The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: tommytink on April 01, 2020, 05:01:23 pm
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I have a ewe currently in for extra bonding time after battering her lamb about. We are having to assist with feeds and today I noticed one teat looking larger than the other. Her udder is not hard, hot, or inflamed. I think the problem may be where we are assisting the lamb has always sucked from the same teat instead of using both.
I’ve tried checking for milk but as suspected the teat is blocked. I can feel the milk come down into the teat but it won’t come out the end. I’m guessing the wax seal is still in place (in fact I can see it) and is now reluctant to break.
So - what’s the best way to get the teat going? She’s a first-time Mum so won’t have any previous undetected mastitis problems from last year. Do I persevere with stripping? Or try and warm it up or soak it? Ideas please!
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If it is the wax seal it should come away if you strip that side and then put the lamb on.
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So stripping it - I’m making a circle with thumb/forefinger, pushing this into the bag, and then closing the rest of my fingers down around the teat. The seal is obviously a little stubborn; how long would you expect it to take to clear? I’m worried about hurting her ::) (I’m sure I needn’t be!!)
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if you can see a black or dark center then yes it is sealed , roll the teat end firmly between your thumb and middle finger to try and break the plug up then fill the teat with milk and hold it with your thumb and first finger then tighten middle finger against palm then ring then little and the plug should fly out . If you can feel something like a stick in the teat center then its old infection and may be open by a vet with a teat canula . If the end of the teat looks shorter than its mate and maybe angled then it has been cut at shearing and is damaged fore ever . When you lamb any sheep or pen them after lambing ,you should check both teats are producing milk and how much
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Yep, that’s the way I was doing it. Found a really good YouTube video on how to milk right at the very beginning of lambing! You’re description is better than mine though!
Panic over anyway. Put the lamb on and let her have a good suck and hey presto, seal was broken. I did think to myself I should’ve checked both at the beginning, instead I just did the one we put the lamb on. Will ensure I remember that for next time.
Thanks for the info on other causes - useful to know.
This teat still looks larger than the other. Will watch and see if it goes down any. I don’t know whether build up of pressure has made it bigger (more milk being produced as lamb sucking other teat??)
A totally novice question, is the udder one big bag with two teats, or two separate bags? I’ve read about one side being lost to mastitis which makes me think it’s two separate bags, as otherwise the infection would spread across the whole bag every time? I will stand to be corrected though ;D
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THE teat and half the udder looks swollen due to back pressure , the more the lamb sucks the smaller it will get , some single lambs only ever suck on one side . Think of them as breasts joined together so sheep have 2 ,cows 4, pigs maybe 10-14 so one or more can get an infection which is contained
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Make sure the lamb goes to each side. If they are only put on one side to begin with they tend to favour that side.
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Thanks both. I’ll pop her on the other side a bit more.
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Just wanted to say thank you to [member=9755]shep53[/member]
Early hours I had a ewe give birth that had a nice soft udder but couldn’t get a darn thing out. I tried to persist milking her, massaging, using a warm wash cloth, but nothing was doing. Found this old post whilst madly Googling for help - originally posted by me two years ago! - and doing as suggested worked! I was super relieved as it had been a long night and I really wanted to get a little bit of kip before morning :D
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:thumbsup: