The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: RonMinch on March 07, 2012, 09:49:01 pm
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Hi All, I have 3 Greyface Dartmoor yews, 2 sets of twins so far, 3 boys, 1 girl. My question is how best to clean lambs bums when Colostrum works its way through? This stuff is so sticky, it virtually blocks there bums up. Last year we cleaned them twice a day, scraping the muck away. Is this normal or is it just mine. Next yew due next week so can get so sleep before it starts again. Regards, Ron.
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I use baby wet wipes or if it's really bad and hard, massage in baby oil then wet wipes. Yes, it's horrid sticky stuff!
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GFD's here are just the same. I put Vaseline on their tails so at least the goo does not set rock hard and glue their tails to legs.
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It can indeed block up their bums completely, so stand back when you release it :o If it is very hard, carefully cut the wool with scissors - that's what Swiss Army knives are for ;D ;D :sheep: This problem usually happens a couple of days or so after birth but then it clears. I hate to think what would happen if you didn't clear it. Apparently it can be avoided by the use of a certain mineral or vitamin, but I don't know which, maybe E. Anyone?.....
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If I had to wipe my lambs arses twice a day, I might actually weep. And then Id sell all my sheep. That rhymes, doesnt it? ;D
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Thanks for the replies, it is a bit of a faff, how do commercial sheep farmers go on? they cant possibly sort all there lambs out every day. Ron.
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Hi Ron, I also have the same problem with my GFD lambs.
Like Bramblecot I put vaseline on their tails but I do also clean off the poo in a bucket of warm water (NO soap as this would mask their smell and Mum may then reject them). This also helps to soften the poo that has dried rock hard.
It's a messy job - remember your waterproofs!
Hopefully the problem should resolve itself in a day or two. Good luck!
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Toss a coin and hope you win so OTH has to do it...
I only had 2 lambs and only had prob with one, so took it as a sign that the good mother was cleaning lambs bottom as it should. The first one sufered from a bit of mismothering and as I had read that the ewe can smell her own milk coming thru I didn't clean the lambs bum for about a week (just means you get covered in yellow gooey stuff every time you pick it up when you forget ::)). I just knocked off the worst lump bits with a spoon and then used warm water and disposable wipes when I did wash it.
Might try the vaseline next time.
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Thanks for the replies, it is a bit of a faff, how do commercial sheep farmers go on? they cant possibly sort all there lambs out every day. Ron.
We don't.
It is rarely a problem but you do get the odd one. Mostly they sort themselves out. I've only ever twice had to resort to scissors and that was woolly-tailed Swaledale lambs with first-timer shearling mams.
Commercial farmers do give mineral drenches routinely, so if you non-commercial folks are seeing quite a bit of this and we commercial types are not, maybe there is something in the mineral theory.
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I think you may be right about the mineral drenches Sally. Just been thinking about it and last year I saw a problem but this year (and we started mineral drenching last summer) so far all has been fine.
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What kind of mineral drench? I see it in a quite a few lambs... so if there is a fairly reasonable solution, I would be prepared to try it.
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In this case it must be the drenching the of the mums so their mineral and vitamin levels are maintained.
We use a chelated drench - Carrs do one call OviThrive, we get ours from a guy called Paul Keeble; others have posted on here about another bloke, Jonathan Guy is it?
We give the chelated drench a couple of months before lambing for sheep that may need the copper to prevent swayback in the lambs (in our case our mules and not our Texels) and anytime after that up until shortly before lambing for the others.
Farmers looking for higher lambing percentages than we do probably use a drench before tupping as part of their flushing programme, and may give another drench shortly before lambing to make sure the girls are fighting fit for lambing.
Most farmers will be feeding in-lamb ewes an increasing cake ration in the final 8 weeks, up to 2lb/head/day in the final month for twin-bearers, and this will be giving them minerals and vitamins too.
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So SallyintNorth, do you leave mineral licks out for the girls as well as drenching them?
I leave mineral licks out all year and until now figured this would have been adequate... ???
Intriguing that this might explain mucky bum syndrome
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My ewes have mineral buckets most of the year - garlic in summer (will it keep midges away? another random thought), Lifeline pre-lambing and own brand GP the rest of the time. The GFD lambs all get horrid sticky bums for the first few days but the Shetland lambs do not. I have no idea why.
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So SallyintNorth, do you leave mineral licks out for the girls as well as drenching them?
I leave mineral licks out all year and until now figured this would have been adequate... ???
We leave licks out up until we start caking; after that they are getting minerals in the cake. The trouble with licks, is not all of them take them. And they eat differing amounts of cake, too - with a drench you know for sure that every ewe has got a proper dose.
I really don't know if the minerals in the ewe's diet is or is not a factor in 'mucky bum syndrome' - but someone on here mentioned it as being possible, and it's a fact that commercial farmers don't seem to see as high a proportion of gummed-shut bums as smallholders seem to. It could equally be that commercial farmers let lambs and ewes get on with it more, and don't intervene in minor cases which a smallholder might decide to help clean up.
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The GFD lambs all get horrid sticky bums for the first few days but the Shetland lambs do not. I have no idea why.
