[Jacob-list] Baking soda overdose?

[Linda]

Do you offer any other free choice mineral? If your ram was gorging on 
baking soda, might he have been salt starved?
I've heard of putting out free choice baking soda as a preventative for 
bloat. Are there other reasons to offer baking soda? Just curious as to 
why it was recommended.
I'm very glad to hear that your ram got through the problem - sounds 
like the mineral oil dose worked.

Linda

Johann Kuntz wrote:

> Well...  I guess it's a good thing that no one else has a baking soda 

> overdose experience to share right? 

>

> Update:  My ram is back to normal today.  No shivering, and no muscle 

> spasms (the spasms were pretty bad before).  Also, he seems to have 

> fully recovered his appetite and readily consumed the grain I offered 

> him today.

>

> I'm sure my ram's previous owner had given him baking soda with no 

> issues.  This leads me to believe that maybe he was not in his right 

> mind when he downed ALL the baking soda.  He was probably just stress 

> eating due to having been shorn by a noob right before he was given 

> the baking soda.

>

> I'm not sure if I'll ever offer him baking soda again, but if I do I 

> will definitely keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn't over do it.

>

> Johann

>

> > From: zach at fattoaster.com

> > Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 16:30:34 -0400

> > Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] Baking soda overdose?

> > To: johanndiedrich at msn.com

> > CC: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com

> >

> > Johann,

> >

> > Humans can overdose on sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). You can also

> > individually overdose on either sodium or bicarbonate. Either way, an

> > overdose can cause drastic reduction in potassium levels, which can

> > cause all kinds of symptoms... severe vomiting and cardiac arrest

> > among them.

> >

> > Although I have no idea if that translates directly to sheep, first

> > guess would be you just confirmed it.

> > ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

> > Zach Oaster

> > zach at fattoaster.com

> > ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

> > Visit Zach's worship resource and blog site: http://www.fattoaster.com

> > Visit Zach & Lindsay's farm blog: http://fattoasterfarm.wordpress.com

> > ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

> >

> >

> >

> > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 2:09 PM, Johann Kuntz 

> <johanndiedrich at msn.com> wrote:

> > > Hi everybody, my name is Johann and I've just joined the Jacob 

> sheep list.

> > > I've been learning a lot from the archives.

> > >

> > > Has anyone else has experienced baking soda overdose in sheep?  Until

> > > recently, I had never given baking soda to any of my sheep.  I've 

> seen free

> > > choice baking soda recommended by so many sources online, and the 

> previous

> > > owner of my ram also recommended it as well, so a couple weeks ago 

> I put out

> > > a tray of baking soda for my ewes and lambs.  They seemed to like 

> it and

> > > over a period of days consumed it all.  Then a couple of days ago 

> I sheared

> > > my ram for the first time.  After shearing him I decided to offer 

> him some

> > > baking soda to see if he liked it.  I put out a tray full and then 

> left him

> > > for a few minutes.  When I came back the baking soda was all 

> gone.  I know

> > > he didn't spill it either, because there wasn't any on the 

> ground.  I don't

> > > know exactly how much I put out as I didn't measure it thinking 

> the sheep

> > > only eat a little as needed.  Anyways, when I checked on him he 

> appeared to

> > > be shivering.  I thought he was cold from having his fleece 

> removed, so I

> > > offered him some grain so he'd have extra calories to burn for heat.

> > > However, he wouldn't eat.  He began to have muscle spasms and was 

> very weak

> > > on his feet.  He fell down a number of times when trying to stand 

> up, and he

> > > bashed his chest against a piece of wood when I tried to catch 

> him.  It was

> > > very sad.  I couldn't find any information online about sheep 

> overdosing on

> > > baking soda, so I thought maybe he was just so cold that he lost 

> muscle

> > > coordination.  I put a blanket over him for the night, but he was 

> still in

> > > horrible condition the next day.  This either went on for one or 

> two days (I

> > > can't remember for sure cause I've been busy).  Yesterday I 

> decided to give

> > > him about two tablespoons of mineral oil, because I thought there 

> was no way

> > > he could be that cold.  It had to be the baking soda.  Probably 

> within an

> > > hour of giving him the oil, he began to nibble at grass again.  He 

> remained

> > > very weak with lots of muscle spasms through out the day, but he 

> continued

> > > to regain his appetite.  This morning when I checked on him he 

> seemed to

> > > have regained a lot of his strength.  I don't think he's near fully

> > > recovered, but definitely getting better.  I think he could have 

> died if I

> > > did not give him the mineral oil.  I just don't understand why I 

> could find

> > > no information online about sheep overdosing on baking soda.  Has 

> anyone

> > > else had a similar experience?

> > >

> > > Johann

> > >

> > > _______________________________________________

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> > >

> > >

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