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Lamb white muscle disease
Selenium and vitamin E protect muscle cells. When they are missing, the muscle fibers deteriorate: at autopsy, they appear pale, whitish, hence the name of the disease. It affects lambs and kids, often in great shape and growing, whose moth...
What is it?
Selenium and vitamin E protect muscle cells. When they are missing, the muscle fibers deteriorate: at autopsy, they appear pale, whitish, hence the name of the disease.
It affects lambs and kids, often in great shape and growing, whose mothers received a ration low in selenium or vitamin E during gestation.
Two forms exist. The shape of the movement muscles makes the lamb stiff and unable to stand up. The form of the heart muscle and respiratory muscles kills within hours, sometimes without any prior signs.
Key point
The cardiac form kills within a few hours and often manifests as sudden death, without warning. Never treat with selenium on your own initiative: the useful dose and the lethal dose are very close.
Commonly observed signs
These signs are neither exhaustive nor specific. Only a veterinarian can establish a diagnosis.
Related signs — each one links to its page:
Muscular form: the lamb gets up with difficulty, walks stiffly, with its back arched, trembles on its limbs, then remains lying down while remaining lively and seeking to suckle. He cries when handled because the muscles are painful.
He breastfeeds less, loses weight, falls behind his brothers and sisters.
Cardiac and respiratory form: rapid, difficult breathing, sometimes foaming at the mouth, bluish mucous membranes, sudden depression, rapid death.
Lambs are sometimes simply found dead, without prior sign, often the most beautiful and vigorous of the lot.
The signs are typically triggered after an unusual effort: first outing to the pasture, transport, sorting, running in the park.
Several lambs from the same batch are generally affected within a short interval.
When to consult without delay
This list does not replace veterinary advice. It gathers situations that justify a prompt consultation.
Causes and risk factors
Lack of selenium in the soil, therefore in locally produced fodder and cereals. Vast regions are naturally poor in them.
Lack of vitamin E in the ration: old, heated, wet or long-stored hay loses a lot of it, as do rations very rich in cereals and poor in green fodder.
Needs not covered in the pregnant ewe, which transmits its reserves to the lamb before birth then through colostrum.
Rapid growth of the lamb, which increases the need.
A brutal effort does not create the deficiency but reveals the disease in an already weakened lamb.
Lambs and kids from a few days to a few months, growing rapidly.
Pregnant ewes fed with fodder produced on soils poor in selenium, without reasonable supplementation.
Old, poorly preserved hay, or a ration dominated by cereals.
Lambs from multiple litters.
Turning out to grass, transporting or handling after a prolonged stabling period.
Lack of forage analysis.
Diagnosis and care
Diagnosis is the veterinarian's responsibility, based on clinical examination and laboratory tests. Care is decided case by case.
The veterinarian examines affected lambs and the entire flock, as isolated cases are rare.
Blood tests measure enzymes released by damaged muscles and assess selenium and vitamin E status.
The analysis of the fodder completes the investigation and allows lasting corrections.
The autopsy of a dead lamb is very useful: the pale appearance of the muscles and the heart immediately directs the diagnosis and avoids losing other animals.
The veterinarian rules out other causes of the young person's weakness: copper deficiency, infectious arthritis, nerve damage, trauma.
Treatment
The treatment is based on the supply of selenium and vitamin E, administered by the veterinarian.
The quantities are strictly calculated: selenium is toxic and the gap between the useful dose and the lethal dose is small. An injection given at random or copied from another farm kills lambs. It is a treatment that can never be improvised.
Muscular lambs, treated early, often recover within a few days; you must help them to suckle and keep them calm, on dry litter, without making them run.
Cardiac lambs respond poorly, even when treated: the heart muscle is already affected.
The veterinarian decides at the same time what action to take for the lambs in the group which are not yet sick, and how to correct the ewes' ration.
Treatment depends on the cause and the animal's condition: it must be determined by a veterinarian. No self-medication.
Prevention
Have the fodder analyzed and the supplementation of pregnant ewes discussed with the veterinarian, rather than supplementing out of habit or doing nothing out of principle.
Take care of the conservation of fodder: hay harvested at the right stage, dried correctly and stored under cover retains its vitamin E; old, wet or moldy hay no longer provides any.
Avoid rations dominated by cereals without quality fodder.
Avoid brutal efforts in lambs who have stayed in the sheepfold for a long time: exit gradually, avoid running and vigorous sorting in the first days.
Particularly monitor lambs from multiple litters and the fastest growing.
Never improvise a selenium injection for prevention: the safety margin is too narrow.
Possible complications
Sudden death from damage to the heart muscle.
Respiratory difficulty due to damage to the respiratory muscles, often fatal.
Pneumonia in a lamb that lies down and sucks poorly.
Sustained growth retardation in surviving lambs.
Serial losses in the flock if the ewes' ration is not corrected.
When to see a veterinarian
A lamb gets up with difficulty, walks stiffly or lies down even though it remains lively and tries to suckle.
He cries or tenses up when you handle him.
He is breathing quickly or with difficulty: it is an emergency, the cardiac form kills in a few hours.
One or more lambs are found dead without prior signs, often after being taken out or transported: have the batch examined and request an autopsy.
Several lambs from the same batch weaken at the same time.
Prognosis
Good for muscular fitness gained early: many lambs recover within a few days.
Bad for cardiac and respiratory health, even treated.
At the flock level, the prognosis is excellent as soon as the ration of pregnant ewes and the quality of fodder are corrected: the following seasons proceed normally.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my most beautiful lambs dying?
Because they grow the fastest, therefore consume the most, and because they move the most. The effort reveals the muscular fragility established before birth. This is not a coincidence, it is the rule in this disease.
Can I buy a selenium injection and do it myself?
No. Selenium is toxic and the margin between the useful quantity and the lethal quantity is very narrow. Every year, lambs die from an injection given without stones. This treatment is the responsibility of the veterinarian.
What is the difference with copper deficiency?
Both produce lambs that move poorly. In copper deficiency, gait is staggering and uncoordinated, of nervous origin. In the white muscle, the lamb is stiff and painful, the mind clear, and the heart form can kill suddenly. The analyzes decide.
Is my hay from last year the cause?
It can be. Vitamin E degrades significantly in old, wet or poorly preserved fodder. A ration based on old hay and cereals, distributed to pregnant ewes, is a classic situation in this disease.
References
FAO — Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture
AVMA — American Veterinary Medical Association
Content reviewed by the TunisieVet editorial team · Updated 09 August 2026
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