums are in good nutrition and had extra free choice SE and minerals.  So I don't think it's that.

Gums and under eyes are healthy.  Worms are unlikely.  I'm not keen to worm unless I need to and there isn't anyone in town that does a faecal count anymore.  

Possibly Vit D deficiency, but I would expect it to show with a different style of walking.  Along with drowsiness.  But she's happy and active and runs around no problem.  It's just standing still has her in discomfort.

Nothing obviously wrong with the nails or feet.  No heat or swelling that I can find in the legs.  Nowhere that she responds to if I press on it.  

Any thoughts on what this might be?

It's causing her a lot more pain now.  I'm quite concerned by the progression of this.  

Less lively.  Less interest in hay and grass than this time yesterday.  Although she is eating it and was chewing her cud this afternoon.  

Showing a disinclination to get up.  

White muscle disease?

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/white-muscle-disease-in-sheep-and-goats

Usually caused by an Se deficiency.   And presents with lameness in the back legs first.


She has had her Se shot and the mums had good nutrition.

Doesn't feel like that is the issue.

Are the tendons in the back of her legs contracted? If so, maybe massage?

The back legs are behaving fine.  It's more like sourness in the bottom joint of the front legs.

The symptoms started about a day after we transitioned to the new diet.  If it was just the stress of moving, I would expect to see something wrong with both of them, but the other one is recovering from the stress just fine.  

So I'm looking at the difference between them.  The one with the symptoms drinks more milk than the other one.  Could it be the new milk is too rich?  They are hypersensitive to diet at this age, even for sheep.

So I missed off the lunch bottle and gave them extra hay and harvested some grass for them.  I spent some time with them so they felt less lonely.  After a while, they didn't remember they hadn't had their lunch bottle.  So they weren't really so hungry as wanting attention.

By evening the symptoms were a little less and she had more energy.  So I watered down their milk 2 parts milk, 1 part water.  They didn't notice the difference.  I also took away the bottles when they were still a bit hungry.  

We'll see how this goes tomorrow.  

The other thing I was considering was rickets, but I expect that to progress slower and more places in the body.  They had access to lots of good nutrition, and really I've only seen any slight rickets symptoms in black lambs (as they can't absorb the sunlight as well as white lambs).  

Walking a lot worse this morning.  Seems to be showing pain symptoms.

But it's pissing down with rain so it's a day for feeling miserable.  Still, I'm worried that it didn't improve overnight.

I've been hunting all over the web, and can't find anything you've not already mentioned...

I was just reading about sheep limb mobility problems this morning actually.  Here is a veterinary guide to ruling out certain ailments.  Not sure if they all apply to lambs as well, but it's definitely worth a look.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4686802/

I always keep injectable vit b and vit c on hand (per Pat Coleby's reccomendation), which often gives a boost, and can't really ever hurt.  

No further progression of symptoms during the day.  But she is less inclined to eat hay and grass than she was before.  More demanding for the bottle.

She is also not growing as much.  Her younger half-sister is now equal in size despite drinking less milk and eating more hay.  

I tried to themp them with a handful of sheeptext and they said no thanks.  

The only thing that's making any connection in my head, about this, is that maybe, before they were born, her front hooves were stuck in a curled position, shortening the tendons, or inhibiting their development? That would make standing and walking very painful.

Check that the tips of the hooves have grown out faster.  It could be not having good biotics in her stomach.  That can cause both deficiencies and pain referred to the front legs.

Don't know if it is the same kind of thing, but one of my besties went through something similar with a young colt.  Basically he was growing too fast for his bones/tendons to keep up, and same he was walking on his tippy toes.  Surgery was suggested but extremely pricey, with unknown outcome, so she ended up having to get him put down at 6mths old.  It was an extremely tough decision as he was especially bred.

Have you tried Arnica for pain relief ?  Preferably nothing from aspirin family as could upset gut. If lamb responds, then most likely the problem is due to position in utero.

