Author Topic: Qu that only needs a short answer! (Read 2554 times)

melholly · « **on:** April 17, 2012, 06:14:23 pm »

Hi all,

I have a lamb born Sunday afternoon, one of a twin that didn't survive. Mum has gallons of milk and feeding fine. Both are bright. My questions are these:

1. Lamb poo - browny, yellowy, smelly. Most getting stuck on her tail/bottom. It's not watery but not 'pellet' either. Have no experience on what's 'normal.' Should I 'clean her up?' or will this ruin mum smells etc?

2. Mum's backend is pretty battered. I've not seen the afterbirth but there was membrane etc with the dead lamb and assumed this was it. There are a couple of stringy bits attached to her. She was bleeding a bit today (not dripping blood, just noticed it on the straw) and wondered if she was ok, whether this was normal, whether it was to do with afterbirth and whether she'd eaten it perhaps and the blood I had seen was from it? She's bright, eating, drinking and being a good Mum.

Thanks all

mx

NLL · « **Reply #1 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:44:00 pm »

lamb poo is horrid and smelly and gooey.you need to un-bung her if needed,just take a handful of straw and grab the poo and wipe off, gross.
have you got some amoxypen ,or similar, it sounds like she needs a jab to help clear her up.

YorkshireLass · « **Reply #2 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:45:00 pm »

Mustard poo is normal, but if it's clogging things up needs wiping off (have fun!!)!

Not sure on the ewe :/

robert waddell · « **Reply #3 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:53:13 pm »

with anything that hangs the cleaning you will know by the rotten smell in a short time with cattle the vet cleans it and inserts pessaries

in the hills · « **Reply #4 on:** April 17, 2012, 07:50:12 pm »

melholly - our first year lambing so will just tell you what we observed. Dont claim any real knowledge!

Some of the lambs, particularly some tiny twins whos mum had a huge bag, did have a lot of soft but not watery yellowish poo all down their back legs. Very sticky. Used the minimum amount possible of warm water to clean them up. It was smelly! Some lambs as they got older had poo stuck in balls to their bottoms. Worried it might clog them up so removed this with water too. After about 3 days old everthing seemed to settle down.

Not sure what you mean by battered. Some of our ewes had a small amount of red blood on their back ends and on the straw around them after they had given birth but only for a few hours. No fresh blood after that. One or two ewes seem to have had a bit of something dangling from their fur for a day or two but it wasnt the actual afterbirth. They all seem okay.

Hope that helps until someone wiser comes along

jaykay · « **Reply #5 on:** April 17, 2012, 09:25:02 pm »

It all sounds pretty normal

Just make sure the lamb's bum stays clear - the mustard poo can set like rock. If that happens, clip it away with scissors being very careful not to cut him/her. Otherwise, just use baby wipes to clean it up.

Mum - also sounds normal. Unless she starts to smell bad or seem ill, I'd assume things were progressing as they should. Yes, a bit of blood is normal, some hardly any, some quite a bit when they shed the afterbirth. She's probably eaten most of it.