The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: wellies on March 12, 2014, 03:50:54 pm
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Half way through lambing. As always it's had its ups & downs, today more of the down. Found my amazing expensive pedigree etc etc sheep with a mild prolapse today. This is my first experience of a prolapse in my ewes & am feeling very grumpy :innocent: Some of my other registered ewes don't have the most show stopping lineage (good old fashioned girls of good type but with fewer of the fashionable prefixes in their papers) they sure can throw out a solid pure bred lamb normally without help. I love those ewes :excited: ,Priceless in their own right!
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I've heard a few folk aren't having the best lambings :( I have a prolapse spoon but never had to use it - I hope this year isn't the year :fc:
Hope you're ewe is OK. Will you keep her? If they do it once is it more likely to happen in future years?
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Yes it is!
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I normally culled for prolapse but one year kept a ewe that did and the following two years gave her 4 injections of Calciject coming up to lambing. She carried twins that year and the next with no prolapse. My research indicated there may be a problem with the ewe's ability to utilise calcium in her diet. I've worked on refining the ewes' diet as lambing approaches and haven't seen a prolapse for about six years.
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I think it is more likely to happen again once it occurs, very disappointing >:( will make a decision on her after weaning if she delivers the lambs safely. Vets advice was to cull. I'm keen to produce purebred sheep that are fit for purpose & as hardy as possible so I would like to research more about the genetic predisposition. From my preliminary reading it seems it is a very grey area & there are several suspected causes so the jury is still out for her & her offspring. It's my first experience of prolapse too Rosemary & one I'd rather not repeat to be honest. She's got a harness on now so looks like she's done up like a Christmas turkey but it seems to be helping. She is on her due date today so hopefully as soon as the lambs engage it will relieve the pressure. Must admit I'm very nervous about the delivery, I'm not sure I feel confident about this one ??? Husband is typically away & I'm on my own this week! Maybe she'll hold on until Friday & hubby can lamb her :thumbsup:
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Marches farmer I'd be fascinated to learn more about your administration of calciject. Perhaps if she did say I too could experiment with this & diet. Do tell me more...
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I think the genetic predisposition to prolapsing is a small part of the problem
Diet, being overweight , mineral status and tail docking will all have an effect
The fad for docking sheep's tails so short must have an effect on the muscle linkage around the vagina/tail etc
prolapsing will certainly weaken the muscles and make the animals prone to a repeat performance
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if its a small prolapse that is resolved with a harness and she's close to lambing I wouldn't be too concerned. Its usually just everything starting to slacken off as the hormones change ready for birth.
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I agree with TimW regarding docking tails too short - still see some very short in the market. I keep detailed individual records of every sheep and have never found it to be a heritable trait. I gave the ewe in question 5ml of Calciject once a week in the month before lambing.
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I always thought it was mainly a diet thing.
Never seen one though and heres hoping I don't...
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I have had this in the past, twice before lambing and once after. Each time lambs were a single and big. Ewes were culled on vets advice. At that time I did not have enough experience with my sheep and wondered if I had overfed them.
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It is mainly a diet thing.......seen it loads in fat little welsh halfbreds, saying that it's difficult to feed every ewe right as you will always get some fatter than others and if their scanned for twins will need the extra feed.
I had a ewe at home that prolapsed very year for three years, each year a little worse til I finally culled her, so I'm guessing once it has happened it creates a weakness which makes it likely to happen again.....
Most commercial folk cull after the first time
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I would say its mainly a breed thing with untouched breeds primatives, old breeds , some hill no matter how fat not prone to prolapsing and commercial tampered with breeds very prone ( never had a swaledale prolapse and blue faces are not known as a problem but mules !!!! ) Then feeding comes next as you can feed different breeds the same diet and some will never prolapse and some will big time , internal fat is considered by many experts to be more important than how fit the sheep is . Then comes calcium which experts have thought can be a problem for last 30 yrs but not certain . A difficult lambing this year can cause a ewe to prolapse in the future due to damage and weakness . Genetics can have an effect ( the most startling iv'e seen is a mother and daughter both prolapsing their wombs within a week of each other ) The decision weather you keep a sheep after a prolapse is up to the individual BUT I have seen too many sheep die in agony with their intestines or bladder hanging out behind them to risk giving any a second chance
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I;m no expert but told that feeding such as beet pulp or too much hay in late pregnancy is one of the many causes.
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Well the prolapsed ewe has just given birth to two enormous lambs. So far everything is still intact! Thank you everyone for your comments they've been really helpful & thought provoking. With regard to condition of ewe, she's a 3 (we score our ewes regularly in the run up to lambing; small flock & friendly sheep). They do have ad lib hay due to lack of grass (mud everywhere) & ewe nuts starting 4 - 6 weeks before lambing depending on conditions etc. It's interesting as this year we've had a mix of small & large twins even though the diet/management is the same. Singles have been more uniform... Some things to think about for next year