# URGENT - Ewe stopping labour between twins?!



## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Okay, so I went out at 3:30am (about an hour ago) and Sabine was chortling over a newborn ewe lamb.  Sweet.  Brought them inside the jug.  

However, there's another dark bag peeking out - only started protruding after I held her against the wall so that lamb could nurse (first time mum, very small udder).  

Okay, is this the afterbirth coming out already, or another lamb?  B/c she is NOT pushing/straining at all... it if was this long between twins (an hour since I went out, and she lamb was on its feet - let's say an hour and 15?) and she was PUSHING or in discomfort, I'd go in (not that I've done it yet, but from what I've read and all.)  

So - IS this another twin coming about?  It's a dark red-dy bag, but only out a couple inches, not going any farther, she's not pushing at ALL.  Will a first time mom (who is a twin herself if that means anything) complete stop labour/pushing in between twins?

HELP!  

ShepherdO


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## Hens and Roos (Feb 27, 2019)

tagging people with sheep knowledge for you. @Mike CHS @Sheepshape @Baymule


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)




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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

That's the bag.   Looks like she's concentrating hard and not worrying about the first one , so I think it is a twin... Should I go in?


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

Sounds like the afterbirth.......take a look on Google images. The afterbirth often has subsidiary sacs, often containing old blood, and 'liver' like bits attached to it.The placenta itself has separate cotyledons not attached to each other, unlike the human placenta. The ewe may give a few perfunctory pushes, but the afterbirth tends to pass fairly easily as the passages have been dilated by the lamb.

A second twin can come straight away, and the process is very like that of the first....sac containing clearish fluid, sac lengthens, bursts, then the lamb is born. If possible keep an eye on ewes with multiple births as two front hoof/nose presentations are the norm, but rump first is also quite common. In the case of rump first, pull the lamb out, as a slow birth may mean that the lamb breathes during birth, inhaling fluid and dies. Pull the two back legs down, one at a time, then, ideally timed with a contraction, pull the lamb out in an imaginary arc down from her rear end. Clean the lambs' mouth and nose straight away and give to ewe mum.

Second twins are sometimes born after an interval of minutes or even hours.

Complicated presentations may involve twins being twisted round each other, one leg forward and one back etc. If you have a friendly local farmer, call him/her, but the key is to untangle twins by pushing them back up the birth canal and bringing them down one at a time, or getting two front legs and a head, or two back legs and a rump, so they can be delivered.

I'm thinking that you have a placenta, so this 'lamb stuff' is probably superfluous.

Good Luck.

p.s Don't worry if it's the placenta and she promptly eats it!


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

Just seen the pic.......could be a twin.

Just stay with her for now and watch. 

If it's a twin, then it'll be apparent pretty soon as the second birth  in twins is usually much faster than the first.


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Okay so I went in and felt nothing... Seemed like lite bits of poop or something which I think was the placenta   She started pushing haeed while i was in the re and something came out more, looks like a clues or something so I'm thinking it's just the afyerbrth


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Okay but it's been 2 hours since the first


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

She's pawinf the ground a bit?  Do they do that when passing the afyerbrth?  She's pretty sunken in the hips so I don't know if there's another one.  She seems pretty content


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

Two hours is fine.... Little lumpy bits sound like cotyledons.

Relax and just keep her company for now. It will all be obvious fairly soon.

Generally speaking I give an injection of penicillin/streptomycin if I 'put my hand in'....maybe consider this when everything is finished (and if this is the suggested practice from your vet).


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Sorry for the typos. I'm texting when my left hand while my right is encased in a slimy and bloody lambing sleeve.  And it's minus 20 degrees here.  Nice amniotic icicle arm...


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

Ground pawing happens whether it's a twin or the afterbirth as the ewe will be having painful contractions with either.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

I wonder you can type at all in that temp. and with all that's going on. You may need a heat lamp and a sedative......the lamp is for the lamb!


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

I have some penicillin so I've give her some later...  I'll tell you the inside of a sheep's uterus isn't anything like I thought it would feel like. Couldn't feel anything anything that resembled a lamb


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Ha ha I'm in the fully windproof and insulates Lambing shed although it's still beetle zero in here


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Okay so something came out . Looks like afyerbrth but no placenta .  Does that mean no twin for sure? She's still pawing a bit


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Aftebirth in guessing ?


