We're calling the vet in the morning, but we are concerned about our new mom ewe. She had just one during the night on Sunday and seemed fine in the morning when hubs found her and the lamb. Now she's not responding to when her lamb calls, but is still letting him nurse and taking care of him except for the response to him when he calls. Now today she seems out of it and seems to be peeing blood and she was trying to push something out her rear today, but didn't know really from where. I'm afraid she's retaining the placenta or another birth and didn't come out, but I would think if that was the case, she would be dead by now. Ugh! I hate waiting for the vet to open.
Ewe with blood in urine after lambing 3 days ago...
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frustratedearthmother
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Glad you're calling the vet if you're concerned. Does it look like she's peeing pure blood, or is a little simply passing when she urinates? My guess is that you don't need to worry too much about that. A bloody discharge is totally normal after a birth.
As far as not responding to the baby's cries - some of these mama's settle down real quickly after birthing their babies and stop all the hyper responses. As long as she's attentive to the baby when he is nursing and stands (even if it seems like it's not very long) for him to feed - then things are probably ok.
The only concerning thing to me in your post is that you mentioned that she's trying to push. That could potentially indicate a problem.
Before you become too worried, let's think about a couple things:
Does she have an elevated temp? If she had a retained placenta (or fetus) after 3 days she would likely be showing signs of becoming septic. An elevated temp would give you an idea if something like that is going on.
How's her appetite? I raise goats, not sheep...but a goat's number one goal in life is to eat! If their appetite is good that's always a good sign. No appetite = a problem of some sort.
Might also ask the vet to check her for parasites. I worm each doe when she kids. Kidding is a stress on the body and parasites thrive on stress.
I'm sure the vet can give you some answers in the morning, but if she's eating and drinking and nursing her baby you can probably rest a little easier.
Good luck with her. Please let us know how it turns out.
As far as not responding to the baby's cries - some of these mama's settle down real quickly after birthing their babies and stop all the hyper responses. As long as she's attentive to the baby when he is nursing and stands (even if it seems like it's not very long) for him to feed - then things are probably ok.
The only concerning thing to me in your post is that you mentioned that she's trying to push. That could potentially indicate a problem.
Before you become too worried, let's think about a couple things:
Does she have an elevated temp? If she had a retained placenta (or fetus) after 3 days she would likely be showing signs of becoming septic. An elevated temp would give you an idea if something like that is going on.
How's her appetite? I raise goats, not sheep...but a goat's number one goal in life is to eat! If their appetite is good that's always a good sign. No appetite = a problem of some sort.
Might also ask the vet to check her for parasites. I worm each doe when she kids. Kidding is a stress on the body and parasites thrive on stress.
I'm sure the vet can give you some answers in the morning, but if she's eating and drinking and nursing her baby you can probably rest a little easier.
Good luck with her. Please let us know how it turns out.
She might be trying to prolapse her vagina or uterus if she's pushing. Is anything protruding from the vulva?
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Vet looked at her this morning and he didn't seem to find anything retained. Also there was no fever and her bag has really gone down in size, thus baby is going to be supplemented with a bottle. He seems to be in good condition so far. She's on vitamin B shot and some more meds for a few days. Hope she comes out of it, would hate to lose her! Vet seems to think possible uterine infection.
Udders 'deflate' in size after lambing. It's just the lamb keeping the ewe dry. If the lamb's belly doesn't look sunken in, he's eating well.
frustratedearthmother
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If the vet thinks uterine infection is he advising treatment?