I don’t know much about animals but I do know that tiptoeing in human children is a sign of vaccine injury.

worth trying

https://askavetsheep.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/benefits-of-feeding-sodium-bicarbonate-to-lambs/

Doubt its vaccine related... the guy that published a paper linking multiple vaccines to vitamin A toxicity (of which toewalking is a symptom) has had his other papers retracted by journals multiple times. His science is sketchy and he seems to have a strong agenda driving what he publishes, rather than a desire to find new knowledge.

Happy to cite if there is a desire to read up on this.

As for the lamb, I've heard of similar cases being about speed of growth as Kay said.

They didn't get vaxed.   We don't have most of the main issues to vax for locally and the flock is mostly closed.  Once these guys are out of quarantine it will be closed for many years.

How's she doing, this morning?

You've probably inspected her feet but just a thought, foot scald. If they are on long grass it can cause this bacterial infection and there are sprays for it and foot baths. Looks like it's made out of a solution of copper sulfate or zinc sulfate mixed with water, or 7 percent iodine solution put right onto the foot.

Enterotoxemia Type C is an illness that causes changes in feeding habits, no mention of foot problems from it however and intramuscular thiamine (vitamin B1) is used along with antacids and antibiotics like penicillin. Corticosteroids also.

Don't know if a corticosteroid for pain could help if it is a pain issue from birthing position.

I don't have lambs, that was a google attempt to help, lol. Would love to have some but I can imagine it would be hard to see one of them struggling with something you can't quite fix. Hope it gets straightened out.

Emily Elizabeth wrote:You've probably inspected her feet but just a thought, foot scald. If they are on long grass it can cause this bacterial infection and there are sprays for it and foot baths. Looks like it's made out of a solution of copper sulfate or zinc sulfate mixed with water, or 7 percent iodine solution put right onto the foot.

Enterotoxemia Type C is an illness that causes changes in feeding habits, no mention of foot problems from it however and intramuscular thiamine (vitamin B1) is used along with antacids and antibiotics like penicillin. Corticosteroids also.

Don't know if a corticosteroid for pain could help if it is a pain issue from birthing position.

I don't have lambs, that was a google attempt to help, lol. Would love to have some but I can imagine it would be hard to see one of them struggling with something you can't quite fix. Hope it gets straightened out.

Yes, I forgot a bout foot baths.  A little spa treatment can do a lot.

The feet smell and look fine.  I thought maybe it was tenderness on the bottom of the feet but she doesn't show any signs of discomfort when I press on the bottom.  

However, there is a bit of tenderness in the first joint of the feet.  

I am confident this is not a birthing issue as she was healthy and walking fine until about 24 hours after coming to the farm.  So it's something I need to change in how I'm doing things.  

Today she is about the same.

I'm worried about her not getting enough exercise with all the bad weather we've had since she arrived, so I got her to walk around after me a bunch before the bottle.  At first, she was quite stiff, but then after a couple of min she was doing a bit better.  Not great, but better.

The interesting thing is that when she's not paying attention, she stands fine.  Like drinking from a bottle or is distracted.  So I think it's a discomfort that is causing the change in how she stands.  

I have had a few goat kids over the years who were born with contracted tendons in the front legs. In at least one case that I can recall, it was worse than tippy toes, the fetlocks were fully knuckled over. Apparently this is not uncommon in newborn ruminants and even, as someone mentioned above, in foals. I think it's more common when the fetus was short of space before birth, either because it is a multiple birth or because it was a large single fetus, and the legs were folded in tightly.

We always found the kids outgrew it fairly quickly, but we helped by massage to loosen the tendons and straighten the legs, and try to keep them moving and walking in a more correct position to stretch them out. Goatie physiotherapy. Some people also use splints to try to support and straighten them to the correct position. Since your lamb is just on tippy-toes and not fully knuckled over, I wouldn't think you need to go that far. She'll probably stretch them out on her own.

I have also been told by a vet that giving an oxytetracycline antibiotic can help stretch the tendons. I tried googling this just now and found similar advice online and also that apparently the reason this would help with this is not known, just from observation it does seem to help. I haven't tried it myself since the kids with this leg condition were otherwise in good health, and we were seeing improvements in their front legs so we didn't need to take any drastic measures.

