[egglady]

We've had 2 sets of twins this week - boy and girl in each set and both both appear to have testicles in proportion to their body size (they are shetlands).  We had a single ram lamb born this afternoon and when I picked him up about an hour after he'd been born I noticed that his testicles are enormous.  I don't know whether I should be proud or worried!!!!

Any ideas?

[NLL]

be proud, the bigger the better.circumference size is all that m\atters.

[egglady]

he seems to be in a fair amount of pain/discomfort so i dont think it's normal - any ideas?  waiting for the vet to call me back

[egglady]

well i phoned the lady we bought our sheep from (she's had shetlands for years and years) and she said she'd never come across it before.  The vet has never come across it before either he said.  Thinks it might be fluid in the scrotum or a problem with his bowel & we've to see what he's like in the morning.  poor wee fella.  will post the outcome incase anyone else has a similar problem somewhere along the way

[shetlandpaul]

could be a hernia. was it a easy birth our ram lamb had some bruising on his. so he has escaped the snip.

[garden cottage]

-only thing i can find ?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epididymitis (Brucella Ovis)
Epididymitis is a venereal disease of rams caused by Brucella ovis. Epididymitis means inflammation of the epididymitis, the tubular portion of the testical that collects the sperm produced by the testes and stores it until it is ready to transport. Severely affected rams will often have at least one enlarged epididymis and may show pain when the testicle is manipulated.

Epididymitis causes varying degrees of damage. It may cause infertility by affecting the ram's ability to produce viable sperm. It is the number one ram fertility problem seen in the sheep industry. Epididymitis is contagious and is transmitted during homosexual activity or during the breeding season via the ewe. Only about half of the rams affected by epididymitis respond to antibiotic treatment. Damage is usually permanent. Prevention is to buy virgin or disease-free rams, to subject rams to diagnostic testing, and to cull affected rams.

[VSS]

Most likely to be a scrotal hernia.

[MrsJ]

I seem to have the opposite problem.  It's our first year and I seem to have been given the job of castrating, which I hate.  However, all has gone well until today.  Every time I grab the scrotum of this poor little chap, one of the balls disappears!  It seems to be set slightly higher up and I cannot get hold of it.   I've already had to cut one of the bands off when I realised that one had gone AWOL.  He's only just over 24 hours old.  Any idea if it will drop a bit further in a day or so, or suggestions of how to grab it?

[woollyval]

Mrs J leave him a few days....will be easier!

[ScotsGirl]

Hi, I was having trouble castrating and kept losing testicles.  A friendly ex-farming neighbour showed me a better way which seems to work....
If you sit lamb on a bale facing away from you (I find it a two man job) and hold one front and back leg in one hand and same in the other and just gently bump his bottom on the bale the testicles pop back in the scrotum.  If you gently grab end and slide band over you should be able to release and catch them both taking care not to pinch teats or go too high and pinch urethra.

Good luck, I hate doing it,

[MrsJ]

Lovely - thanks for the advice.  I'm praying the rest will be girls!

[Rosemary]

I don't bother castrating - they'll be away at 6 moths old or so. Only Dickie is catrated and he was a late decision and the vet did him.

[egglady]

have decided to have the vet take a look - as much so i know what's what as anything else - so will let y'all know the outcome later today.

[MrsJ]

Hope everything went okay egglady.  We're going to try again tomorrow using Scotsgirl's method. 

[egglady]

well the vet duly came today and said without a scan she didn't know either!  she said that they were definately "squishy" and says one might have burst or be somewhere else (further up).  Also said it could be an ingual (sp?) hernia and to see how he goes as he grows.  She said she'd love to do a scan but commerically she didn't think it worth it and suggested we just keep our eye on him.  She was equally interested in our one remaining pregnant ewe who is so enormous she is square!