[Jacob-list] Early labor? - Dead Lamb

[JACI SIEHL]

I wrote my question at 2:45 am - at 7:30 the dogs woke me up with non-stop barking.  We went out to check and found a dead lamb.  
   
  Any ideas of what I can discover by looking at the lamb?  It was still encased in the sack with just the head uncovered (I'm assuming mom did that).  The head was twisted back and the front feet were tucked up.  My guess is that it was dead before born because the sack never broke. I've only seen one lamb born and I remember that it came out separate from the sack.

  If I'm not right on my guess, then maybe it was just the position of the legs that caused the problem, and I'm not sure when I should have checked on that.  Calamity didn't seem to really be ready to deliver so I thought it was too soon to do any real probing.


JACI SIEHL <wedohoney at sbcglobal.net> wrote:    I got my ram on Nov. 11th.  He had 3 of my ewes covered within 24 hours - so I am expecting lambs next week.  This evening I noticed one ewe bagged up pretty well.  Her back-end was wet and she seemed restless and not able to get comfortable.  I thought I miscalculated due date but did put her in the nice new lambing area we made for her.  That stressed her out so bad we let her back into the yard.  Since then I noticed her squatting a few times, as if to pee, but nothing happens. By that time it was dark and I have not been able to pen or catch her.  She also didn't feel like eating dinner tonight.
   
  This is her 2nd lambing.  Her first lamb was at 146 days and we never got to see any signs of labor (we went to the store, came back and found her with a lamb).
   
  I was assuming she was in early stages of labor, but then got concerned when I saw her squat a few times without peeing.   She has always been a pee-er (has to pee every time I get within 10 feet of her).  Is the squatting without peeing early stages of labor? 
   
  I noticed the other ewes don't seem to be bagged up nearly as much as she is.  But closer inspection in the daylight will tell the tale.
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