The failure to thrive that you mention is maybe more concerning. We always gave selenium-vitamin E shots after birth, which it sounds like you may have done as you mentioned the vitamin status of both lambs should be ok. You obviously want to be careful with selenium overdose, but I don't see the harm of dosing with vitamin B (almost always appropriate for a non-thriving ruminant) and other vitamins that will be peed out and not be toxic if you give more than the critter needs. But also by virtue of being vitamins that can't easily be overdosed because they move through the body quickly, they may not have a lot of reserves stored in the body. Especially a tiny newborn body.  And considering the background of these lambs, do you know whether your little one got colustrum, since she was rejected by the dam? It's possible that could have differed between your two lambs - maybe one got it and one didn't. Maybe also she's not handling the new food well, as you suggest. We never fed our kids milk replacers, but since they are dairy goats we were milking the mothers, or had other does on hand who were being milked, so we only bottle fed with goat milk.  You mentioned also that she was hungrier for milk and not taking the solid food well - at this young age that makes sense to me, she wouldn't be doing more than nibbling at grass or hay and would only be able to digest most of her nutrition from milk. You might try splitting her food into smaller and even more frequent feedings to help to settle her stomach. This might give you more frequent opportunities to massage/stretch her fetlocks and pasterns too.

Good luck!  I hope she is doing better.

I've never had lambs and have no experience with them but your most recent post made me think of arthritis (which I have myself). If the weather is damp and cool it gets worse. I'm very stiff when I wake up but after a 1/2 hr of moving around I'm much better although from time to time a particular joint may still give me grief through the day. So googling whether lambs can get arthritis I came across this https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/111167/bacterial-arthritis-in-lambs.pdf Could this be what's going on?

Someone else suggested arnica rubbed into the joint which would help if this is the case. Also you might try some herbal remedies for combating inflammation like Boswellia. Or even a comfrey poultice on the joint for a day or two.

I have successfully treated a number of ailments in cats, cockatiel and chickens with appropriate herbs. If the joint is causing her pain when flat on her feet, it stands to reason she might want to tiptoe to take some of the strain off the painful joint.  And pain can definitely cause a reduction in appetite and some lethargy.

Just my 2 cents :)

Typically babies who are not drinking mothers milk have inflammation and tight tendons.  Try kefir or feed lamb milk.

It was getting worse, so that one morning she was only walking on her back legs.  

We've been doing stretching exercises and I ended up adding some low dose antibiotics to her milk.

Her walking improves greatly after exercise so I've been delaying feeding and having her follow me around while I do the chores on the farm.  I think this is the best help of all.  

How’s your lamb now?

If you have access, fresh goats milk is a far better milk replacer than cows milk or scientifically formulated milk replacer sold under many labels.

I’ve seen it cure failure to thrive in piglets, kittens, puppies.  I have heard it is used in marine mammals.  

Not getting worse, but not getting better.  She resents me trying to get her more exercise, but she always walks better after.

Alas, my local source of goats milk is gone.  It is great stuff.  

Here they are when we brought them home.


youtube video


I'm reviewing the video and she did have a tiny bit of a tiptoe walk.  But it wasn't noticeable.  

I'm thinking it's laminitis

Oh, MYYYY!!! So CUTE!!! Fun video, too, though I got a little sea sick, with the street market, lol.

Carla Burke wrote:Oh, MYYYY!!! So CUTE!!! Fun video, too, though I got a little sea sick, with the street market, lol.

Thanks.  They are lovely!
This is going to sound evil, but that was kind of my goal.  To show how crazy I feel when there is that much stimulus and noise and people.  
But there was a permaculture farm stand.  I talked with her for a while and it was lovely.  She sold the EM stuff for plants.  

It was beautiful. John and I were both "oooing  & ahhhing" through the whole thing. Well, ok, he didn't, while you were packing your spindle and fiber, lol. Your corner of the woods is simply lovely!

