A while ago, we had a ram yearling die from what we thought were injuries caused by fighting. His bladder had burst. However, yesterday, we had another ram yearling start the same behaviors. One time is just bad luck. Two means you need to look at management to see if you can find a cause (and a cure).
It’s often not economically viable to call a vet out to treat a sheep. However, while a one-off problem can be chalked up to “Sheep Happens,” once there are more than one, a vet becomes an important ally in determining overall flock health. Our sheep vet came out, and he determined that this individual had a urinary calculus at the beginning of the urethral process. The initial treatment was to snip off the urethral process to allow the calculi at the end of the penis to dislodge. He was also given muscle relaxants, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Our next treatment is to feed ammonium chloride to acidify the urine and help pass any additional stones. Of course, by the time we learned all this, stores were closed, and it was Amazon to the rescue. We ordered the appropriate medicine, and it will be delivered to our house on Monday.
In the long term, we will revisit our mineral program, as this problem is usually caused by an imbalance in calcium and phosphorus.