[paulrollings]

One of my Southdowns (scanned for a single) waters broke this afternoon. Waited about 1.5 hours and still nothing, tried to push hand inside but she had not opened up yet.  Wasn't sure what to do, and so had to call the vet out.

Great chap from Larkmead vets came over and after 15 mins of massaging inside her to open her out he found three legs forward head back, he managed to get rope around lambs head and eventually pull the lamb out.  Alas, lamb not breathing, heart still beating but couldn't rescue her. 

We gave ewe drugs to encourage afterbirth, not sure how long this takes.

This has been a tough first lambing season; so far we 4 lambs alive and well, 3 died.  One more ewe to go;  expecting twins.  Not sure I can cope with anymore dead lambs!

[jaykay]

I'm so sorry to hear that 
You did the right thing in calling out the vet, at least you've saved your ewe 

[SteveHants]

That percentage of morts would worry me. Can you think of anything that would be causing an underlying problem?

[in the hills]

 

Sorry. We found our first lamb dead on the field and that was bad enough.It sounds like you have had a really hard time.

Fingers crossed for your last ewe and some healthy lambs.

[paulrollings]

Steve - if I am really honest, I think inexperience and incompetence on my part is probably the underlying problem. 

For the first two lambs despite being able to handle the difficult lamb presentations, what has killed the lambs has been breathing problems and not being able to clear the lambs airways. That won't happen again!  The last lamb probably died by its cord getting snapped whilst inside the ewe; and presenting in a difficult postion, I didn't get it out in time.

I've certainly learnt a lot over this past week, but what a terrible way to learn!

[kanisha]

It really dents your confidence to lose lambs like that. Hope everything goes well with the last one 

[Remy]

Really sorry to hear that, it's very disheartening  . I had to fish around inside a ewe for the first time this year, it was very difficult.  The lamb was a breech and I just could not get hold of the legs to bring them backwards - it can be extremely tricky not to damage the cord etc while trying to manoeuvre the legs, I did break one umbilical cord but the lamb was already dead, so was it's twin (again presented wrongly).

Fingers crossed your last lambing will be trouble free!

[SteveHants]

Steve - if I am really honest, I think inexperience and incompetence on my part is probably the underlying problem. 

For the first two lambs despite being able to handle the difficult lamb presentations, what has killed the lambs has been breathing problems and not being able to clear the lambs airways. That won't happen again!  The last lamb probably died by its cord getting snapped whilst inside the ewe; and presenting in a difficult postion, I didn't get it out in time.

I've certainly learnt a lot over this past week, but what a terrible way to learn!

I'd be scratching my head if I had to assist that many births in a flock of 50, let alone a smaller one. Are they all first time lambers? Were they got in lamb as shearlings or hoggets?

If they were older ewes and you'd bought them last year, I'd wonder if someone had been selling you their culls.

[Pasture Farm]

- if I am really honest, I think inexperience and incompetence on my part is probably the underlying problem. 

You have my sympathies.......what a rotten first lambing for you    but i would say try not to be disheartened

We've all had our fair share of triumphs and heartbreak and each and every year brings something new to challenge us.
Last year we had a shocking lambing with all sorts of things catching us out.Not least of which was the house move We had lambs lost for seemingly no reason    missed mismothering    perfectly healthy ewes...as per post mortem  just keel over and die....there's always something   and whilst we have minimised our losses so far this year we have had an unusual amount of difficult presentations and had to assist on numerous lambings
I hope you have a better experience with your last lambing and wish you the very best

[woollyval]

So sorry you have had a bad time.....I also would be rather worried and want to ask what you are doing re the breathing....? If a lamb appears to be sort of alive...ie heart but no breathing take hold very firmly of back legsa and swing it for all you are worth....quite violently....this will often clear airways and shock it into gasping. If this dosent work try mouth to mouth...can work! Or dipping its nose in very cold water for a second...not more...can also have the desired effect...after all you have nothing to lose by trying this!

[jaykay]

You do have to hang on tightly for the swinging, as lambs are very slippery, but it works  I have a modified version where I hold them laid along my arm with my fingers between their front legs and round their neck and swing my arm hard downwards.

Also, learned when I worked at the vets, tickle/prick their nose between the nostrils and the very entrance of their nostrils in the centre, with a piece of straw. There's a breathing reflex sensitive bit here.

Works for most little animals, I saw him first use it on puppies that were a bit groggy from a caesarean but after that on lambs and piglets.

[Rosemary]

Sorry you've had such a rotten time. We've seen more of the vets this year than ever; fortunately, we haven't lost any lambs. Two visits were two huge singles out of gimmers - next year, I'm not going to feed the singles at all, just hay and a lick.

Good points from others on getting lambs breathing.

[Haylo-peapod]

So very sorry to hear of your losses, it's such a tough thing to go through. My first ever lambing seven years ago didn't go well and I found it heartbreaking. Like you in the early days I did make mistakes due to my inexperience.

The best thing you can do is not beat yourself up but to try and put a positive spin on these sad events by putting this valuable experience to good use in future years. Each year will probably present you with new challenges, some you will win, others you won't. All you can do is your best and then learn from what happened. Remember even very experienced shepherds lose some lambs.

I've had a year of firsts and have learnt loads this lambing season and fortunately managed to recover a number of potential losses. So take heart, things will get better as you become more experienced.

[SteveHants]

You do have to hang on tightly for the swinging, as lambs are very slippery, but it works  I have a modified version where I hold them laid along my arm with my fingers between their front legs and round their neck and swing my arm hard downwards.

Also, learned when I worked at the vets, tickle/prick their nose between the nostrils and the very entrance of their nostrils in the centre, with a piece of straw. There's a breathing reflex sensitive bit here.

Works for most little animals, I saw him first use it on puppies that were a bit groggy from a caesarean but after that on lambs and piglets.

There is the (apocraphal?) story of a shepherd who swings a lamb so hard as a last ditch attempt to revive it that he chucks it into a tree....whereupon it shudders and starts bleating....

[jaykay]

I had a sheep once called Lucky, cos the farmer did just that - threw her at the bottom of the wall in despair at losing another good gimmer lamb - and the shock made her breathe!