[lesbri]

I had a ewe (first timer) lamb by herself 2 live then much later 2 dead lambs. Unfortunately one of the live lambs died during his first night. The ewe was very unwell for a couple of days after lambing, not eating and unable to stand by herself for very long at all. Vet came out and could hear no rumen noise at all, although ewe had been scouring quite badly, no sign of retained placenta. Gave her some prorumen, calcijet, ketosaid and antibiotics. We managed to get her to eat after a couple of days, meanwhile giving the lamb powdered colostrum and milk.

Although ewe seemed to have some colostrum at first, once she was eating and standing again, her udder was showing signs of mastitis I think, it was quite hard although not very hot and on stripping the teats there was only thick, pussy white stuff coming out that the lamb wasnt at all keen on. However she appeared to have 4 teats, the two large ones we were stripping, then 2 smaller ones which seemed to be producing a small quantity of normal milk! 

We carried on with the massage and stripping the large teats twice a day and now the udder seems much softer and normal looking, but not producing any milk in the larger teats but still a small quantity in the 2 other teats.
Im assuming this is mastitis and wondered if anyone else had seen anything similar re the 4 teats? Is she likely to be able to produce milk next year or would you cull her?  Meanwhile, of course, Ive been topping up the lamb with bottles 3 times a day but have left him on her as I think he is still getting some milk from her, belly seems fairly round in the mornings in spite of his last bottle being about 6 pm.

Any observations or advice very much appreciated 

[Old Shep]

If the udder isn't hot - it's not necessarily mastitis but the pussy stuff coming out sounds definitely like it.  Sounds like she had a really bad time of it, carrying quads really takes it out on the ewe.  Personally I would take the lamb off and bottle rear it, let her recover, put some weight on over summer then cull.  The damage caused by mastitis is irreparable.  You could keep her as a pet though, depending how commercial you are!  As to the 4 working teats - yes we have seen this before, particularly one old girl who we named cow-bag for that exact reason!

[lesbri]

Thanks for that. I had thought that leaving the lamb with her might stimulate her to produce milk again but maybe its not fair on her. Will rethink. Thanks for the comments about the 4 teats, hadnt been able to find much info about 4 working teats online. Always more to learn!! 

[Nithside]

I've never seen it before but I have heard from older herds that have seen ewes producing from four teats.

I agree with old sheep the other thing that hasnt been asked was there a smell or a slight red tinge to it? 

One thing I have been very lucky to get away with not having the problem of in the last 3 years is ewes with mastitis (touch wood).

Sam

[lesbri]

Yes, I had never seen it before, hence my confusion as it didnt seem to completely fit with what Ive read about mastitis! Yes there was a definite pussy sort of smell coming from the udder but no red tinge, no discolouration of the udder and no undue heat in the udder either. 

[bj_cardiff]

Poor ewe

My last experience of mastitus was when the udder was stripped it was lumpy, like cottage cheese and also watery bits. I treated as the vet advised, but the ewe died during the night.

Usually I'm always on the look out for mastitus but if I'm honest I don't always spot it, particualrly when it happens at weaning. The first sign of it is in the autumn when doing a health check and finding fiborous lumps in the udder. Usually I just cull there and then as the scar tissue usually means that they've lost a quater, or 2?

[Nithside]

That is in this case caught early enough but the ewe is better away from the rest of the flock and fattened and just put her through the cast ring as she will be no use next year.

The other big thing to cull for is prolapse as there is a chance of it happening again the following year

Sam

[Marches Farmer]

As I understand it the construction of the udder means that even if the mastitis appears to have been cured the infection will normally flare up again the following lambing, particularly around the time of lambing itself when the immune system is at a low ebb anyway. 

[shep53]

 4 working teats not uncommon , for more information google Alexander Graham Bell  and Liverpool University 4 teated sheep

[lesbri]

4 working teats not uncommon , for more information google Alexander Graham Bell  and Liverpool University 4 teated sheep

[lesbri]

Wow, did not know about that, more to the man than just telephones! Thanks Shep53, very interesting!

[Helen Wiltshire Horn]

We've had a couple of cases of mastitis, usually where the lambs have had orf.  Last year, we had a ewe who wasn't unwell at all but who had a horrible pussy udder which just leaked white smelly gunge. As her lambs had been weaned and the wound wasn't open she went as a cull.  We also had a ewe who had mastitis one year but successfully raised trips last year in spite of the scar tissue.  It flared up again this year but a shot of Draxxin did wonders and I would definitely treat in this way again.  She only has a single so the fact that she only produces milk on one side isn't a huge issue but she will be for the freezer once her lamb is weaned.
Helen