purplequeenvt - Lambs 2017

[purplequeenvt]

Somehow the sheep seem to know that I don't work on Wednesdays because invariably, someone starts lambing shortly after I get home on Tuesday. This week, 2 sheep lambed within a few hours of each other on Tuesday. I was up until midnight dealing with issues. Another ewe lambed this morning. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep.

Jamie went first. After faking labor for almost 2 weeks, she finally decided it was time to let them out. We discovered that Jamie has a very small pelvis and the first lamb got stuck. It took a lot of work to get her out and when she came out, she only took a couple gasps before she was gone. #2 came out much easier. He's a spunky little guy named Neptunium.


Jamie retained her placenta and was straining really hard. She didn't prolapse, but she was extremely uncomfortable. She got a dose of Oxytocin and banamine and is feeling better now. Still hasn't fully cleaned and will get another dose of oxy tonight if she hasn't cleaned by then.

Cami lambed a couple hours after Jamie. She had 2 big beautiful girls, 1st was black and the 2nd white. The white girl was born breech and apparently badly broke the ribs on her right side on the way out (that's one of the big risks of breech births - ribs breaking or suffocation). Her lung was getting stabbed every time she took a breath. She passed away this afternoon.

The black girl is "Plutonium" and the white one was "Americium"


Minnie had 2 black babies - 1 boy, Curium ("Curry") and 1 girl, Berkelium ("Kelly").

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Congrats on your births - but so sorry for your losses.

 

[norseofcourse]

I'm so sorry for the ones you lost Glad that the others and their moms are doing well.

 

[Latestarter]

Sounds like you're having an exceptionally rough year with lambing... too many problems/complications/losses... Truly sorry to hear... Hope you're able to catch up on some rest.

 

[Bruce]

What @Latestarter said!

 

[purplequeenvt]

We have a theory on the cause of our issues this year.

My youngest sister works at a large goat dairy (somewhere around 400 milking, I think) while she's at school and they've been having major issues. In the beginning they thought it was a clostridial disease, but testing showed it was acidosis. They've lost a large number of does, goats have lost condition, production has dropped, birthing problems, etc. It's all because of the feed. They get a custom mix with very specific ingredients. The farm manager finds all the ingredients for their mix for the mill. They have recently discovered that when the mill runs out of a feed component, instead of letting him know, they substitute with something else. This of course can completely screw things up nutritionally.

The lady that My sister lives with, who also works at the dairy, checked the ketones on a bunch of NON-pregnant does the other day. Every one of them indicated ketosis.

We get our grain from the same mill. It's not a custom feed, it's one that the mill produces themselves. If they are going to mess with a custom feed for one of their biggest clients, why wouldn't they with their own feed?

My sister, and a vet that works at her school, think that we may be dealing with sub clinical ketosis caused by the grain. That would explain the majority, if not all of the birthing problems. I couldn't figure out why Minnie would have had an issue with ketosis. She wasn't a good candidate for it. Young, good condition - not skinny, not fat, we were only expecting 1-2 lambs from her and she only had 2 normal sized babies. She had none of the normal risk factors.

This could also explain the issues with Lena last fall (the terminal c-section), Willow's problems, aborted lambs, etc.....

There is no reason why our flock should be dealing with ketosis. Majority of the ewes are excellent condition, 5 or under, healthy animals. We feed 2nd cut hay and a 20% protein grain. We get our hay from our neighbor and she feeds it to her sheep (and our yearlings are at her place). None of the sheep there have had any issues and 2 of her 3 ewes that have lambed she got from us. The difference is the grain. She feeds grain from a different source.

My sister has commented several times that they grain looks different once in a while, like they changed something. I don't usually feed grain out, but I've noticed some changes too.

My sister's vet friend wants some grain samples and is thinking about doing a case study on our farm. I stopped and got Ketosticks on my way home and we are going to check all the ewes for ketosis.

It's upsetting to think about, but also a relief. There just might be a reason for all the heartbreak instead of "**** happens" and something we can do about it.

 

[Mike CHS]

Hopefully they can pin down what the problem is. I would hate to have to deal with something like you did.

 

[NH homesteader]

Wow I hope you are able to figure it out. That is so frustrating, but at least fixable.

 

[Bruce]

Wow, not good. Please tell me that the mill is NOT Poulin Grains. I buy from them specifically because they are a 3rd generation Vermont Family owned business. It would be cheaper to buy stuff made by the big multinational companies.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Wow, not good. Please tell me that the mill is NOT Poulin Grains. I buy from them specifically because they are a 3rd generation Vermont Family owned business. It would be cheaper to buy stuff made by the big multinational companies.

No worries, NOT Poulin.