Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: we've got it!  (Read 11417 times)

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
we've got it!
« on: February 26, 2012, 10:40:22 pm »
Hubby and i have just come in from lambing our first schmallenberg lamb. all twisted up and barely alive. we thought we had got away with it cause most of our flock lamb December but these are our late commercial ewes so lamb now. Most to be fair are ok but they are at a different field this one was served at our home field a stone's throw from the coast.
I thought we had been lucky up till now; they had a case on the Isle of Wight and we are just over the Solent from them. Never mind these things happen, but the little thing looks so pathetic  :'(

squeasy

  • Joined Jan 2012
  • North Yorkshire
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2012, 10:41:44 pm »
So sorry to hear your news
Very new to this all.  (very) Smallholder since March 2011 


12 Registered Soay sheep (8 breeding ewes, 2 Rams, 1 wether, 1 retired ewe) 5 Hens, 2 Cats, 1 labrador puppy

Bramblecot

  • Joined Jul 2008
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2012, 11:46:49 pm »
Feldar,

Very sorry to hear your news.  We are just along the coast from you, in West Dorset, and lambing this week.   Although we only have a very small flock of non-commercial ewes, I am expecting the worst.  Our first lamb has an undershot jaw but otherwise seems ok.  I hope it does not affect too many of your flock, good luck with the rest.
3 1/2 pages in the Sunday Telegraph today, I don't think sheep welfare has ever received so much publicity, and on Countryfile this evening as well.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2012, 12:31:15 am »
My heart goes out to you all lambing now in the south  :bouquet: 
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

kanisha

  • Joined Dec 2007
    • Spered Breizh Ouessants
    • Facebook
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2012, 02:27:58 am »
Sorry to hear the news feldar and I hope you don't have many more affected as I'm only ten minutes from the coast on the other side of the channel this is looking more gloomy
Ravelry Group: - Ouessants & Company

plumseverywhere

  • Joined Apr 2013
  • Worcestershire
    • Its Baaath Time
    • Facebook
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2012, 08:28:36 am »
Really sorry to hear that Feldar.  :(
Smallholding in Worcestershire, making goats milk soap for www.itsbaaathtime.com and mum to 4 girls,  goats, sheep, chickens, dog, cat and garden snails...

Sylvia

  • Joined Aug 2009
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2012, 08:35:21 am »
What a blow :( I hope the others are alright. My Shelties don't lamb 'til mid-April so I've got a few weeks of worrying yet. The ewes look fine though so I'm hoping all will be well. There's going to be a lot of anxious days and sleepless nights this spring.

Southfields

  • Joined Mar 2011
  • Salisbury
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2012, 08:38:01 am »
Sorry to hear that Feldar, we are waiting to start and dreading it as we only have such a small flock.  At least you now know that the ewe has life long immunity from the virus, if that is any consolation x

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2012, 08:54:46 am »
Thanks everyone,
We went back last night to check her again and just as hubby thought there was a twin in her. It was presented with four legs forward but this was because the back legs were fused forwards and extra long. The head was fused to the side and hubby just couldn't lamb her normally. the next bit is really horrible sorry, he was pulling the front legs to get the lamb up into the canal and they just came away1 thankfully lamb was dead but the front knee joints were so malformed they broke off. bless him he was a hero, he managed to turn the lamb and i stress at this point we were only interested in saving the ewe.
He worked the back legs out very gently and lambed the lamb breach but it was touch and go.The ewe showed no interest in the lamb and is happy this morning feeding away.
If ther is any advice i would give you, i would say save your ewes not the lambs, your ewes are more important and can always lamb again and to be honest if the lambs are deformed, they are not worth saving.

plumseverywhere

  • Joined Apr 2013
  • Worcestershire
    • Its Baaath Time
    • Facebook
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2012, 09:18:01 am »
|How many ewes are left to lamb at yours Feldar?  Poor hubby, sounds like he did an amazing job, so glad you've saved your ewe
Smallholding in Worcestershire, making goats milk soap for www.itsbaaathtime.com and mum to 4 girls,  goats, sheep, chickens, dog, cat and garden snails...

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2012, 09:29:21 am »
Feldar judging from an article I read on BBC news it is often necessary to do what you guys had to and break bones in order to remove the deformed lambs as there is just no way to get them out any other way, you did exactly the right thing, but how awful for you.

The only upside (if there is one) is that your ewe should now be ok for life, or so 'they' tell us.

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2012, 09:31:18 am »
We got 17 more to lamb, Llanwenog cross hamp ewes.
Will still be a financial blow if they all come out like last night. But heart goes out to big commercial farma what a disaster for them or indeed anyone,  even small flocks it so worrying. Luckily the ewes if you can get them through the lambing are fine but watch those fused legs you can easily hole the uterus trying to get them out. Gently does it i say.

kanisha

  • Joined Dec 2007
    • Spered Breizh Ouessants
    • Facebook
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2012, 10:00:52 am »
It sounds so totally grim and I can't imaginehow  so many people are going to be faced with lambing like this :'(

Its like some sort of sick joke :'(

I was just wondering my one ewe who hasn't been right for some time is probably pregnant but I am concerned that this virus may have caused problems would an ultrasound show the type of deformaties clearly enough to determine if this is the case?. Ouessants are so small I doubt it would be possible to do the sort of manoevering described and I may have no choice but to look at  a caesarian I'(m thinking it may be bett to elect to do one anyway in this ewe if I could tell that the foetus was affected

just updating my thinking on this would it not be better to know in advance those ewes likely to be affected? I am wondering if scanning all the ewes and identifiying those with deformed lambs would save some worry when to comes to lambing being able to have some confidence that there are ewes who can lamb normally and those that may need closer watching. 
« Last Edit: February 27, 2012, 10:45:52 am by kanisha »
Ravelry Group: - Ouessants & Company

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2012, 10:01:49 am »
wishing you all the best

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: we've got it!
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2012, 10:52:34 am »
So sorry. It must have been awful.

 

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