# Loosing Lambs



## Ram20 (Jan 15, 2014)

Some of my eve's are lambing now. I have lost five over the past week. They seam to be doing fine and then I find one either dead or nearly dead. All are getting milk and the temp has been in the 40's during day and 20's and 30's at night. Some are single's and some are the weakest of twins. Just found another a few minutes ago just nearly dead. Was doing ok at dark. I have them in a small lot with a shed to get in. My other ewe's are still in pasture. I bring the mother in when she looks like she is about to lamb. Any help would be great.


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## alsea1 (Jan 16, 2014)

Man thats awful. 
I hope someone has some ideas for you.
At this point I would consider consulting with a vet.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 16, 2014)

Sorry to hear that.  No clue why that would be happening and I also hope someone has some ideas for you.


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## Sheepshape (Jan 16, 2014)

So sorry to hear your news. It is so disheartening if not downright upsetting when this happens.

 Had the lambs which died got diarrhoea? Are the ewes getting plenty of feed and the bellies of the lambs obviously full? Were the ewes vaccinated 4-6 weeks before the lambs were born?
The 4 commonest causes of death of young lambs is hypothermia, starvation,scours (diarrhoea) and pneumonia.

The ambient temperatures are a bit low, if there is no other explanation for the deaths, then bringing them in at night may be the answer.

I understand that 20% of lambs are lost before weaning, so it may just be that things will settle down now. Over here the seasoned farmers always say that most lamb losses are at the start and the end of lambing....but I'm sending my very best wishes for things to look up.


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## Southern by choice (Jan 16, 2014)

So sorry. I would have a necropsy done by your state lab if you lose another. Local vets cannot do a thorough necropsy but your state vet/lab is usually very inexpensive and has all the nec. labs that can be run. A necropsy on a goat kid runs us $30-$40 and every slide, toxicology everything is checked...organs, heart, lungs everything.
This sounds odd IMO. Wondering if it isn't something bacterial.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 16, 2014)

Don't know about your feeding practices or if their bedding is dusty, moldy...and bacterial sounds possible too.  What are the temps of the weak almost dead lambs?  High, low???  Here we have them up in the paddock with shelters when they are close to lambing, but this means lots of cleaning up bedding and replacing with fresh bedding every two days.  After each lamb is born, that bedding is carried out and replaced to avoid bacteria.  Just some thoughts????


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## Ram20 (Jan 16, 2014)

Thanks to all. I am bumping up the vitamins and feed. I may send one to the state just to be sure. Not a bad idea. Thanks again.


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## Four Winds Ranch (Jan 17, 2014)

Good luck!!   My guess would be bacterial as well!!!


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## Southdown (Jan 17, 2014)

Could you try heat lamps for additional heat?  We use heat lamps and now use lamb jackets too.  (But I live in MN and even the spring time is cold!)  I've lost lambs to hypothermia and it's sad.  I don't lamb outside anymore (only inside the barn in their jugs).  Heat seems to be the #1 thing for us.  Second is getting the feeding down.  Some of the lambies figure out how to nurse quickly and others tend to be a little slow at figuring it out.  I usually try to direct them to the teat or they bobble around looking for something to suck on.  Maybe the wax plug on the momma didn't come off?  You could try hand milking it out to make sure it's working.


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## purplequeenvt (Jan 17, 2014)

Your temps don't sound bad, but what is your weather like? Sunny? Rainy? A damp 40 degrees is worse than a sunny 30. 

Do your ewes and lambs have a dry, draft free barn? We often lamb in much colder temperatures than you have right now and we don't supplement with heat lamps. 

How are your other lambs acting? Are any of them standing around, hunched up or are they running and bouncing? 

With the lambs you've lost, how have they acted right up until they die? Are they lethargic or show any warning signs?

It seems to me that it could be a deficiency. Hypothermia could be a possibility as well.


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## Ram20 (Jan 21, 2014)

Had another sheep farmer come by to check out my problem. He thinks it is a deficiency. We started them on feed and vitamins. Don't know if they were flushed at breeding and I hadn't done it before time to lamb. Seams to be doing better. Most of the ones I lost were really small. I hope this is the problem. Thanks for the help.


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