[Jacob-list] When things go wrong... they can go very, very wrong......

[Linda]

I have no experience with WMD so excuse a stupid question. Would a lamb 
with WMD get stronger without a bose shot? I keep bose around, but have 
never used it.
I've had ewes that prefer not to nurse their lambs until all the lambs 
are born (and some that wait until they have passed and sometimes eaten 
the afterbirth). Maybe this ewe just didn't get the hormone rush to 
entice her to nurse or was waiting for another lamb. Since she was 
cleaning her lambs, she obviously had maternal instincts.
It will get better.
Linda.

On 5/2/2012 8:14 AM, spotted_sheep at bluefrog.com wrote:

> Your ewe lamb has white muscle disease most likely. Give her 1cc of 

> BOSE (vitamin E + selenium) and she should come around faster, if not 

> give her up to another 1cc, but not much more than that or you'll OD her.

>

> The ram probably starved/was hypothermic... That is a hard decision 

> even for seasoned shepherds...pull the lamb and bottle feed it and 

> maybe save it, but then have to raise it yourself and leave the ewe 

> all alone. Or leave the lamb with the ewe and hope she'll come around 

> and raise it, because lambs always do better with mom. I've "learned" 

> that lesson many times and every time I think to myself "next time 

> I'll just pull the lamb and be sure it's ok..." and then it happens 

> again...It is just so hard to pull a lamb off it's mother.

>

> Now the ewe is a harder case... Probably either a retained placenta, 

> or a retained third lamb (either long dead or recently dead) both of 

> which would cause the pushing, fever and eventually death. BUT it 

> could have been something else as well, there is no telling for sure 

> without a necropsy, even then you might not find anything...

>

> Was mom a first time mother? That might explain her not letting her 

> lambs nurse, sometimes first time mothers do alright cleaning and 

> birthing, but they dance around and around when lambs try to nurse 

> because they don't understand what they are doing back there (or 

> because they aren't done cleaning/checking lamb out). Or it could have 

> just been that she knew something was wrong with the lambs and/or her.

>

> I'm sorry you had such a rough start to lambing, it'll get better.

>

> Marie

> Spot Hollow Farm

>

> --- jspidle1 at yahoo.com wrote:

>

> From: joy <jspidle1 at yahoo.com>

> To: "jacob-list at jacobsheep.com" <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>

> Subject: [Jacob-list] When things go wrong... they can go very, very 

> wrong......

> Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 04:09:06 -0700 (PDT)

>

> I am a newbie at lambing so I want to use this as a learning experience.

> On Friday I returned home from work to a pair of newborn lambs (a ram & a

> ewe). The ewe was still a bit wet but cleaned off. Their mom seemed very

> attentive licking them and talking to them. I didn't want to interfere 

> so I

> watched. The boy was up and about trying to nurse... the ewe still hadn't

> gotten to her feet ...... 2 hours had passed so I attempted to at 

> least get

> her to nurse a little, mom was having none of it so I decided to milk her

> out enough to bottle feed the ewe lamb to at least get some colostrums in

> her. I gave her about 4 ozs and continued to watch the mom's interactions

> with the lambs. It became apparent she was not allowing the ram lamb to

> nurse despite his efforts.... so I milked her a little more and made 

> sure he

> had some milk. At the 5 hr mark the ewe lamb still did not have the 

> strength

> to get up, the weather was miserable (rain & chilly) The ewe lamb was cold

> so I decide to milk mom again and take the little girl in and put her 

> under

> a heat lamp. She was eating well but still couldn't stand. A 03:00 I 

> checked

> on her again, she still was not able to stand.... the boy was curled 

> up with

> his mom doing ok.

> On Saturday when I checked the mom was still not allowing the boy to 

> nurse,

> he would just about get latched on and then she would move..... so

> frustrating. So I milked her and fed them both several times 

> throughout the

> day I was hoping by leaving the boy with her she would get the 

> idea.... she

> did not object to being milked just the babies nursing. I keep a close eye

> on them throughout the day the girl still unable to stand.... she was

> getting stronger at least could make it to her knees just not to stand, at

> the 26 hr mark she finally made it to her feet. The boy was still with his

> mom but she still would not allow his to nurse. I fed him and kept an 

> eye on

> him. The night was chilly and rainy again. I checked him around 22:00 

> and he

> was chilled so I brought him in under the lamp too. At 03:00 when I 

> checked

> him he had passed.

> On Sunday the mom seemed a bit depressed / not her normal self. She 

> refused

> to eat and just stared at the wall. Her temp was a bit elevated but 

> nothing

> real bad (104) but I decided to give her a does o penicillin just to be

> safe. At around 18:00 I noticed the mom lying down in the stall and she

> appeared to be in labor again. She pushed very hard a few time expelling

> allot of poop and then started thrashing and let out a cry and then 

> .....she

> stopped breathing her heart was beating and I checked her pupil for reflex

> .... (she jumped and scared the crap out of me) she still was not

> breathing.... I checked her pupil again and they were fixed and 

> dilated with

> no response ......... then her heart stopped.......... I'm in total

> disbelief at this point...... What the ____________?????????

> So, now the question I need answered from you all that have been doing 

> this

> for a while is....... What could I / should I have done differently???????

> Help me understand please......................

> Sorry the post was so long...

> Thanks for any help you can give me.

> joy

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