[suziequeue]

Well we have almost finished lambing for this year but one last ewe remains. She's due twins and - as such, has been afforded a little extra feed towards the end of her pregnancy. But the fact is - she has become enormously fat. She doesn't seem to be showing any signs of impending delivery although she does have that "width" about her........and is definitely having difficulty getting up now.


I have four questions:


Firstly - is she still in lamb? How could I find out? Can I take her down to the vet for a quick scan?


Secondly - if she is still in lamb, what problems can I anticipate as a result of her obesity. I understand that the risks of prolapse and pregnancy toxaemia are greater. What else?

[Hevxxx99]

Sure she's fat and not just carrying a big womb?

My hippo-sized ewe was actually quite thin when I felt her pelvis and shoulders despite being fed tons. I also expected her to lamb about 2 weeks before she eventually did. By the end, she was very short of breath, struggling to get up and down and not cudding a lot.

Another problem is that the lamb could be huge so birthing may be difficult. Thank goodness my hippo had triplets. I wasn't sure it wasn't going to be a fully grown sheep the way she was!

[fsmnutter]

The difficulties you have mentioned, the potential for huge lambs, also fat in the pelvis can make for a difficult lambing due to lack of space. Be prepared to assist and if not coming easily, call the vet promptly.
It is very hard to scan a ewe (or other animals) close to birth, but an experienced shepherd or vet will often be able to tell if a ewe is heavy in lamb by "bumping" the belly to feel for lambs, or tell from udder development.
Feeling spine etc to check her actual body condition score is very good advice, an experienced shepherd or vet will be able to help you with this.
When did the ram come out, this will let you know the latest possible date she could lamb.

[Marches Farmer]

How many crops of lambs has she had?  Do you know when she was tupped, or the date the ram came out and could work out 21 weeks from that?  Check her vulva - it should be much enlarged, pink and soft. Check her udder - should be feeling rounded and full but not hard.   How much feed are you giving her?  Cutting back late in pregnancy can lead to twin lamb disease, even if the ewe is fat.  It's her inability to convert reserves to energy quickly enough that'll be the problem.  You may be able to feel the lambs moving, although if she's in full fleece you're unlikely to see them unless she's lying down.  Her feed intake will drop if she's full of lambs and there just isn't enough room for lots of feed in her rumen.  If you're worried about big lambs I'd check her regularly once she starts to lamb and stand by with lambing ropes, plenty of lubrication and the vet's number to hand.

[suziequeue]

They were all due to lamb last week according to the crayon marking on her. We had a teaser ram in before but nothing is 100%. Everybody else has lambed.

I'll have to check what she had last year but now the other ewes are out of the field I'll round her and her little buddy up and give her a good check over.

[Sbom]

Has she any bag?

[suziequeue]

Bag?

[Sbom]

Udder!

[suziequeue]

Oh - no.

Sorry - I thought you might have been talking about her forewaters. I think if she was showing any teat-like activity I would be less concerned as I would know the that things were shaping up.

Anyway - I'll try and see if DH will get her in to have a look at or perhaps our neighbour. He sold his flock last year in preparation for selling the house and he hasn't had any buyers so far. I know he misses lambing and judging by the way he was tucking into a roast leg of lamb on Saturday - he misses he results too  .

I'm not around during the week.

[suziequeue]

Well - she lambed. Two Rams at 3.5 and 4kg.


All finished for another year.

[Coastie]

 .   
My last but one huge straggler had twins today too  .  I'm quite relieved it is nearly over this year.

[Hellybee]

Well done you lucky pup. We still got another 20 odd eating they're silly heads off waiting to pop....this could take some time......