[Wee Noddy]

No questions this time.

Had our first ever lamb born today. Was planning a fairly condensed lambing starting mid March for two weeks. However, this particular ewe arrived unexpectedly in lamb. Had no idea when it was covered and no idea what it was carrying. Added to that, one of our two tips (tups) fired blanks, so our condensed planning of 12 ewes is now spread from mid Dec to mid April!

Anyway, ewe seemed to be a long time I  labour this morning so I did the responsible thing and called the vet.

She came out quickly and confirmed that the sheep was mid labour but was not opening wide enough. After a bit of pulling and tugging we had a healthy ram lamb. He was a bit slow off the mark but managed to get him up and going. That was the good part.

Went over this evening to check on him and found his twin dead in the pen!

Not sure how the vet missed that it was in fact twins.

Bit annoyed. At myself. At vet. At sheep!

[landroverroy]

Yes understandably sad and annoying that the vet missed the second lamb. It's standard procedure for anyone assisting a lambing to check for more. For a vet to miss a second one is virtually unforgiveable and to me - negligent. I would certainly inform the practice and possibly query the bill when it arrives. I had something similar this year where a vet came to assist with a lamb that was stuck.She clearly had no idea what to do. I knew what to do but couldn't because of a shoulder injury. Not wanting to undermine what little confidence and knowledge she had, I waited for her to form her own impression and decision. When she arrived the lamb was alive. After 30 mins of her messing about ineffectively the lamb was dead. At this point I suggested she just cut the head off and get it out to save the ewe further stress. Still she dithered and talked about a caesarian - although how she was going to manage that while the head was still sticking out was unclear. Eventually she rang her boss to ask for advice. He agreed with me. But still she pratted about and in the end I had to go back to my house for a carving knife to do the job. The whole episode was so stressful and it was like she unnecessarily tortured the ewe to no avail, and took nearly an hour to do it. The bill was £240! I paid half and sent a letter of strong complaint. They have credited me the £120 I paid against a future bill. Hopefully there won't be one. I've just taken my 2 dogs for treatment at another vet. But unfortunately the first vets is the only one round here that does farm stock. 

[harmony]

Well you can't be annoyed at the sheep. She was getting on with lambing then from what you say she wasn't ready to deliver but the vet delivered her anyway. Apologies, if I have misread that bit.


Did anyone check for a second lamb?


Between delivery and this evenings check how long? With an assisted birth and a slow lamb if you didn't check for several hours then that's a lesson learnt the hard way.  It may already have been dead in the womb.


The good thing is you have a healthy lamb.


Looking forward now you have had your first birth and you have a gap before the next ones, take the time to think over todays lambing. The vet came quickly today but when everyone gets into full on lambing time coupled with calving there can be times they are really busy.  Read up and enjoy your first lamb.

[twizzel]

If the 2nd lamb was deep down inside then it might not have been easy to feel... I had a set of triplets this year, the first 2 came out fine, the third took a while to come up into the birth canal. If she wasn’t scanned for 3 I probably would have missed it. This could well have been the case if the ewe wasn’t dilated fully when the vet arrived. But yes, I would ask if the vet didn’t check for the second lamb then why. It is easy to blame the vet though and sometimes it’s not their fault.


I remember a few years ago we had a cow calve a healthy calf... penned her up, calf sucked, all good. Came back 3 or 4 hours later to find a dead twin in the pen. Was it anyone’s fault? No not really.

[Wee Noddy]

Well you can't be annoyed at the sheep. She was getting on with lambing then from what you say she wasn't ready to deliver but the vet delivered her anyway. Apologies, if I have misread that bit.


Did anyone check for a second lamb?


Between delivery and this evenings check how long? With an assisted birth and a slow lamb if you didn't check for several hours then that's a lesson learnt the hard way.  It may already have been dead in the womb.


The good thing is you have a healthy lamb.


Looking forward now you have had your first birth and you have a gap before the next ones, take the time to think over todays lambing. The vet came quickly today but when everyone gets into full on lambing time coupled with calving there can be times they are really busy.  Read up and enjoy your first lamb.

Yep, should have been clearer. Not annoyed with THE sheep. Just a bit annoyed with sheep. For being sheep. And all the things that come with them being sheep.

As you say, a whole lot of schooling between now and March. How long before I will know it all? Haha.

[Wee Noddy]

If the 2nd lamb was deep down inside then it might not have been easy to feel... I had a set of triplets this year, the first 2 came out fine, the third took a while to come up into the birth canal. If she wasn’t scanned for 3 I probably would have missed it. This could well have been the case if the ewe wasn’t dilated fully when the vet arrived. But yes, I would ask if the vet didn’t check for the second lamb then why. It is easy to blame the vet though and sometimes it’s not their fault.


I remember a few years ago we had a cow calve a healthy calf... penned her up, calf sucked, all good. Came back 3 or 4 hours later to find a dead twin in the pen. Was it anyone’s fault? No not really.

Yep, everyone has bad days. You just hope that there are more good ones! Once had a vet put a hypodermic into my arm when blood testing a ram!

Everyone has bad days

[Backinwellies]

I work on the 'make a the cup of tea'  rule when lambing .......

if you see star gazing .... watch for a minute .... all ok ....... go make a cup of tea (should take 15 to 20 mins) then recheck ewe .... some progress (toes showing?) the make another cup of tea! ..... repeat ..... as long as any progress made whilst you drown in tea then all is progressing OK (progress can be quite small) .    If no progress then a quick check .... two front feet?  all should be ok .... 

If first time lamber then you can leave much longer in first stage without worrying (only worry if seems to be really struggling)   

I would not be happy if a vet didn't check for second lamb after doing a full extraction of first lamb ...  i nearly made this mistake after lambing triplets .... yes it was quads!!   

[harmony]

Well you can't be annoyed at the sheep. She was getting on with lambing then from what you say she wasn't ready to deliver but the vet delivered her anyway. Apologies, if I have misread that bit.


Did anyone check for a second lamb?


Between delivery and this evenings check how long? With an assisted birth and a slow lamb if you didn't check for several hours then that's a lesson learnt the hard way.  It may already have been dead in the womb.


The good thing is you have a healthy lamb.


Looking forward now you have had your first birth and you have a gap before the next ones, take the time to think over todays lambing. The vet came quickly today but when everyone gets into full on lambing time coupled with calving there can be times they are really busy.  Read up and enjoy your first lamb.

Yep, should have been clearer. Not annoyed with THE sheep. Just a bit annoyed with sheep. For being sheep. And all the things that come with them being sheep.

As you say, a whole lot of schooling between now and March. How long before I will know it all? Haha.

That's sheep for you! How long before you know it all? You don't and the worst thing ever with any animal is to think you do. Always look to learn. Lambing does however get easier and I think as Backinwellies says progress can be small and things take longer, actually a lot longer, than you think they should.

[Anke]

I now give my goats a shot of calcium if the progress in labour is slower than I think it should be. My sheep rarely lamb when I am there (outside and usually just before dawn)


And yes, the vet should have checked for a second one, but it may have already been dead inside.