The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: v10guy on March 11, 2009, 03:19:03 am
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wwwwwwwwheew...
it's been a long last few days. Now keep in mind I am a newbie at sheep. This is a first (& last) year lambing for this ewe. Yesterday I found her out in the pasture with the prolapse's...tried the spoon, got several expert friends who have had sheep for decades and never had a prolapse like this.
Took her to the vet and he did two purse string sutures, one on the rectum and one on the vagina. He also gave her a two week epidural to try and stop the pushing. She is 14 days from lambing.
A few questions.
The vet didn't give her any antibiotic, he thought it all looked really good. I kinda wish she got an antibiotic just to be sure. The rectal suture was too tight and she couldn't deficate, her stool was all bound up and pushing on the sutures, so I loosened the suture. I hope it's correct now. Should I go ahead and give her a shot of antibiotics?
How successful are these prolapse sutures using umbillical tape? They look strong...They also look like they could invite infection.
I know this lamb won't be bred again. I really have a soft spot, hence why I spent more at the vet than what she's worth at market.
Any thoughts or ideas? I currently have her in the barn in a nice cozy stall.
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Thats sounds a bit horrible for a newcomer, I hope she is not a lamb from last year. As she is inside you can keep her clean by washing her bits in hibiscrub as needed. If you have the antibiotics I would rather be safe than sorry and give her a shot if you think she isn't doing very well. I would also give her a bit of ivy as a pick me up. Good luck.
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I am new to all this and I have 5 ryeland ewes in lamb to Archie - having their first lambs this year. 10 days ago I thought there was something wrong with one of the ewes as she would not eat but looked otherwise well. I rang my brother-in-law who has worked on farms all his life but is now retired. He didn't think it was much to worry about. I had to go to work that day - typical, I had just had a week off! I rang my husband to tell him to go straight home and check the sheep when he finnished work at 2pm. He rang me at just gone 3pm. He was on his way to the vets, his brother was with the sheep, and he needed a needle and thread. I couldn't understand what the problem was until I got home and yes - it was a prolapse. The sheep is due to lamb at the weekend. I am told just to cut the stitch when she starts to lamb. My brother-in-law put the stitch in, he says that she proberbly will be OK to lamb again next year and that it is quite a common thing to happen. She is out in the field with the others. I just keep an eye on her - she has bagged up so it could be anytime now!
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Another way is to get a length of cord (Like you use in windows) about 12 feet long, half it roughly and put over the sheep's head, knot together along ewes back knot again before the tail this then cross overs under the vagina then back thorough the legs and the two ends are tied together on the back. This will need to be adjusted when it settles into the fleece. This should than keep any prolapse in place and can be lambed through.
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Having a litter of 11 puppies is easier than this - good luck ;D
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also, I've removed two chunks of bloody mass about 2" long. I can't tell what it is. It's been at the edge of her rectum both times. At first it looked like the placenta, but it can't be. Any ideas?
I went and bought some penecillin, going to give her a shot tonight...
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doesnt sound to brilliant i must say :(
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how's that?
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Were the chunks connected to long stringy tissue? One of our ewes aborted quite early in her pregnancy, but retained the fetuses until a few months later when she proceeded to go through all the motions of labour, but only had these stringy bits of tissue hang out of her. The stringy tissue had bits that looked like beans attached and then a small mass that was about 2-3 inches in length and as wide as a sausage. The vet looked at the mass and suggested that the fetuses had probably aborted around 6 weeks into the ewe's pregnancy (which coincided with a time in the dead of winter here in Canada when she was also somewhat thin). In the few months that followed, the fetuses essentially mummified inside the ewe until something triggered her to expel them as if she was actually in labour. She didn't prolapse at any time, but I wonder if this might be what your small bloody masses are.