Another reason why the GFD's are a minority breed?? :o
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Don't tend to bother about mucky bums maybe 1in 100 cleaned at ringing maybe 1 in 500 after, only clean ones ware the tail is stuck ,this includes romney crosses which will be as wooly as GFD . The big cross ewes and the hill ewes are all given the same min/vit drench the same concentrates ( different amounts ) . The xewes have lots of colostrum and milk right away and half the lambs will have mucky bums, the hill ewes have only enough colostrum and the milk improves as the lamb gets older , mucky bums are non
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I have lambed 23 Greyface Dartmoor ewes this year, and they have now finished! I would say i've only had about 5 lambs I have had to uncork bums on, and those more prone to sticky bums have all had very fluffy tails. The non corked lambs tend to be tighter curled on their tail wool. The ewes have had Lifeline licks for the last 2 months before lambing, but no minerals prior to that. I trim away the fluff and dung, they don't seem to re bung once trimmed! the joys of longwool sheep!
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Interesting statistic Hazelwood, although somehow I think the commercial farmers would still wince at having to uncork what is still a significant % of the lambs. Just as well there's a bunch of us passionate enough about this rare breed ... even though they do need a little extra intervention. :D
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I'm just so impressed with their teddy-bear lambs. I'd
waste spend even more lamb-watching time if I had GFDs :D
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I`ts not just the GFD whom get "stuck up bums"!--- the Lincoln longwool and Leicester longwool are also prone! :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: ; :-\
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That's it! Long wool! GFDs will always be kept by those who don't mind their quirks, which is just as well given that they have a few! there's no denying that they certainly have the 'ahhh' factor.....especially the lambs.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa43/crazysheep-795/P2022643.jpg)
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Aww lickle pudgy legs :)
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i just used to use warm water, baby soap and a flannel, followed by drying with a towel! didn't seem to bother the single Dartie that was a good mum at all. The others couldn't have cared less about their lambs. Won't be doing it this year though.. we have made a decision NOT to breed from our Dartie ewes again, despite constant vigilance we found them to be a dirty sheep, we haven't the time to be constantly dagging. We have five and only one of them was a good mother...unlucky i guess, seeing as they were sold to us as all good mothers
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That is a shame Herdygirl, but yes they can be dirty! that is why all the (true) longwoolls are rare breeds, they are just too time consuming to look after for commercial interests.
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HI Herdygirl :wave:- I agree with you on both points ,dirty bums and some have very poor mothering ability.
I love :love: my GFD sheep though :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: they have such big personalites and are the most docile and friendly breed, but I do class them as a hobby sheep.
I have had 8 GFD ewes lamb so far this year and I know the history of them all (2 are useless when they first lamb :-\ ,and I always have to really spend lots of time nurturing their lambs along for the first few days ::)
This is Holly ...(http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/ae26/thomsett_bucket/P1020342.jpg)- She has been a fantastic showing ewe, and one of my favorites- lambed a couple of days ago, and the same as last year, really wasn`t bothered about her lamb , but now, with that little extra time and help, she is more interested in him and I can see her bonding at last :thumbsup:
Tilly :wave:
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The lamb born on wednesday tail became stuck, in effect blocking passage of faecal material. Once released it was expelled in large quantities - not an experience I wish to relive too often :o. My question is that he still has dried on hard clumps around his anus and under his tail which I just can't get off, what gets rid of this stuff it's worse than superglue. Also his anus looks quite large, is this normal, has it been stretched slightly? The vet had a look at him when we docked his tail and looked at his anus to check for blockages and said everythin looked ok ???
I'm on a steep learning curve :wave:
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Baby oil helps soften the clumps, which might help around his anus, under hus tail the best way is to wait until the wool grows a bit and then very carefully cut them free, making sure its only fleece you're cutting! Yes, very important to keep checking so it doesn't block them up :o
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Lovely pic Tilly, and yes you are right about them being friendly and docile with great personalities, so much so that we haven't the heart to send them to the butcher, they will be pets, and stay with us until they die. we will just take the fleece from them. we have 2 dartie/ryand crosses that will become mums this time, so it will be interesting to see if they are any better at mothering than their mothers were!
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Hi Tilly
We have Lincoln LWs, due to lamb at Easter. This is our first lambing, and if the sequencing or raddle marks works out the first to lamb will be a first timer. ( lots of firsts) How soon do you go in an clean sticky bum?
Thanks
Jo
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How soon do you go in an clean sticky bum?
I keep an eye on the lambs, I check their bums and tails to make sure they are clean of any poo and if any is attached I remove it straight away whilst it's still soft. When you see them feed they give their tails a wag - if you are close enough you will be able to see any 'stuck' orange poop.
:sheep:
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Hi Norfolk Newbies :wave:
We have quite a number of Longwools lambing ,and I don`t routinely ""clean bums!" :D, I just keep an eye on the lambs and make sure that the little lambs bottoms don`t get restricted so they can`t actually poo!
The sticky first poo does look a bit unsightly, but as long as it isn`t causing the lamb any problem will come off the wool in a short time by its self :thumbsup:
-- good luck with your lambing and let us know how you are getting on......
Tilly
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Thanks for the advice.
1 month to go and I have phone numbers for 3 locals I can call on in emergency and I am starting to get my 'kit' prepared. (Not nervous AT ALL...gulp). Reading VSS book and this site daily, which is making me feel slightly less apprehensive, and more worried, both at the same time. :-)
I will let you know how I get on.
Jo
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We only have a few bottle fed lambs each year and so i take my labrador bitch in with me when we feed, she dutifully goes round and cleans all the bums while we feed :thumbsup: sorted.