[FiB]

Hello fellow lambers :-)  , picturing some of you in lambing sheds, some of you, like me, just popped in for a quick cuppa......

[size=78%]We are outdoor lambing (no barn) - old timer dropped twins this morning but not much licking going on..... Despite that, lambs up and at em.... So after 10/30 mins (first/last lamb) I penned them all up, dried the lambs off a bit with kitchen towel (thought that might be the least smelly thing), gave the ewe some nuts water hay etc and had a good look - she is in skinny condition (this is 2 weeks earlier than our first noted ram 'break in') as suplimentry food not hyet started.....[/size]




Can't seem to get evidence of milk having 'come in' , udders not full - might be my technique, but I can usually strip off colostrum.... Anyway have given ewe twin lamb drench, twins have greedily taken 180ml made up colostrum from a bottle and are greedily sucking her teats - she does have a little sniff of them every now and again and no actual rejection, but no active mothering. Wondering if she is just depleted and knackered, and will perk up when the food and drench kick in..... Should I just keep topping them up untill I know she is producing milk? I will have to bring them indoors tonight (we do have a small hay polytunel) unless she is showing better signs.....


3rd year lambing.... Something different every year :-)

[Me]

Ketosis, low calcium, pain - disease can all make them disinterested, probably many other possibilities
I would say give calcium, examine all over for disease, retained placenta etc treat as a twin lamber and top the lambs up for a few days. Pain killers can help a lot where there has been a particularly tight pull etc

[Marches Farmer]

Can you cut some tasty nibbles from the verge - fresh grass, dandelion leaves, a few ivy leaves, any leaves emerging on apple or ash trees?  Fresh greenery often keeps them interested in continuing to live.

[Me]

Can you cut some tasty nibbles from the verge - fresh grass, dandelion leaves, a few ivy leaves, any leaves emerging on apple or ash trees?  Fresh greenery often keeps them interested in continuing to live.

Call Dr Green

[FiB]

Thanks , will try greens..... She is wolfing course mix , I can see stringy stuff around, but not the whole placenta - if it is retained placenta is it a vet job, injectable? Or nature take its course? Going back to vet in a bit to pick up calciject in case.  She seem 'Ok' in terms of behaviour and alertness, just not very interested in lambs, and very skinny, with some fleece feeling quite loose suddenly. (No prior fleece loss, no tuffty bits, no evidence skin infestation.....


Thanks all xxxxx

[Melmarsh]

If your going back to the vet, ask them , probably just her poor condition if not thought to have been due just yet. With some TLC good forage and feed, top the lambs but let them continue to suck to stimulate her. 

[shep53]

 Keep indoors and feed lambs for as long as it takes , be careful not to give her too much coarse mix to quickly or it might cause more problems , little and often until her digestion gets used ,  calcium  should help perk her up , vit b12  will help stimulate appetite  , keep treating as for twin lamb disease , oxytocin to help milk let down .     Her wool is coming out due to a fibre break  caused by nutritional  stress .       

[FiB]

Blimmin brilliant, you lot, thanksxxxxxxxx she did get rid of the full placenta after another half an hour, so was relieved about that, have given calciject and repeated twin lamb drench. She is eating (half and half ewe rols course mix) and access to hay and water and kale (resolutely refusing the latter!), does have a smidgen of colostrum. Lambs doing brill and still trying to suck Gladys, so hopefully all will be well . Friend bringing oxytocin tomorrow and they all tucked up cosy in hay barn. Thanks again all.

[SallyintNorth]

If she doesn't like kale, have you any cabbage to try her with?