After finishing up with hoof trimming the mature rams today (and rooing the necks on Jazz and Pogo) I walked through the barn and spotted some pink hanging out of one of the BFLs. It wasn't the pink that is part of the placenta that makes your body jump in excitement. It was the kind of a vaginal prolapse that makes your heart race with anxiety and fear.
I've only seen two prolapses in cows when I was REALLY little. One the vet sewed up and we sold her. the other one sewed up and reattached itself and the cow had three more calves after that with no issues.
I didn't even know sheep could have it. But I guess that shows my naivety :)
The vet came out, did a shoe string tie after getting it back in. Since Nubia hasn't lambed yet, he said I MUST be there when she lambs as the string is tied tight enough so she can't push it back in, but she can only urinate through it. If I'm not there when she lambs, the lamb will be unable to come out. Once the lambs are out I'm supposed to retie it tight, into knots, and then 10 days later take the string out completely.
This makes me extremely nervous. They are always lambing between 3-6 am, the hardest time of the day for me to be awake...either staying up, or waking up. Its a known fact. It makes me nervous as Ell is due to whelp this week, and the BFLs start to lame pretty much any time after march 1st, if they would go early. And since most of my BFLs are first time momma's this year, their udders are not all huge and plump, and some i know can bag up hours before lambing, or even afterwards.
Any advice from you more seasoned shepherds? As if I needed one more thing to keep me up at night and worrying about
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2 comments:
Garrett I have had a couple ewes prolapse and can tell you that the spoon really works well. Premier has a nice one, along with a harness.
The spoon and harness work well together and the ewe CAN lamb with it in.
The greater issue is the ewe herself. Once a prolapse....it is worth remembering the saying has experience behind it. Unless the ewe has extremely large multiples in there and/or is grossly overweight you need to consider this the possible end of her lambing.
Don't panic.
For the prolapse....take the ewe totally off hay. A rumen full of hay takes room and pushes the uteris out. The ewe can live on grain and some alfalfa leaves til she lambs. I had a Dorset years ago that always had quads. As soon as the prolapse appeared she went into a pen w/o hay and held together til she lambed with no stitching. Good Luck.
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