[Bionic]

My first ewe to try to lamb had a prolapse and her lamb was taken out by the vet but unfortunately it was dead.
Would any of you try tupping the ewe again this autumn?
Please don't anyone suggest culling as I am definitely not going down that route whatever happens.
 

[twizzel]

We had a cow prolapse last year, the vet said not to put her back in calf as it would most likely happen again this year... so we should have sent her to market as a cull cow. Not sure if the same rule applies to sheep? I guess you could give her a year out and tup her this time next year... depends if you want to keep her as a lawnmower for a year, how good her lambs are, if you can afford another vets bill and the hassle?
(I say should have sent her to market... she went back in the herd and is most likely in calf again so calving her again is going to be interesting and most likely expensive    )
 

[Marches Farmer]

Recent post on here includes my experiment with injecting 10 ml of Calciject at weekly intervals for the month before lambing which appeared to prevent a repeat of prolapse.  Can't see a point in giving here a year off.

[SallyintNorth]

Sally, remind me - was it a vaginal prolapse pre-lambing, or a uterine prolapse at the point of lambing?

[Bionic]

Sally, remind me - was it a vaginal prolapse pre-lambing, or a uterine prolapse at the point of lambing?

Oh gosh, I didn't even know there were two different types of prolapse. Have just googled and the pic looks like a vaginal prolapse. I actually thought she was in labour when it happened but when the vet felt inside he said she wasn't due for a couple more days so I guess that follows the vaginal prolapse. He then stitched her up and she went into labour a couple of days later.

[SteveHants]

I dont have to tell you what I think.....


Only really to add that I think its a bit mean to put an animal prone to prolapse through pregnancy again.


Just eat it - you know you want to. 

[Bionic]

Steve, yes I know what you would do but I don't want to eat her. I want her fleece so she isn't going anywhere

[Hillview Farm]

Personally if you don't want her to go, i'd keep her as a pet and not breed from her. Its unfair if she does it again and next time you might not have her at all. Let her be a nanny to next years lambs when you wean so they have a mother like adult figure in there life to show the rights and wrongs!

[landroverroy]

Bionic - there are always the exceptions.
The vet will always advise you not to breed from her again because of the risk, and most people will follow the vet's advice and so will never know what would have happened if the animal had calved/lambed again.
 I have not had many ewes prolapse over the years but I have never culled a ewe because of it, unless the prolapse wouldn't go back in again. Those that I have kept did not prolapse the next year.
 There are many things that cause a prolapse, not all due to any physical defect in the ewe herself. So if you don't want to cull her, then the decision is yours. But I'm just saying that it won't automatically happen again. If it were me, I would get a prolapse harness, keep a close eye on her, and fit the harness, if necessary, if you think she is going to prolapse again.   Marches farmer's suggestion of calciject injections would also be very helpful as that improves muscle tone.
 I agree the economic thing to do is to cull. But smallholding isn't all about simple economics, or few of us would bother at all. 

[mowhaugh]

We would usually give a ewe one more chance - she would have an extra ear tag put in so we could identify her wasily, as we are dealing with large numbers (we also do this for those who reject their lambs, have less milk than expected etc.), and if the problem repeated, then she would go (or stay, but not be bred from again in your case).

Incidentally, we were involved in a data collection/research thing on prolapses, and they came to the conclusion that whilst there are many popular theories as to what causes a prolaspe, none of these could be proven at all.

[SallyintNorth]

If it was a vaginal prolapse, pre-lambing, then it's not 100% certain that she'll do it again.  But of course the odds are higher that she will than that one of your others will.

I'd try the pre-emptive calcijet, and make sure you keep her condition on the low side through pregnancy (which doesn't necessarily mean no cake, sometimes they eat so much grass / hay if you don't cake them that it fills them up and makes them prolapse... she might almost do better on a little cake and poor pickings.  The poor pickings will make her walk about more, too, and the exercise would also be good for her.)

If you're going to keep her on anyway, it might be worth giving her a year off lambing and try again the following year.  But don't let her get fat. 

Financially, of course, it's always cheaper to buy a nice handspinning fleece than to keep a sheep for a year, especially one that isn't rearing a lamb.  But it's not the same - there's something very special about processing a fleece from an animal you've nurtured.

[smithycraft]

I was reading this with interest as I had a ewe with a vaginal prolapse this year.  She prolapsed about 2 weeks before lambing, the lambing itself went OK - no prolapse, although we had to cut the stitches the vet had put in as soon as she started.  She had one large lamb.

A week or so after the birth she prolapsed again.  The vet came in and sewed her up and she is fine now.

She is a lovely ewe, it was her first time and I had intended to keep her.  The vet advised culling her and her lamb but after seeing this post I wonder if it is worth giving her another try.

I don't want to put her through the stress again and us through the financial pain but I'm wondering if she was a little too well fed and this caused the problem.

I have her mother and her sister and they both lamb with no problems.

[Anke]

Sally, how old is your girl? I would try again, but as SiN says keep her on a lowish condition with a little concentrate only. I also think the idea of regular Ca injections is good.
 
But I wouldn't give her a year off, she will most likely end up far to fat if not lambed - also can you keep her safely away from the tup in any case? if she is other side of the fence either she or the boy may well jump to visit...

[SallyintNorth]

I would always cull any ewe that prolapsed after lambing.  Once she's not full of lamb, there's no justification for prolapsing, so I'd feel that she could do it again any time - and is likely to.  Having had ones who got an infection from dragging an everted uterus around behind them, before we could get the vet to them, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.  Sometimes culling is the kindest option.

A ewe who has had a vaginal prolapse, pre-lambing, which was controlled, and who didn't suffer any ill effects and did not prolapse again at or after lambing, I may give her another chance.  If she does it again, though, culling is kinder.

[Bionic]

Anke,
she was born in 2011. Yes she will be kept away from the tup, no problem.
Is calciject something I need to get from the vet?