[ScotsGirl]

One of my mules lambed last night. She had triplets although third was dead some time. Other two fine and mum ok except that afterbirth has not come away. I called vet this morning and he recommended ABs and to gently pull on afterbirth as it sometimes comes away.


I wasn't very happy doing that anyway it feels firmly fixed so have left it. Surely there must be something they can give me to help expel it. I gave caulofolum (spelt wrong but homeopathic remedy) but still nothing and nearly 24hrs. I don't want to lose her to infection.

[MarvinH]

I wouldnt pull it. Give long acting anti-biotics and wait for it to come away/ break up.

[Blacksheep]

Oxytocin should help the ewe expel the afterbirth if it is still retained, have another word with your vet and ask about it, make sure you keep her covered with appropriate ABs too.

[shep53]

Having a stress full time SCOTSGIRL     I  have to do as the vet described  every year , not difficult , the womb is shrinking fast and the neck has closed before the cleansing has been expelled .  gloved hand and pull with firmness but not  really hard if no movement leave and try again next day.  Hope fully by tomorrow she will have got rid herself, keep up the ab's and she shouldn't have any problems                     When the lambs suckle the ewe produces oxytocin naturally

[colliewoman]

Tarragon took 5 days to expel hers after a bad lambing last year. Keep up antibiotic cover and she will be fine

[ScotsGirl]

Just to clarify is gloved hand going in and pulling or from outside? Neither appeals as worried it breaks off and she gets gangrene.

[colliewoman]

I would NOT EVER try and remove an afterbirth manually personally.
Last year on day 5 my vet said it might be worth trying, but when I got back to the sheep she had expelled it. I was always taught you can do real damage and cause irreparable prolapses by trying to remove a cleansing
I really would leave it alone hun, or at least get your vet to do it if they insist it is the correct thing to do [size=78%] [/size]

[Brucklay]

My vet did it to Dolly the ewe that lost her lambs a week ago - I was a wee bit worried but he said it was starting to disintegrate - Dolly is fine now (touch wood) very perky but not impressed with staying with the rams and not her palls - back to topic not sure I would be confident enough to do it myself though.

[shep53]

Pulling from the out side, but no rush as i said by tomorrow she may have done it her self, if you dont feel confident then take her to a vet.         Every one has their own limitations  . 

[ScotsGirl]

I agree collie woman I was told the same. Will leave it a day or so then ask for help. Having said that I had a ewe prolapse a few years ago and thanks to the vet stitching her up too tight I lost her to gangrene.


6 down, 5 to go

[Hazelwood Flock]

On the homoeopathic side try sepia as well as the caulophyllum (again spelling ?) and keep up AB cover. Pessaries can be useful if the cervix hasn't closed.

[SallyintNorth]

Keep up the antibiotics and don't be in a hurry - she's had a long-dead lamb and it can take a few days.

BH has farmed sheep all his life, we have 200-300 breeding ewes now but in his younger days they had double that.  He won't remove cleansings himself, always gets the vet to do it if it doesn't come away after a few days on antibiotics.  But we have the economies of scale, and can spread the cost of the odd vet visit across so many more lambs.

BTW, if the vet stitches up a ewe who prolapses before lambing, you have to snip the stitches when she goes into labour.  That's why I like to try the prolapse spoon first - she can lamb through it.  Prolapses after lambing are bad news, in my experience.

[SteveHants]

You did the right thing with giving antibiotics. As has been said, Oxytocin is the thing that the vet will probably try first.


Homeopathy has been widely discredited, you can give them those remedies, but don't expect them to do anything, and relying on them is bordering on negligence IMO (you obviously didn't here, but I wanted point out giving something treatments which have no basis in science because you "believe in them" is never good from a welfare standpoint)

[ScotsGirl]

Alternative therapies always cause a stir however my dads cousin started using homeopathyhomeopathy on his sheep fArm and had a significant drop in birthing complications following the change. The good thing is it won't harm and my vet uses it alongside conventional meds.

[Marches Farmer]

I refer to use a prolapse harness rather than a spoon - as a (female) vet once said, "I wouldn't like to wear one!"  Ewes can lamb down through a harness if they have to.  I remove them as soon as I see the lambs have moved into birthing position and there's a dip in front of the pelvis.  Once had an exceptionally good ewe that prolapsed and rather than cull as I usually would I let her go round again as I'd read it could be due to low calcium so I injected her with 5ml of Calciject at each of the 4 pre-lambing sheep gatherings in the last month of her pregnancy and she produced 2 more sets of twins without prolapse. 

I let the afterbirth arrive in its' own time - just cover with a long-acting antibiotic if there's been a long-dead lamb involved.