My vet is also a good friend and lives nearby. He stood by and waited
about 20 minutes for a ewe to lamb as the lamb was hanging halfway out
and telling me that if I kept helping them, I would always be helping
them. I told him that was just a lazy ass vet school story and pulled
the lamb and grabbed the net one that was behind it. The first one took
a few days to get over the stress. The second one bounced up within an
hour...
Just my $0.02
Cecil in OKla
blueberryfarm wrote:
Thanks everyone for the advice. Next time I help the ewe.
Jerry
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bonnie Chandler"
<jbchand...@verizon.net>
To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info>
Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2009 2:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] lamb died right after birth
Another thing you can do is if it is too weak to drink milk on its own
you should get something warm into it, either milk some colostrum from
the mother and tube feed it or use one of those lamb picker-uppers
like Nutridrench. You can also dry it with a hair dryer and/or put it
under a heat lamp to help it get warm faster. If it was weak to start
with, it is less able to deal with being cold. My sheep don't mind my
helping at all, even the ones that are quite shy. Right after lambing
they become very amenable and don't try to run away.
Bonnie
----- Original Message ----- From: "The Wintermutes"
<winterm...@earthlink.net>
To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info>; <crbear...@copper.net>
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 8:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] lamb died right after birth
I agree with Cecil, delivery should have been faster. Most of my sheep
deliver their lambs without my presence. But if I am around and they go
into labor I assist (unless my help is very obviously not needed). They
usually do not like my being there but to bad! When I see hooves I
move in
and pull the lamb gently out and downward. Then I clean the nose off
well
and leave as quickly as possible. If there is are twins/triplets they
should be coming out within 30 minutes or so. Usually the
twins/triplets do
not need help once the first lamb has been born. There are always
exceptions. There are also going to be lambs that just are not going to
survive. For example, if your lamb was very small it might have been
pre-mature with underdeveloped lungs. If you have a ewe laying down
straining for any length of time after the water bag has broken it is
time
to reach into the ewe and help the lamb out. This is where it gets
complicated: Is it a breach, is that a nose, is that a tail, do
these two
hooves go to the same lamb, I have a head but where are the legs???????
Mark
If the lamb was struggling in the birth canal for an hour that is too
long. Assistance was required. My ewes will have triplets in less
than 30 minutes. I would think the lamb died from stress/exhaustion.
Sorry.
Cecil in OKla
blueberryfarm wrote:
I watched a young ewe give birth to her first lamb a couple of days
ago.
It took her over an hour. To my inexperienced eye, everything
seemed to
go OK: ewe pushing hard, head first birth, momma licking all the mucus
from her lamb, lamb struggling to get up, but then less and less
struggling and finally death. The little ewe lived about 45 minutes
after birth and never made it to her feet. Is there something I
could/should have done? Did I miss some clue? Should I have lifted
her
to her feet? I watched the whole affair from about 100 feet with
binoculars. Relative with my experience with dogs, it all seemed quite
normal. All my other lambs have been born without complications and
out
of my sight.
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Jerry
Pearl River County in south Mississippi
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