[AlexInLincs]

Hi

I took delivery of 4 friesland ewes on Saturday.  I noticed yesterday that one of them has started to kneel down to feed.  She is heavily in lamb and on inspection her feet are quite overgrown.  I am new to sheep so am not quite sure what to do.  My initial thoughts are either she has jarred her leg on the journey (300 miles) or that I need to get hold of her and trim her feet and see what that reveals, but I have read that you can't handle pregnant sheep in the same way...is this true?

Any advice appreciated.  There is no smell so am pretty sure it isn't footrot (I have been told you can't miss the smell?)

Thanks

[Fleecewife]

Her overgrowen feet will be the problem.  Often mud sticks in between the toes and causes pain and later on rot will develop in the area under the mud where oxygen cannot reach.
The seller really should have trimmed the feet before you took delivery. 
Have you trimmed feet before?  In a heavily pregnant ewe you are best to trim them with her standing, but if you have not done this before then in pregnancy is a bad time to learn.  Do you have someone who can do this for you?  Down on her knees is not a good position for a pregnant ewe as everything inside will be out of place.  How far off lambing is she?

[AlexInLincs]

Brilliant...

She is due at the end of the month.  I have never trimmed feet before and certainly not in a heavily pregnant ewe.  I don't have someone who could do this for me...

Time to start learning fast.  Is this a two man job?  My wife is pregnant so can't go near the sheep at the minute.

Thanks for your reply

[VSS]

If she is due to lamb soon, leave the feet until after she has lambed. You could do more harm than good by trying to do her feet at this stage.

[Fleecewife]

If you do decide to go for trimming (but I agree with the others - only if essential) then you can use a halter to tie her to a gate and gently use your body (away from her lambs) to hold her in position while you lift the feet one at a time.  There will probably only be one (front) foot which needs trimming.  We have lightweight sheep so it's not a problem for us, but even so we would probably leave the ewe until lambing now.

[AlexInLincs]

Thanks for your advice.  She is kneeling some of the time when feeding and also some of the time when grazing.

[Rosemary]

You could ask your vet to trim them. It will cost you but it might be worth it.


No TAS members in Lincolnshire?

[shetlandpaul]

a local sheep farmer should be willing to show you for a pint or two. if she is getting foot rot then it maybe time to treat her. can you bring her in for a while and give her feet a rest. does she limp when she walks.

[pikilily]

maybe , just maybe, you could be lucky and it could just be mud rubbing between her toes, or a bit of twig. So a quick inspection, without upending her, get the mud out with your fingers and a squirt with some fotrot spray or terramycin spray would be my first move....then see how she goes. this may hold things at bay untill after lambing when you can do a proper trim without worrying about the babes.

LOL, yet another opinion!
Emma T

[egglady]

thank goodness for this thread as i am having the same 'problem'.  if i got my sums right, our first lambs are due 28th march.  Is this too late to catch ours (shetlands) & should i now wait till they've lambed or is it far enough away that i can still trim - and presumbably i need to keep the girls upright?

[Rosemary]

I always check my ewes feet when I give them Heptavac 4-5 weeks before lambing BUT I only have nine, they come in at the shout so no rounding up, they are naturally quite docile and I don't tip them just do them like a farrier does a horse. A few of them needed a good trim this time but they seem none the worse for it. If you've only got 4 and they are quite tame, I think you'd be safe to at least clean the mud off and scoot with anti bacterial /anti septic spray. But you'll have to clean it first or you'll just be scooting mud 

[shep53]

Dont rush into any decision consider ewes traveled 300 miles STRESS new people and new feeding regime STRESS for you to catch restrain and try to trim having never done it before STRESS.As long as she is getting around and getting her share of the food (could build small pen to feed her in ) dont panic unless she gets worse, time to find someone to show you how or try you tube maybe sheep 101

[kanisha]

I caught all my ewes up last friday they are due within the month, for the final vacciantion worming and foot trim yes i turned each one of them( ouessants) they are handled extremely carefully they know me the routine and none were  showing any signs of any problems I have done this for the past few years and no problems but i never get them up to a run even they come into a small paddock which is then slowly reduced in size to a small corral and then they are handled one by one each released once been done to go about their normal business. done carefully with ewes who know what to expect it should be fine.

[humphreymctush]

My advice would be to give her a foot bath. Water first to clean out the mud, then Zinc sulphate (golden hoof) to kill bacteria.  Stand her in it for a good while. Then trim her feet as soon as she has lambed. Simply trimming overgrown feet with out treating them could make them worse in the short term. If she is the only one with overgrown feet it is quite likely that an infection has prompted them to over grow.

[shrekfeet]

never turn an in lamb ewe