[colliewoman]

Had two born this morning with it - extra joints, fused joints, under-bite, twisted spine. One delivered by herself, the other needed assistance. Thought at one point I was lambing him sideways as the front leg wasn't attached to the shoulder blade. Two weeks early too.


We're near Wincanton for what it's worth - don't know if anyone else is near us and due to lamb soon.


Devastated.

Oh no!
I'm in Pilton! I hope to all the gods that the fact I'm not tupping til next week might have paid off




My heart breaks for every shepherd who has to go through this, I can think of nothing worse

[ScotsGirl]

Oh dear, I'm really sorry to hear about this again. I'm in Wiltshire and start lambing end Jan so praying I don't see any. I struggle to lamb normally without this type of complication.


Very depressing for all concerned

[Haylo-peapod]

How dreadful - really sorry to hear you are having to go through this again Feldar and TheCaptain. i really hope the rest are ok 

[feldar]

Thankyou for your support
Lambed another SBV shearling at 5.00 this morning, OH did a brilliant job. legs came off and so did half the head when we put twine around it to get some pull.
We worked out our shearlings went to just South of Winchester last year for some tack. they were on meadow fields near a river so we just assumed they would get bitten like all the older ewes have, but there must be pockets of areas that haven't seen SBV even in the South, so they got bitten when they came back to us to go to ram.
Any of you first time lambers out there just a word of warning i am not trying to frighten you, but here's a few tips.
 
Older ewes cope better, they can open up more. If you suspect a shearling has it, treat carefully, you can hole her uterus by trying to get lamb out, maybe think vet for those.
 
Don't let your ewes go on trying to push for too long before intervening they will dry up and become very tired, these lambs take alot of getting out and your ewes need not to be exhausted
 
Be aware legs etc come off easily, so go careful, when pulling them.
 
DON'T PANIC  think of your ewe first. these lambs do come out and if your careful your ewe will breed again.
 
Hope that helps 
 
 

[Remy]

I'm so sorry to hear it's still ongoing for you Feldar  ,  it sounds horrific but good to have that information.  I wonder to what extent lambs will be affected next year, for all of us?    Sheep seem susceptible to so many bizarre things 

[Blacksheep]

So sorry to hear that you are going through more SBV lambings again this year Feldar, thank you for sharing your experiences and the advice given, very useful as there are certainly going to be more of us having to deal with this year.   I hope your ewe due that had it last year has no problems with her lambs this time, will be interested to hear.
I am regretting having put the tup in with some of ewe lambs this time as its going to be very difficult extracting problem lambs from them if they are infected, and I read yesterday that the advice is not to breed ewe lambs. Feeling quite concerned after speaking with our scanner last week, the virus has definately been circulating in our area (Shropshire/Powys borders) recently with active cases confirmed in nearby cattle flocks. Our tups went in with the main flock in late August, so we have to be prepared for some problems, only hope not too many.

[Mammyshaz]

Awful news feldar and the captain   

After keeping up with the posts of devastation this virus caused many of you last year, I was really hoping you would have a virus free lambing season this year.

My heart goes out to you    there aren't too many more cases but it doesn't sound promising 

[Small Farmer]

The NSA says:


Rumours rife about effect of Schmallenberg on early lambing flocks – but lack of firm evidence puts industry in very difficult position.
Following hot on the heels of rumours of Schmallenberg (SBV) causing low scanning rates, the talk is now of high losses in early lambing flocks. The consequences for the farmers affected are terrible, but it is absolutely essential that any suspected cases are tested with the aim of identifying whether SBV is definitely the culprit. Just as fluke and poor nutrition can also cause low scanning rates, there other issues that can cause losses at lambing time.

While it is not paying for testing in counties that have already had Schmallenberg confirmed, AHVLA is stressing that the cost of £6 per test of blood, body fluid or brain is a subsidised price. However, farmers will have to pay for their vet’s time on top of that.

NSA is in regular contact with MSD Animal Health regarding the vaccine, but there is no update yet on when it will be available. We are also very concerned that we will not know how best to use the vaccine when it does come on sale (i.e. vaccinate whole flock versus specific animals), so NSA is working on possible alternatives to gathering best practice information, given that AHVLA is not collecting data. We hope to be able to provide more on this in next week’s update.

It is a very frustrating situation and the lack of information is creating a lot of anger and unease – but we do urge members to treat anecdotal accounts of losses with a pinch of salt, test where appropriate and be assured that we will do our best to keep you all updated.

[Tudful Tamworths]

feldar, I'm so sorry to hear your news. Just getting back into sheep after a break (well, actually, a fractured spine) but everything has changed - ID, health, etc.
Hope you find your way through all this. Will be watching your posts with interest x
 

[feldar]

Good grief i'm not sure i'd want to get into anything after a fractured spine! you are brave.
Lambed another shearling today, lovely twin so all ok. Looks like a few just didn't get bitten last year, only 2 SBVs so far, so we are quietly confident we may have got away with it . We had a lot more last year but we still have 8 more shearlings to go.
All the older ewes have been fine this year
Spoke on facebook to our friends in the Hamp society so far they have been hit in Cornwall, somerset and Lincolnshire

[SteveHants]

According to the lecture at southsheep, schmall should be worst around the edges of its geographical range, so I hope you have seen the last of it for this season.

[TheCaptain]

it's not all doom and gloom!

[feldar]

Aw very sweet!
No you are right we are having lots of live lambs as well just the occasional SBV one and sometimes one of a twin with it but the other ok.
In fact we've had some very nice lambs born so we may well make the show ring next year yet!!

[SallyintNorth]

Nice pic  Cap'n.  All lambs are sweet, but Portlands especially so 

[Polished Arrow]

Oh, so sorry to hear your news.  Thinking of you as the lambing season unfolds and hoping you have seen the worst of it now...  Hoping