When we had some Jabob ewe lambs, one seemed prone to always knocking one of her horns off, causing bleeding, and worry. If a sheep breaks a small horn treating with Iodine, or any other product you have for bleeding and/or infection, is a good idea. You can apply something to keep the flies away too but keep it out of the wound unless instructed otherwise as per your veterinarian (not all products can be used on sheep). Make sure to stop the bleeding.
If the sheep does go off its feed, and starts grinding its teeth - call a vet. If the horn was large and was broken right off (say on a Jacob, or Barbado ram) call a veterinarian immediately!
We just had a ram lamb, with small horn buds, knock one of the tips of his horns off. We were separating the lambs from the ewes and accidents like this are likely to happen with lambs trying to get back to their moms.
We treated with iodine, and are letting the wound heal on its own otherwise - exposed to the air. It is still too cold for flies here, so we are not worried about that.
This picture was taken about 4 hours after the injury happened, it was bright red when it happened, but who thinks of taking a picture then? You can see how small the other horn is, only about 2 inches (5cm). The injured horn may be sore for a few days, but this little ram lamb should be fine and will continue to grow a horn in spite of the setback.
We had an adult goat break off a large horn right at the base. When we discovered her she looked like she had been in a slasher movie with her white head completely drenched in blood. She survived the incident but from what you are saying I guess she was lucky. The blood supply to horns is just amazing. Thanks for sharing about treatment. We do not have horned sheep but we still have some horned goats.
ReplyDeleteJulie
My lamb ram (4monyhs old)has horns about 4 inches long. I noticed one was sticking up away from his head and bleeding and is loose. It looks like he got it stuck on something and tried to pull away and injured it. Should I cut it off. I have applied antibiotic cream and antimicrobial cream to the area.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new sheep owner.
Thanks for the advice!
I have 7 month old ram with a horn curling towards his skull. Should I be concerned and what should I do
ReplyDeleteI had a sheep breaking his horn i had to remove it , there was a lot of blood (blew a blood vessel) , i treated it with iodine 10% , the bleeding stopped but the animal is not eating and the injury has a bad smell , what should i do ?
ReplyDeleteSeek veterinary help. The stink is an infection.
DeleteWow thank you for sharing this experience!
ReplyDeleteMy 9 month old ram lamb did something to knock off his little horn during the night. I was afraid it could have been a predator. I was thinking about maybe rapping it tomorrow when I check it (cause its mud season and I don't want dirt in it. If it looks better tomorrow ill leave it to air out and give an antibiotic shot (just to be safe.) But I'm not worried about him needing shots. We just did his about 7 months ago.