£100 ceaser (ewe), is it worth it?

[neilo]

I would hope your C-sections should be quite a bit cheaper now then

Has she been impressed by his 'contraption' though?

 

[neilo]

I would fancy my chances at 95% survival. Different story if the lambs are already dead.
Shooting the ewe means cade lambs which I rarely manage to make any money out of. Better off killing the whole lot.
I would say the cost is worth it even across my small flock it's not much per lamb and I would be confident to make it back from a ewe and lamb.

Why is everyone trying to spread the cost over the whole flock? A CS is not a compulsory thing or normal flock management (for most), it's cost has to be borne by the outcome of the operation. It's £100 you don't have to spend.

A lot would say they rarely make any money on a lamb that's reared on a healthy ewe. The odd time I've had a CS done, the ewe certainly hasn't reared 2 lambs well/properly and they have obviously required extra nursing, at what is already a busy time of the year.

Plus I would have to go and buy a gun to shoot the bloody thing.

That is a consideration.

 

[JD-Kid]

Has she been impressed by his 'contraption' though?

more wondering if he's been palpated and checked for soundness

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Glad I don't use your vet

Believe me I do everything in my power to try and avoid them but sometimes you get a freak

 

[exmoor dave]

I would hope your C-sections should be quite a bit cheaper now then

25 mile drive might kill that idea

If you could guarantee a live ewe to sell as a cull AND two lambs, every time, then maybe the calculations would be different. As it is, the ones where the ewe is lost or the lambs don't make it, carry the same cost.
Using the DIY method outlined above, I wouldn't reckon to lose a lamb if it was alive when I started. By your calculations, that's 2 lambs at £60 a piece anyway. The cull ewe has to cover the cost of the CS, if it's successful ......

Personally, I don't get why everyone seems to calculate the worth on the basis of 2 lambs sold. I haven't managed the art of getting them born finished and worth £60+. You could argue that they are worth a fiver when they are born, the same as a cade? I would suggest they are worth the margin you can make on rearing a lamb, which is a long way short of £60 unfortunately.

My vet's surgery is about 100m from my nearest field, they have several very competent sheep vets and they charge a lot less than £100. I'd still not be in a hurry to take a sheep down for a CS, although I have let their very small handed young vet lamb a couple of ewe lambs for me. I did take a ewe down for a potential CS last year, a triplet with massive lambs in her. They managed top get them out the back door, but the result was 3 dead lambs and a ewe that I spent hours & lots of AB's/Metacam nursing for 3 weeks until she died. Won't happen again, the problem ram has gone.

That's a similar situation we had years ago which put us off going back to the vets,
Decided early on that a ewe really needed a ceaser so dropped her at the vets, stating we wanted a ceaser........but no the vet decided to get the lambs out as per normal.
Two dead lambs
Very ill ewe for some time.

Has she been impressed by his 'contraption' though?

Haven't wheeled that out yet

 

[Henarar]

will it worry you if her eyes light up when you do ?

 

[itsintheblood]

Has she been impressed by his 'contraption' though?

This was nearly bought up at the meeting [emoji56] , Dave did give a very animated prolapse presentation demo , and I now consider him to be a sheep fanny expert

 

[exmoor dave]

This was nearly bought up at the meeting [emoji56] , Dave did give a very animated prolapse presentation demo , and I now consider him to be a sheep fanny expert

Not as funny as you making branners feel awkward

 

[MJT]

25 mile drive might kill that idea



That's a similar situation we had years ago which put us off going back to the vets,
Decided early on that a ewe really needed a ceaser so dropped her at the vets, stating we wanted a ceaser........but no the vet decided to get the lambs out as per normal.
Two dead lambs
Very ill ewe for some time.



Haven't wheeled that out yet

Surely it's your sheep so if you ask for a Caeser you should get one. When I phoned vet about mine I basically stated that I didn't want them messing with her to try and get them out , just do a Caesar and they were good as gold and live ewe and lamb and the ewe didn go back or look ill at all. Stubborn things some of these vets though , the average sheep farmer will have Lambed A lot more difficult lambings than most vets. Have had same problems in cattle Caesars over last 20 years vet messes around trying to calf them after we have also tried and then eventually does a CS and end up with dead cow and calf :/

 

[multi power]

I have no idea how good a ceaser on a sheep is but I would have thought a lot depends on how much time you have to spend on after care, do you really want to be faffing about with a at best cull ewe and loosing a couple of other good lambs ?

 

[MRT]

Are people by and large really only ever getting a cull out of it? None are breeding again for you?

 

[Gulli]

Why is everyone trying to spread the cost over the whole flock? A CS is not a compulsory thing or normal flock management (for most), it's cost has to be borne by the outcome of the operation. It's £100 you don't have to spend.

A lot would say they rarely make any money on a lamb that's reared on a healthy ewe. The odd time I've had a CS done, the ewe certainly hasn't reared 2 lambs well/properly and they have obviously required extra nursing, at what is already a busy time of the year.



That is a consideration.

All my vet costs are spread across the flock it's profit that counts and by my maths I've more chance of making a profit out of a live ewe and lamb.
A lot might say that but then plenty of people are either lying or doing it wrong
Think we are going to have to disagree. Fortunately I've put half my ewes to one of those funny pink faced rams you breed so won't have a c section out of that lot

 

[spin cycle]

25 mile drive might kill that idea



That's a similar situation we had years ago which put us off going back to the vets,
Decided early on that a ewe really needed a ceaser so dropped her at the vets, stating we wanted a ceaser........but no the vet decided to get the lambs out as per normal.
Two dead lambs
Very ill ewe for some time.
QUOTE]

happened to me first time round in sheep....bloomin butchers shop job....two dead lambs and i had to shoot the poor ewe the next morning...never again

 

[MJT]

Are people by and large really only ever getting a cull out of it? None are breeding again for you?

Only ewe I've had CS on is still here and touch wood will have her 4th post c section lambing in a week or so.

 

[Gulli]

Are people by and large really only ever getting a cull out of it? None are breeding again for you?

Why would you want to?

 

[MJT]

Why would you want to?

Surely depends if it is the ewes fault or not ?

 

[MRT]

Why would you want to?

Well, if as some say you are lucky to get just a cull out of it the cost/benefit is very different to if you get a breeding ewe.

Say a ewe lamb has a big lamb inside, a vet does a c-section - in your experience will she not breed again? I would think she would in most cases and often without another c-section. If you are saying she will only ever make a cull then a c-section is hard to justify.

 

[neilo]

Surely depends if it is the ewes fault or not ?

How do you know for certain? There must surely always be a higher risk of a repetition, so why chance it?

 

[neilo]

All my vet costs are spread across the flock it's profit that counts and by my maths I've more chance of making a profit out of a live ewe and lamb.
A lot might say that but then plenty of people are either lying or doing it wrong
Think we are going to have to disagree. Fortunately I've put half my ewes to one of those funny pink faced rams you breed so won't have a c section out of that lot

Now that would depend on whether it's one of those funny pink faced rams, with a broad white head and muzzle that @andybk thinks so much of.

 

[Gulli]

Well, if as some say you are lucky to get just a cull out of it the cost/benefit is very different to if you get a breeding ewe.

Say a ewe lamb has a big lamb inside, a vet does a c-section - in your experience will she not breed again? I would think she would in most cases and often without another c-section. If you are saying she will only ever make a cull then a c-section is hard to justify.

The way I see it, she may well breed again, but there's also a chance she won't or will have the same problems which lead to the c section in the first place.
Cashing her in for 50-60 quid ( maybe a bit more if the markets right, maybe a whole lot less if there's complications) means she won't do it to me again.