I would seriously consider possibility that this may be contracted tendons.

Some say poor maternal health, others mineral (SE) deficiencies but no one really seems to have a consensus.  

Treatment seems to be of three minds:

Some say don't worry, sunshine and time will fix it.

Most say massage/stretching - essentially physical therapy - is useful.

Some say splint for a few days, usually by day three things are looking better - Popsicle (frozen lolly, for those across the pond) sticks or other similar type bracing taped on and changed regularly to ensure there is no restriction on the growing limb.  

Always use a ton of padding, then the splint then the tape; you do not want to create rub sores.  

You may be able to get a formed plastic splint from the vet; alternatively, if you can get the metal backed foam splints used for human fingers, that may well do the job.

There is a significant contingent who went the vet route, and commonly the solution is a couple of rounds of a specific antibiotic that is known to cause some laxity in tendons, can't remember what it was called.

In most cases it does resolve, but in some, it continues to progress.  As the tendons continue to tighten, some are reduced to walking on their knees.  On the positive side, some who start with knee walking were corrected by splinting etc.

***not sure about lambs, but with cattle, umbilical infections can migrate and often settles in the joints causing lameness - might be worth considering, but a vet would be needed in this case most likely to diagnose and prescribe the appropriate antibiotics.

Jill, Jenny, Jane, Janice, Janisse, Jay, JJ, Jasmine, jazz, jazzy, Jesse, Jessica, Jemima
, Jet, just, jester, jolly, Joan, Joni, Jana, June, Junie, judge, jury, junk, justice,justine

Still no significant improvement.  

The local expert recommended a rub for controlling inflammation and pain.  She loves it and demands it twice a day!  I think this is stopping it from getting worse.

But the front legs are looking bowed, so I added vit D drops to her milk.

She's also obsessing over lichen and scraping it off anything she can find.  So I got a handful of oyster shell dust (because we've had sheep gobble up oyster shells from time to time) and she loves it.  

Sounds like her body is craving minerals. Good on you, for catching on to that!

R, what is the rub you are using on her legs? That sounds like a useful thing to know about.

Also, if she is chewing up lichens and oyster shell powder for minerals, maybe it would be worth offering a powdered livestock mineral mix in case there are minerals she wants that are not in lichens or oysters?  I don't know if there is something specifically formulated for baby sheep.  What do you give the big sheep?  A few years back I picked up a bag of horse minerals for my adult goats from White House Stables on West Saanich Rd, or there are most likely other places in Victoria area that carry good minerals for livestock.  At the time this was the only place I checked that had what I was looking for, so I bought a big bag. You probably know, but just in case: if you do get a mineral mix make sure to get one that does not have high copper content, it's not safe for sheep. The one I picked up is high in copper as the goats need it. I find the goats don't get everything they need from a mineral block and do much better with crushed/powdered minerals. I also sometimes have kelp powder for them, which they are very fond of. I think the powdered rock minerals and kelp are complementary - probably micronutrients and biologicals in the kelp that are not found in the rock minerals, but maybe not all the rock mineral components are present in the kelp.

Actually, the overwhelming suggestion locally is A535.  She doesn't lick or eat it and she loves it.

Bad news though.  
She's getting abscesses on the bottom of the front hooves today.  Treating that symptom now with redkote.  She hates it.  And now it looks like my beautiful white lamb is smothered in blood.  

I'm setting a deadline of 2 weeks to see improvement.  Or if she shows too much pain.

Anything else worth trying?

Oh, that poor little one. Like she needs more issues with those feet now.

The only thing I can think to suggest - Have you tried the oxytetracycline antibiotic? I found a bit more info about its mode of action, and apparently it does something with calcium metabolism that relaxes the contracted tendons so they can stretch out. I don't know much beyond that. But it was being assessed in the veterinary primary literature so it appears to be a legitimate treatment.

Actually I had to wonder about the connection with calcium considering her liking for oyster shell. Maybe that is an indication oxytetracycline could help. I wish I knew more about how the oxytetracycline interacts with calcium. If I find out I will let you know.