So a while ago we had a ram yearling die from what we thought was injuries caused by fighting. His bladder had burst. However yesterday we had another ram yearling starting with the same behaviors. One is just bad luck, 2 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. But again, while a one off problem is just “Sheep Happens” once there is more than one a vet becomes an important ally in overall flock productivity and health. Our sheep vet came out and 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.
Next treatment is to feed ammonium chloride to acidify the urine and help pass any additional stones. Of course with stores closed by the time we learned this and everything closed on Sunday it was Amazon to the rescue. In pet supplies we found the appropriate medicine and it will be delivered to our house on Monday.
Long term we will revisit our mineral program as this is usually caused by an imbalance in calcium and phosphorus.