[Old Shep]

Hi not a good start to lambing. 2 ewes have now had their lambs a week early and all 4 lambs died very shortly after birth and
their stomachs were full of sloshy fluid.   Any advice please as to what may cause this. Todays pair got full attention but to be honest were never going to make it.  I noticed today that the ewes were drinking from a stagnant puddle rather than walking  to the nice clean trough could tgat be the cause? We vaccd for toxo and enzo for first time last year.

[Marches Farmer]

Sounds like Watery Mouth.  How long have the ewes been housed for?  This is often due to a build up of pathogens in the environment and your ewes' drinking habits may not have helped.  Clean pens, correct feeding for the ewes to produce strong but not over-size lambs, fresh water and ensuring sufficient colostrum is taken in by the lambs soon after birth will all help.  That said, an oral antibiotic such as Spectam as soon as possible after birth will be of great benefit.

[shep53]

You need to speak to your vet and get a pm done on the dead lambs and cleansing while fresh ,  you don't say if the ewes are sick or not and cleansing normally .  If you have an infection which can be treated by  AB'S  then the faster you identify the better .

[Old Shep]

Thanks for  your replies.
Marches Farmer - we lamb outdoors, they were born like this, not developed or caught something, they are spectamed at birth as a mater of course.


Shep 53 thanks, ewes are fine and cleansing normally.  I will ring vets again tomorrow - they were all out today!  We wondered if we should maybe give the whole flock AB's.

[farmvet]

Yes. pop the 4 lambs & any cleaning you can into the local vi centre. I see your in N yorks so probably Thirsk centre. You should get some provisional results via your vet the same day. Mark the ewes & isolate from the rest of the flock for at least 3 weeks. Be careful washing hands etc. Not all abortions are caused by infectious agents, many are just related to insufficent blood supply, energy transfer etc but better to investigate for peace of mind. Lab fee likely to be around £40

[debbigord]

Nothing practical or useful to say, just very sorry and hoping things get better.

[Old Shep]

Another ewe aborted this morning, so they've gone to the vets for PM.  We have had this problem of abortions for a few years now, had a PM done last year which was inconclusive, and vaccinated for toxo and enzo last year (not cheap), so we are disheartened that its happening again.

It always happens in the same field, never at our other lambing site.  This field has been used for lambing for many years before us (that might be a clue?) The ewes are in good condition not usually poor, but looking in my records they are always texel types not the mules (so far  ) which are in the same field.  Talked this through with the vet and he said sometimes it happens that a certain field gets more abortions.  Anyone have any thoughts?

[Marches Farmer]

Bad luck.  Are the aborting ewes home bred or from the same seller? 

[clydesdaleclopper]

How far apart are your lambing sites - is the soil different? Maybe worth a soil test to see if there is a mineral deficiency in one.

[Old Shep]

Yes the sites are a good 10 miles apart, Mum had a soil test done 5 yrs ago so it may well be  worth doing again. We will probably not lamb in this field now for a couple of years and give it a break.


On a happier note we had 4 sheep lamb yesterday all full term and good strong healthy lambs,  [size=78%] [/size]