[FiB]

My mule 'pet lamb' ewe (lola!) who delivered twins but rejected one, now has one HUGE udder.  I penned her  to take a look and it doesnt feel hot, just warm, and milk came out freely (I milked her a bit) and she didnt complain as if it hurt when I did.  Could the lamb be feeding from just one side and is this a problem that will manage itself or will she inevitably get mastitis.  when does it officially become mastitus that needs treatment.  should I hot flannel and milk her any way?   In addition her lamb has a gunked bottom/tail - boy is THAT a disgusting job!  I soaked and snipped as much as I could but still lots left - but I think I have freed a passage - will observe closely!

[Fleecewife]

Aw sheep    - who wouldn't have them 
 
In that situation we have always left the ewe and eventually the unsuckled side goes down.  Lambs usually have their own side to feed from when they are twins so maybe that is why yours is sticking to one side.  Or is it the whole udder which is huge?   The dirty bum will be because your ewe has such wonderful rich milk for the lamb to drink.  I always say that cleaning the sticky gunk off bums is definitely a man's job 
 
Whatever you decide do keep an eye on the engorged udder for heat and redness or really excessive size, which would suggest the start of mastitis and is when help would be needed.
 
Everyone else probably does it a different way, but that's my take on it.
 
Just modifying to say that if you are bottle feeding the rejected twin, then you could milk out the ewe to reduce swelling and feed the pet lamb that milk - would save a fortune in milk replacer but use up a lot of time in milking.

[FiB]

thanks!  It is just the one side that is huge and quite pink, but its good to know that it can sort itself out.  I feel for her (remember the feeling myself !!!!).  Will keep a close eye on her (doesnt feel like I am doing anything but at the moment (which is a joy and a privelage!)).  Thanks again.

[SallyintNorth]

Same here as Fleecewife - leave it be but keep a close eye.  Sometimes the lamb starts to drink from both sides as it grows and needs more milk, but a mule probably has more than enough for one on one side, in which case the larger side will eventually subside.

If you milk it, you are creating demand, and it won't subside...  but if you suspect mastitis then of course you must milk it out, several times a day if poss.

As she's a pet, hopefully you can catch her and have a feel if you are worried at any time.  It should feel soft, warm and pliable.  Hot, sore, hard, inflamed-looking - all would be warning signs of incipient or actual mastitis.

[in the hills]

Not much experience here, FiB, but just to say that if it is the whole udder, we have a ewe here that looks HUGE compared to the others. She had twins last year and was exactly the same and gave birth to a single ewe lamb on Friday but her udder is huge once again. Seemed to cause no problems last year and both look happy to date. ...... Just a curvy lady, I guess.    But will keep an eye on her too.


Checked her at 3pm on Friday and did think she was walking a little "stiffly" but nothing more. She was with the flock and grazing. Before 6pm my lad shouted that there was a lamb walking around the paddock with Biscuit.    It was up, dry and following mum who was contentedly grazing once again.


Some of ours had very sticky bums last year. Did wash a few. Now, we are quite used to poo but ..... cor blimey..... what a job. Where's the holding the nose emoticon ? As they got bigger, it settled down and later we just observed as some were difficult to catch and so only interfered if we thought it was essential.




 

[Bionic]

Fi, can't help with the udder but 3 out of 4 of our lambs have had the bum problem. We didn't know what it was at first, out came the book  .
Anyway, cut away some bits and washed in warm water to get rid of as much as we could. We have only needed to do that once for each lamb (thank god) and they all seem fine now.

[darkbrowneggs]

As others have said just keep a close eye in case it is an incipient case of mastitis. 


When, many years ago,  my first two sheep lambed one had a huge udder, and I never thought anything about it as Black Welsh Mountain are supposed to be very "milky" ewes, but she had mastitis and although the lamb and the ewe survived she had fed it very poorly due to mastitis. 


Owing to my inexperience I hadn't spotted this.  But forewarned is forearmed     Feel the udder and any hardness or hotness may be something to worry about.

[SteveHants]

I always like seeing lambs with a bit of a gunky behind - usually means the ewe is very milky. Never bothered to catch and clean one though and no probs so far....

[in the hills]

Oooooo ..... was starting to worry from some of the replies about my ewes big udder but her twins grew really well last year so guess that's just how she is . Maybe from SteveH. reply just very milky    ..... her twins had very sticky bums last year.

[Fleecewife]

The gunk can harden into a small rock which can prevent any poop from coming out.  Obviously this would kill the lamb rather painfully, so if it looks to be in pain (hunched but probably not thin as full of poop) you have to go in there and pull the solid bit off.  There could be quite a bit of back pressure, so be warned  .

[Marches Farmer]

Might be worth milking her out a couple of times a day  for a while, or holding the lamb to suckle on that side, just to check milk quality.  If the milk looks lumpy or blood-streaked then treat for mastitis straight away.

[FiB]

The gunk can harden into a small rock which can prevent any poop from coming out.  Obviously this would kill the lamb rather painfully, so if it looks to be in pain (hunched but probably not thin as full of poop) you have to go in there and pull the solid bit off.  There could be quite a bit of back pressure, so be warned  .

yep is was about at this stage (there was a small hole in the 'rock' so the poop was extruding out  .  and there was starting to be a bit of a bulge alound the tail area. YUK.

[Fleecewife]

The gunk can harden into a small rock which can prevent any poop from coming out.  Obviously this would kill the lamb rather painfully, so if it looks to be in pain (hunched but probably not thin as full of poop) you have to go in there and pull the solid bit off.  There could be quite a bit of back pressure, so be warned  .

yep is was about at this stage (there was a small hole in the 'rock' so the poop was extruding out  .  and there was starting to be a bit of a bulge alound the tail area. YUK.

You can feel proud of your dedication to your animals 

[Remy]

One of my first time ewes had twins and one of the twins couldn't stand properly and took a long time to suckle - and one of the teats was as you describe - very swollen compared to the other.  It wasn't hard or hot though and once the poorly twin started to suckle all returned to normal.  It was interesting to see that as soon as the other twin latched on, it almost immediately reduced in size!


The gunky tails are horrible aren't they!  And it always manages to get onto your clothes 

[Pedwardine]

I advise after cleaning off the gunk and drying said bottom that you smear on some vaseline. Just helps aid against the 'sticking' factor.