[Jacob-list] no poop hole

Tue Apr 25 21:43:41 EDT 2006

Hi All
I had a lamb with atresia ani (no place to put the thermometer) last year.
I have been talking with my fellow biologists since.  I don't necessarily
buy the idea that it is caused by a single gene that is inheritable.  It
sounds to me like it is developmental.  It isn't just a problem in jacobs or
just in sheep--turns out it happens in sheep and people too.  While I was
telling my students about the lamb, one young woman blushed and came to talk
to me later; she in fact had the same thing (different name in humans but I
forget).  She is fine now after her surgery!  : )

The way this happens I think is this:  at one point in time the embryo is a
solid ball of cells.  It starts arranging itself to form a cavity.
Basically it folds in on itself and a single opening develops (called a
blastopore).  Eventually there is a second opening which will become a
mouth.  This is called deuterostomy--meaning the second opening (literally)
is the mouth.  In things like insects, the first opening becomes the mouth
-- thus they are called protostomes.  But things go wrong.  Sometimes it is
a minor thing like a cluster of cells don't go through programmed cell death
like they should and films or webbing are seen in the baby.  Or something
major like the intestinal tract doesn't form quite right and the baby never
quite does the digestion thing quite right.  Or in severe cases (again in
humans and sheep) the tube that will be the body cavity holding the organs
doesn't seal and we have things like spina bifida where the organs are
exposed.  All these steps are under control of a cascade of signals.  If
something goes wrong with one signal .....

I don't know if the atresia ani (or colon something or other--I forget the
word)  is increasing or not in Jacobs.  But it is something to watch.  My
ewe that had the lamb last year has had normal lambs before and after.  I
didn't put her with same ram this time.  I don't know whether some lines
tend to have 'deuterostomy' problems more often or not but so far I know of
no such trend.

My lamb went to a local vet for the surgery; I had the impression it was a
bit more than the film over the opening.  The vet charged me $50 but advised
me not to use the ram for breeding to be on safe side.  I actually didn't
discover the problem for the first 5 days until the lamb was hunched a bit
and a little less active!  I thought at first--well he doesn't have diarrhea
so what is the problem?  ohhhh  (Betty B. told me to check the temperature
and to be sure that process was possible!  that was a bit of a shock : )
The lamb was always the smallest of the flock but didn't seem to have any
other obvious problems.  I did send him to the butcher last fall since he
just didn't seem to grow as well as the others but have wondered.....

I hope this helps Victoria!  The whole situation was quite the education!
Most of the problems I think I have heard or seen in my first two years of
sheep raising seems to be developmental!  After re-reading my basic bio text
(I teach principles of biology for biology majors) it is amazing to me that
things go right more often than wrong!  Last year I had 7 lambs and this
year 21 with just the one problem last year and only 2 lamb problems this
year (different problems of course!)  When I look through all the things in
the various books about sheep it  seems like a pretty good success
rate....   and oh the lamb races are SO wonderful!
Ralene

On 4/25/06, Victoria da Roza <castlerockjacobs at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I would like it if shepherds would discuss this issue.
> I know no connection to the anus happens more
> frequently in other herbivores and humans than in
> Jacobs but we experienced one this year.
>    I contacted all the local vets before I was done.
> In this area no one wanted to deal with a lamb...just
> cats and dogs, and the big animals vets just deal with
> horses.  It looked like the anus had a skin film over
> it so after talking with the UC Davis vet school and
> most of the shepherds I know in the country, we tried
> to cut a space ourselves and it was obvious that it
> was more involved than that.
>    Here is what I have gleaned:
>    It is genetic
>    Even if you pay for surgery the lamb will have lots
> of other problems neurologically and not really thrive
> and cannot be used for breeding..see above.
>    Sometimes even after the surgery they will just
> have chronic diarreah and have a miserable life.
>
>    I do not understand how it could be heritable when
> the parents of this lamb came from completely
> different flocks and literally from different coasts.
> It happens so infrequently that the trait must be
> recessive but then how could it express from 2
> completely different lines?
>    The other lambs from this ram are perfect.  Of
> course not a totally perfectly marked as the lamb that
> had to be euthanized.  What is the best way to
> euthanize if you do not have help from a vet. We had a
> friend do it who used to farm and I could not even
> bear to be home when the deed was done.  The mom is
> just now beginning to comew out of her grief.  She is
> very agressive to the other ewes' lambs and at first
> we had to completely seperate her from the lambs.  Is
> this part of grief...before she was on the low end of
> the ewe totem pole.  Would you cull this ewe or would
> you try the breeding again the next year?
>    I had never heard of this and would like opinions
> on the above so I can plan.  thanks.
>
> Victoria
> Castle Rock Farm
> Jacob Sheep & Nigerian Dwarf Goats
> www.castlerockfarm.net
>
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--
Ralene Mitschler
Chicory Lane Farm Jacob sheep
www.blueflowerflock.com
687 Oxford Ave
Hanover PA  17331
rmitschler at gmail.com
717.630.2988
717.817.3794 cell
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