Kidney stones in lambs can account for as much as 35 per cent of all fattening lamb deaths, with male lambs making up the largest proportion, and can be a particular risk in cold weather, says Dugdale Nutrition ruminant consultant Adam Collantine. Kidney stones in lambs, also known as renal calculi, occur when insoluble salts (mostly magnesium ammonium phosphate) are deposited into the kidney or bladder.
Kidney stones can lead to death from kidney failure (uraemia) or from toxins entering the blood stream (septicaemia). Mr Collantine says: “Removal of the calculi is an expensive veterinary procedure, and so prevention is definitely better than cure, through both dietary and livestock management."
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