# Failure to lamb



## Ayla_noemi (Feb 20, 2018)

Hello,

So our first lambing back in mid January was the most traumatizing event on my new farm. I’m pretty sure it could have been avoided with proper research but I would like to know what more experienced lamb owners think might have happened. 

So we were watching one of our kathadin ewes because she had developed quite a bag. I was sure she should have delivered a couple of days after her bag seemed full but nothing came. She seemed comfortable no signs of distress and continued eating. Well one morning after I took my son to school we noticed her laying down in the pasture and our Ram who was never an issue was hovering and circling her with occasional judges but all she would do is raise her head. I decided she was in labor and moved all the other animals to a different pasture. She seemed exhausted but would still look around, attempt to communicate and shuffle her body. My husband decided to help her to her feet after a while because there was no actual sign of labor. No fluid, bag, nothing. She got up walked over to a different spot and layed down again. We decided to give her some baking soda disolved in water just in case but no improvement. We tried probiotics and electrolytes also no improvement. Then we noticed she was shivering. We did some reading and decided it might have been a mineral deficiency due to incorrect feeding because none of the signs seemed to match anything else. When she stopped shifting and raising her head I decided to don an OB glove and see if I could help the babies out. I was sure there was more than one based on her size. Now I have no hands on experience with a ewes uterus but I had read up some and looked at pictures. Also I had helped one of my pigs deliver and did a sweep on one of my goats to ensure she was truly done due to odd behavior post partum so I thought I should have been able to figure it out. Now when I went in it was easier than with the pig or goat but as much as I tried I could not feel any baby parts in the birth canal and could not even tell where the cervical opening was. I could feel a solid mass which I figured was the baby through her tissues but was unable to do anything. At that point things were looking worse and my husband decided to give her oxytocin IM I’m not sure the dose to be honest but it couldn’t have been more than 3cc since that’s the most we had on hand. It seemed to get some contractions going but no actual progress. Now it got to the point where the ewe developed a distant gaze and layed perfectly still and quiet no matter how much we tried to encourage her to respond verbally or physically. I noticed her breathing was becoming more shallow. And we made an “executive decision” to save the babies” I’ll spare the details but know that she did not react to what was done. We got two male lamb out and were able to give them a small amount of colostrum before she was gone. One weight 7lbs 15oz and the other was 8lbs 5 oz. We chose to raise them indoors gave them colostrum formula for 48hrs and them lamb formula. They are doing fine. Two of our other ewes have since delivered without issues one had a pair of tiny twins and the other had a singleton who was HUGE at birth but we did not think to weigh them. I would like your honest opinions on what might have happened how we went wrong and how we can avoid it in the future. Apologies for the long post but I wanted to include everything I could think of. Thank you in advance.


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## babsbag (Feb 20, 2018)

I only raise goats but not that much different. I would think hypocalcemia. Did you ever take her temp.?  The shivering would be an indicator to me that she needs calcium. Also a low calcium level can stop labor and it will kill them.


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## rosti (Feb 20, 2018)

I would wonder if she had “ring womb,” and didn’t dilate. I checked a doe that was taking a long time in labor, and could feel the baby through something fleshy. I felt around the fleshy part long enough and found the hole(cervix). She just wasn’t quite ready yet. I wonder if that’s what you were feeling, and that she never dilated... 
I don’t think you went wrong-I think it’s just “one of those things.”


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## Ayla_noemi (Feb 21, 2018)

babsbag said:


> I only raise goats but not that much different. I would think hypocalcemia. Did you ever take her temp.?  The shivering would be an indicator to me that she needs calcium. Also a low calcium level can stop labor and it will kill them.



I did not think to take her temp but that is pretty much what I was thinking happened. I just wasn’t sure why I couldn’t find the cervical opening it must of got her right away.


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## Ayla_noemi (Feb 21, 2018)

rosti said:


> I would wonder if she had “ring womb,” and didn’t dilate. I checked a doe that was taking a long time in labor, and could feel the baby through something fleshy. I felt around the fleshy part long enough and found the hole(cervix). She just wasn’t quite ready yet. I wonder if that’s what you were feeling, and that she never dilated...
> I don’t think you went wrong-I think it’s just “one of those things.”



I was wondering about ring womb too because that is exactly what I felt. I just never found the cervix.


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## babsbag (Feb 21, 2018)

I have never experienced ring womb but I always thought that they would have contractions and be pushing but unable to pass the baby through the cervix. Perhaps I am wrong on that though, but it does sound like she never actually started labor. Unless she was pushing while you weren't there and then at that point just so exhausted that she gave up. Also if a kid is positioned so that they can't put pressure on the cervix labor will often stall. There is so many variables that it amazes me that these kids/lambs get born at all.


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