Ailing Ram Lamb--HELP!

Hello all,

My partner and I manage a subsistence farm for ourselves and a neighboring family.  This spring we picked up some bottle lambs to be raised on pasture and slaughtered in the fall to fill the freezer.  Sadly, one of our young rams (a mixed breed, mostly Black Welsh Mountain we believe) has presented with some baffling symptoms. A few days ago we noticed that he was bleating constantly, even having trouble settling down at night.  When checking him out, we noticed he is very thin, and it seems that he has interest in food but may be in pain that prevents him from eating.  He seems to compulsively rub his head and face on anything he can, even when trying to feed him, making it difficult to give him much sustenance even with a syringe. His teeth look and feel normal (to my unpracticed eyes), though he is definitely grinding them.  I'm afraid we will end up putting him down soon if we can't find a simple answer to the problem.  Right now he is separated from our other lambs, and we can't bear for him to continue suffering much longer.  A local sheep expert, when given this description of symptoms, was completely stumped and suggested we reach out to a forum in the hope someone else has had a similar experience.  Any advice is helpful.

Thank you.

One Polish veterinary student is running a great Fb page about small ruminants, and once she described an issue with a bottle fed lamb:

"The lamb that's "drinking with rumen" - the story of Beltex's fall.
A case from this year's 🍀 spring lambing- a lamb that hadn't shown any signs of disturbing symptoms before was found dead in the morning. Why? 🕵‍♂
I did an autopsy and it turned out that the probable cause was the obstruction of the ostium reticuloomasicum, such as the woolen trichobezoars ❌ A few small wool bundles located in this strategic place were enough to effectively disrupt the motoric function of the gastrointestinal tract.... 😔The consequence of this is an acidic indigestion, disorders of pre-stomach function and digestive processes.
OSTIUM RETICULOOMASICUM
🎯(marked with a red circle) is a narrow element ending the reticular groove [silcus reticuli], which exists both in lambs 🐑and goatlings 🐐The structure of these musculars folds, influenced by the sucking reflex, tight and form a tube that leads the milk directly to the maw [abomasum], the final stomach. There, the milk is properly digested and casein is cut under the influence of hydrochloric acid and rennet.
So-called "Drinking with rumen":
If the reticular groove doesn't function properly, milk (or milk replacer) doesn't reach the final stomach [abomasum], but the reticulorumen space and the result of bacterial fermentation in the developing stomach so quickly leads to severe and acute digestive disorders (acidic indigestion).
HOW DOES IT WORK? 🤔
Fermentation of sugars causes mass production of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and increase of lactic acid (LA) level, which leads to decrease of pH and disorders of microflora 🦠
❗CAUTION❗
Due to the specific nature of the physiology of lambs and goatlings digestive system, it is so important to hold the bottle properly during feeding! 🍼
The bottle should be placed slightly above the head of the animal and at an angle to force the neck out, and thus the natural closing of the reticular groove."

Here is her post: https://www.facebook.com/anibeeeanimeee/posts/150168776379506

Also check out the rest of her page, very thorough and informative.

Although, it can be something else... maybe the lamb is just stressed?

Thank you for that wealth of information! However, it seems your case involved a lamb still on the bottle.  I should have been more specific, as our ramling is about 4 months old now and weaned off the bottle.  Is it possible for him to have a similar obstruction? And if so, is there any type of practical intervention?

Those symptoms sound like the animal is in pain.

General changes in behaviour
Behavioural changes such as lip curling, trembling, vocalization and abnormal postures have been described in lambs undergoing tail-docking or castration. In general, sheep in pain may show the fo­llowing signs:

Reduced feed intake and rumination.
Licking, rubbing or scratching painful areas.
Reluctance to move.
Grinding their teeth and curling their lips.
Altered social interactions.
Changes in posture to avoid moving or causing contact to a painful body area.

From: https://www.fawec.org/en/fact-sheets/51-sheep/238-assessment-pain-sheep

I can't comment on the source of pain. If nothing external is obvious and rubbing is focused on the head, I would guess an abscess tooth or jaw not yet visible or maybe an ear infection. Maybe something in the eyes or brain? I can't say for sure. It's best to get a large animal vet to examine the animal for unseen pain sources.

If the loss of appetite is due to pain, pain medication would hopefully get the animal to eat again.

This face pain scale for sheep is another assessment of pain you can check for and refer to when asking the vet to come. Or put it out of its misery, whatever is feasible for you.


From:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159116000101

The vet can't make it over until Monday, though gave us an injectible pain medicine to see if it helps his appetite, and perhaps calm some of his distress so we can get a better view of his mouth and throat.  I also brewed up some CBD oil last night to give him once the med wears off, should it provide any relief and allow our boy to heal.  Thank you for your help!!