Central nervous system injury as a determinant of lamb mortality

X.J. Duff, S.N. McCutcheon, M.F. McDonald

Massey University, Palmerston North

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1982, 42: 15-18

The incidence and severity of central nervous system (CNS) injury in neonatal lamb deaths was examined in a commercial Romney flock. Cranial and/or spinal meningeal lesions were found in 87% of dystocia deaths and 32% of starvation-exposure deaths. Occurrence of injury was dependent on birth weight. Severe CNS injury was present in lambs dying of dystocia but rarely seen in lambs dying of starvation- exposure. CNS injury did not affect the proportion of lambs in the starvation-exposure group which had suckled prior to death. These results indicate that CNS injury may be an important factor in deaths due to dystocia but may have only a minor role as a cause of starvation- exposure mortality.

Keywords: NZSAPAB;

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