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

shepherdO said:


> I'll tell you the inside of a sheep's uterus isn't anything like I thought it would feel like. Couldn't feel anything anything that resembled a lamb


 Yep...that sounds about right.....it all feels too tight. Even if the lamb is down there, it feels like bony lumps and squidgy bits. If you're lucky enough to locate the head, you're scared to poke the eyes out with your fingers, and the legs seem to be attached to everything. This reminds me....if you find a leg and the first joint from the hoof bends forwards it is a front leg, and if the first joint bends backwards, it's a back leg. This is useful as face and bum can feel very similar, unless you come across a tail.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

shepherdO said:


> Does that mean no twin for sure? She's still pawing a bit


 Unlikely to be another.

The cord in sheep is very thin and breaks very easily, so you often don't see it attached to the placenta, but you can see the placenta where it attaches to the lamb. Another reminder....if you have some 10% iodine solution dip the cord up to the body level on the lamb now and in 2 hours to help to prevent joint/navel ill. If you don't have any strong iodine solution, then iodine spray for hooves can be used.

Now is the time to take a pic. of the lamb, give mum some carbohydrates and water, and have a coffee/something stronger yourself.


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 27, 2019)

Sheepshape said:


> Unlikely to be another.
> 
> The cord in sheep is very thin and breaks very easily, so you often don't see it attached to the placenta, but you can see the placenta where it attaches to the lamb. Another reminder....if you have some 10% iodine solution dip the cord up to the body level on the lamb now and in 2 hours to help to prevent joint/navel ill. If you don't have any strong iodine solution, then iodine spray for hooves can be used.
> 
> Now is the time to take a pic. of the lamb, give mum some carbohydrates and water, and have a coffee/something stronger yourself.



Nice job guys ! Congradulations


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Okay, well, I think that's that.  Sabine, a first timer at 2 years old (what's that called again?), delivered a very small ewe lamb unassisted this morning, a day ahead of schedule.  She is smaller than the smallest of my three TRIPLETS!  I gave it a go having the ewe foster my 4 day old bottle bay... no luck.  The little bit of afterbirth I found outside by the newly born lamb was frozen-ish, so I couldn't get enough on little Tim-Tam.  I later tried the same trick with the afterbirth (not sure there was even a point to that...) and all I have is a bloodied little bottle baby now... uggh...

Anyhoo, what are your thoughts about keeping either of the ewes?  Sabine wasn't very rotund, so I thought she'd probably only have one.  She lambed unassisted, but the ewe was very small, and she has essentially no udder.  I stripped the teats and showed held her against the wall while I showed the lamb how to nurse, as the mum wasn't letting her - not from neglect, just out of interest in her new baby.  Mum is very doting, so that's good.

I'm guessing the lamb is about 6 lbs?  Pretty small for a single, correct?  Black as midnight, and was up while still wet and a bit of sac still on her when I found her this morning.  

Mother is a twin.  We shall see.

Thanks for the input.  I'm proud that I guessed she'd have it tonight based on discharge, behaviour (more energetic, of all things), etc.  I almost didn't get up at 3:00AM to check on her but I'm glad I did.  

Now time for a half hour break before I go out to feed the other sheep, and then shower and off to work to try to teach (ie, corral) my class of ten-year old human babies, all on 3 hours of sleep (I was up until midnight working on report cards).


ShepherO


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## shepherdO (Feb 27, 2019)

Never mind.  Bottle of Depocillin says 3.5 ml.  Done.  Mum is lying down a lot, as is the lamb, but she's actually pretty healthy, 9lbs, heavier than I thought, and she appears to be nursing regularly.

However, I tried to milk a little colostrum to have on hand 'just in case' in the future, and she has a tiny little udder.  Could only really strip out two squirts on the one side I tried.  There was probably a little more, but definitely not a big udder at all!  I wonder if she's producing enough - I know size doesn't always equate to milk capacity, and she's also a first-timer.

Still...


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## Baymule (Feb 27, 2019)

I milked 3 different ewes this time. The milk comes out in small squirts, I only got a little each time, but it was enough to get the lamb up and moving. Lambs suckle a little at a time. Think about it, they are small, their tummies are even smaller. They seem to nurse often, the lamb is getting more than you think.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 27, 2019)

Added to what Baymule said, the colostrum is really thick so flows very slowly. After a day or two the milk comes in and is much thinner.


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