[JedM]

This year, 2 of my ewes which lambed had milk problems.  1 of them had a full udder but I couldn't get any milk from either side.  I tried every day, and left her triplets with her and they kept suckling on her but got nothing.  after a few weeks, she dried up no problem.
the second ewe had a full udder and only one side produced milk, the other side stayed full and hard.

I presume this isn't mastitis, but have no idea what was wrong.  My question is, will it happen again next year when they lamb?  They have both dried up now and their udders look fine.  have others had a similar experience?

[Rosemary]

I can't say what caused the problem but if it was me, I wouldn't breed from them again and they'd be down the road, but that's a decsion for you 

[shep53]

Sell them . doubt full that anything will change next year , you say their udders look shrunken  and soft now so not mastitis in the udder but the teat may be blocked with something that feels like a stick or the teat end may have been cut at shearing at some point

[SallyintNorth]

I can't say what caused the problem but if it was me, I wouldn't breed from them again and they'd be down the road, but that's a decsion for you 

Ditto.  It's always hard, but once you've had sheep for a while you are frankly almost glad when someone gives you an excuse to offer her place in the flock to one of the new girls, because there always seem to be more good candidates than places...

[JedM]

Thanks for replies.  I thought that would most likely be the answer but I thought I would check with you guys first as I don't want to get rid of them!
I will see if I can find a home for them as lawnmowers, if not then they will be off to slaughter.

[bj_cardiff]

Its a hard one to answer.

This year I had a couple of ewes that didn't have much milk at all. I took one lamb away (it was twins) and although it didn't seem she had much milk the lamb was getting enough. It sounds like your ewe didn't produce any milk, which could be down to illness, or 'just because'. If she was a nice ewe and in good condition I'd probably give her another chance.

When a ewe has had mastitus in the past it leaves scaring inside the bag, so she can look fine and have a full bag, but that quarter is blocked by scar tissue. I would cull her if she was mine.

[twizzel]

Its a hard one to answer.

This year I had a couple of ewes that didn't have much milk at all. I took one lamb away (it was twins) and although it didn't seem she had much milk the lamb was getting enough. It sounds like your ewe didn't produce any milk, which could be down to illness, or 'just because'. If she was a nice ewe and in good condition I'd probably give her another chance.

When a ewe has had mastitus in the past it leaves scaring inside the bag, so she can look fine and have a full bag, but that quarter is blocked by scar tissue. I would cull her if she was mine.

What if the quarter started to work again after treatment ? I had a first time ewe with mastitis this year, the quarter was working after a week of intensive treatment and she went back out with both twins albeit their growth rates were compromised as she got mastitis right at the time when milk should be at peak supply (3 weeks old). Would you cull her or give her a second chance? No lumps or bumps in the udder at shearing.

[SallyintNorth]

A farmer would cull, and be right to cull.  As smallholders we can choose to give her another go, being aware that she has an increased likelihood of having milk failure, poor milk and or mastitis again.  If you have the ability to monitor closely and take whatever action is needed should she have any of these problems, then it’s your choice whether you do so.  I wouldn’t, as I’ve always got promising youngsters I’d like to keep, so I’d sooner always be selecting for trouble-free lambings and lamb rearing.  And, having kept such a one on earlier in my farming career, I don’t enjoy watching an animal suffering from a predictable complaint. Mind, I never enjoy culling an apparently fit animal either, so it really is a personal choice.

[twizzel]

If she was culled I’d have to buy in to replace her as this year all of our lambs are going fat. So the replacement value cost vs her cull cost does need to be weighed up    if her 1/4 hadn’t come back at all I’d cull without even thinking about it, but her milk returned. I think she ought to go though... 

[shep53]

While I would cull ,  I would point out that dairy cows get mastitis and mostly recover and are not culled ??

[SallyintNorth]

While I would cull ,  I would point out that dairy cows get mastitis and mostly recover and are not culled ??

This is true, but a) you get more from one quarter on a dairy cow than the whole udder on a sheep; an impaired quarter may still give enough for the animal overall to be viable, whereas a ewe rearing twins with an impaired quarter will struggle and quite likely get mastitis as a result of the twins’ continual unmet demands, b) we are handling the cow, inspecting the udder and testing the milk on a daily basis, so will pick up an infection quickly and get it treated promptly, which makes a huge difference, c) a proportion of dairy cows do become repeat offenders, and will then have to be culled, as it’s a lot of work, expense and a lot of discarded milk to successfully treat the infected quarter, d) we can use dry cow treatments to reduce the likelihood of recurrence in the dairy cow. 

[bj_cardiff]

What if the quarter started to work again after treatment ? I had a first time ewe with mastitis this year, the quarter was working after a week of intensive treatment and she went back out with both twins albeit their growth rates were compromised as she got mastitis right at the time when milk should be at peak supply (3 weeks old). Would you cull her or give her a second chance? No lumps or bumps in the udder at shearing.

OP said that one side of the udder was working and the other remained full, hard and produced no milk, so I'd assume it was scarring and cull. If it was a (different) ewe that had mastitis which was successfully treated I wouldn't have any problem keeping her in flock.

[shep53]

I accept all that Sally says  and merely put forward the thought , you can put dry cow tubes into the udder at weaning , some commercial sheep keepers do  and you could leave her with only one lamb next year ??

[twizzel]

See this is what is going through my mind at the moment- we have treated many a suckler cow for mastitis and most have gone on to rear their calf in subsequent years. My ewe seems to be back working again and her lambs are nearly fat but I’m concerned that lleyns nearly always have twins and whether I’m playing a game of luck on whether she will rear both or not...

[shep53]

Every sheep needs a bit of LUCK