[thenovice]

It just gets better, my other ewe with a single lamb has mastitis! I felt her quarters and they were hard, hot and lumpy, and the poor little fella looks hungry and a bit pinched. When the teats were sqeezed 1 had a little milk and the other was dry. Do i just try and drain them myself or do i give her antibiotics aswell? Its been a great first lambing!!! Some advice would be wonderful please 

[Old Shep]

I'm no expert but my gut reaction is definitely antibiotics!  Mastitis is serious and can result in the loss of the udder, shrivelled and black!  Or worse the loss of the sheep.  Fast action required. :-)

[SallyintNorth]

Yes antibiotics, strip twice daily - more if you can.

Sorry to hear of your problems.  If you are getting several cases, is there an underlying cause?  Is it dirty where they lie?  Are they woolly and dirty underneath?  Are they getting enough food to produce enough milk for their lambs?  Have you got orf (blisters on mouths on lambs, on teats on lactating mothers) in your flock?

Mastitis most often occurs where the ewe is stretched to provide enough milk for her increasingly demanding lambs - they keep pulling and pushing on empty teats, spending more time biting and making them wet than they would if their tummies were pleasantly full.  Any dirt or infection around then has an easy route in.

[thenovice]

No, no orf. They have good grass, sheep mix twice a day and a mineral bucket. I think the fact they are southdowns doesnt help. Being so low to the ground, her big ram lamb has trouble getting underneath. added to that, being a beginner, i bought a couple of older ewes, but who gets rid of their best! Im learning real fast, and know exactly what to look for next time. I can see why a lot of smallholders go for the primitives, ie hardy, easy lambing, and resilient. Do you have any suggestions on a docile, medium sized, healthy commercial breed sally? 

[jaykay]

See the thread on mastitis for more info, but yes, jag and keep massaging and stripping.

Whereabouts are you - what are the local breeds, often a good place to start.
Otherwise, things like Hampshires are calm, not too big, but not tiny and mad either.

[thenovice]

Im in kent, so the local breeds are romneys (kents we call them), and yes, southdowns. Not keen on the kents, but the hampshires sound interesting. I tried to strip her this morning, but nothing came out of either, so i gave her pen strep anyway. Her ram lamb still seems active, so he must be getting something. I am going to give him him a bit of milk everyday too, does this sound like a plan?

[TheCaptain]

if really bad we have used the stuff that you get for cattle that gets inserted into the udder. Usually a 12 hr non-milking from the udder so may have implications for your lamb.

[SallyintNorth]

All breeds have their pros and cons.

Ones I can speak of personally :

Charollais - very laid back, easy lambing (usually, I know one member on here has had a miserable lambing with Charollais this year), friendly biddable sheep, tremendous growth rates and carcase.  Downsides - rather large, can be quite bare - young lambs may need jacketing in bad weather, adults and lambs may get sunburn on thinly-covered or bare skin

North Country Mules - lovely friendly sheep (just don't get between a full-grown ewe and her cake!), usually pretty hardy, have good commercial lambs to Texel or Suffolk, tremendous mothers, very milky.  Downsides - too many triplets, can put too much into lambs at the expense of herself, resulting in twin lamb disease etc if not carefully managed.  Personally I like the Swaledale cross Blue-faced Leicester Mule and do not like the Blackface cross Blue-faced Leicester Mule - I find the latter flighty and unfriendly.  Their lambs do have better carcases though, and their fleece may be better.

Texels - very commercial, should finish same year born, naturally make good use of copper so don't need copper supplements.  Downsides - not always very milky so can struggle to rear two lambs, not always good feet, can suffer copper toxicity if they get hold of food or lick with copper in.  Single lambs can be too large to lamb, so it's best to scan Texels and feed the twin-bearers (to make sure she has enough milk) and not the single-bearers (so the lamb isn't over-large.)

Beltex - top commercial breed these days, very motherly and milky, squat sheep but very very solid.  Usually fairly laid back.  Some people say they are ugly; they've grown on me - but then I like Muscovy ducks, too!      Downsides - pure-bred lambs can be too large in the shoulders and hips to get born.  Feet not always good.  Like your Southdowns, they maybe are a bit close to the ground.

Anything else I told you would be hearsay - and would include that the Romney is supposed to be a good healthy sheep, good feet, commercial carcase.

What about Shetlands, cross them to a Texel for a commercial lamb?

I'd been thinking about getting a Southdown tup for our hoggs, thinking it would be a nice small (but still commercial) lamb for a first-timer.  Having said which, we used the Dutch Texel on our shearlings this year and his lambs have been small at birth, but really good shapes and good growth rates, so we will probably stick with him for first-timers.

[SteveHants]

No, no orf. They have good grass, sheep mix twice a day and a mineral bucket. I think the fact they are southdowns doesnt help. Being so low to the ground, her big ram lamb has trouble getting underneath. added to that, being a beginner, i bought a couple of older ewes, but who gets rid of their best! Im learning real fast, and know exactly what to look for next time. I can see why a lot of smallholders go for the primitives, ie hardy, easy lambing, and resilient. Do you have any suggestions on a docile, medium sized, healthy commercial breed sally? 

Lleyns, the commercial, not the pedigree type. I hear good things about Romneys, especially the NZ type. Highlanders... Anything bread for low-input easy care systems would do what you want.

[SallyintNorth]

Oh, of course, Lleyns!  Perfect.  Maybe a lot of triplets, but they're milky and motherly so can rear them?

[jaykay]

I'm gettin quite taken with my Shetlands, 5 out of the 8 coming to eat out of my hand now. And they do, apparently, produce good cross lambs with a commercial sire.

[SteveHants]

Oh, of course, Lleyns!  Perfect.  Maybe a lot of triplets, but they're milky and motherly so can rear them?

Aye. My Lleyns are left to rear triplets unassisted which they do, as do my Lleyn x Wilts Horns. They dont grow em as fast as twins, obviously, but you can still sell em as stores back end of the year. I hear interesting things about NZ Romneys up your way lambing on easy care systems mid Apr.

[colliewoman]

I would vote for shetlands too. Put em to a shetland tup the first year so you both have an easy time, then to a commercial ram next time. The cross lambs grow like weeds

[SallyintNorth]

A relative had a few Shetlands amongst his Swales and Mules, always put them to the Texel.  They lived for years and years, never had any problems, the last girl produced and reared two twins last year which he sold in the store for £63 apiece.  On those figures, we (farmers  ) should all switch to Shetlands! 

[TheCaptain]

On the flip side, I've just put my two 'odd girls' (Texel mule x I think) to my Portland ram. They've both produced cracking twins that seem to be coming on a treat - the first two are nearly the size of my Portland lambs already, and they were born 8 weeks later!