Ewe with stomach on the floor - advice sought

[It was already broken.]

I have an old mule ewe due to lamb any day, scanned with twins, today her stomach is on the floor as she stands looking very unhappy. Happened very suddenly I think, certainly not like that yesterday. Has something ruptured or dropped? Is there anything I can do? Whats her chances? Or should I put the loader bucket on and get the gun.

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

I had a ewe do it a few weeks back, but nearer her bag. Thought it was mastitis to start with so gave her a shot of AB, 12 hours later it was just hanging to the floor along her flank. Shot her as couldn't see it improving

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

Forgot to add, she'd slipped her lambs a week before, but you might be able to save the lambs.

 

[Gulli]

She should lamb ok so don't shoot her just yet!

 

[rusco]

I had a good 2 yo BFL do the same about 10 days pre lambing but with a bit of care and energy drench on a twice daily basis she got through till lambing and produced 3 strong lambs. She did however appear uncomfortable and got suddenly worse 8 days after lambing and was dead within a few hours. A PM showed the intestines had fallen down into her udder and it also that she had necrosis.

Good luck with your ewe and try to keep her going till you get the lambs out alive

 

[Woolless]

I had a ewe scanned with quads that developed an abdominal rupture just before she lambed. She produced three herself and I had to pull out the last (dead) one. She's away with two, one of which seems to be accessing the quarter in which the teat now points into a cleft.

The previous one with a rupture weaned her lambs and ran about here getting fat for over a year before I converted her in to burgers. So don't rush into anything.

 

[It was already broken.]

I had a good 2 yo BFL do the same about 10 days pre lambing but with a bit of care and energy drench on a twice daily basis she got through till lambing and produced 3 strong lambs. She did however appear uncomfortable and got suddenly worse 8 days after lambing and was dead within a few hours. A PM showed the intestines had fallen down into her udder and it also that she had necrosis.

Good luck with your ewe and try to keep her going till you get the lambs out alive

Might be similar I think. The belly and udder look like one. She did have a huge udder yesterday, so much so that I wrote her number in my book as a cull as her tits were on the ground nearly. Now its the belly too. She was just standing tonight, like she couldn't go anywhere. But she had got herself in a quiet corner of the marsh so maybe she might be lambing in the morning.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Might be similar I think. The belly and udder look like one. She did have a huge udder yesterday, so much so that I wrote her number in my book as a cull as her tits were on the ground nearly. Now its the belly too. She was just standing tonight, like she couldn't go anywhere. But she had got herself in a quiet corner of the marsh so maybe she might be lambing in the morning.

Problem is she will still be ruptured after lambing. I Had one once that lambed fine then died a week or 2 later.
lambs were ok I suppose, if remember rightly.

 

[Dkb]

I had a young ewes have triplets once and they were huge. Muscles in stomach collapsed. She lambed a few weeks later with quite a bit of assistance.

We then culled a week or so after as she got no better.

She never seemed to be in pain just slow to move and lay down a lot.

 

[Fendt516profi]

I have an old mule ewe due to lamb any day, scanned with twins, today her stomach is on the floor as she stands looking very unhappy. Happened very suddenly I think, certainly not like that yesterday. Has something ruptured or dropped? Is there anything I can do? Whats her chances? Or should I put the loader bucket on and get the gun.

Had one just like this other day left her quiet till she was lambing got one live lamb out of her. She's no longer with us.

 

[Angus77]

sounds like pre-pubic tendon rupture. prognosis for ewe not good in that case but if close to lambing, keep her comfortable and be there to assist for best chance of live lambs. Would be happy to be proved wrong though.

 

[JoEwe]

We had one this year, vet came to try and save lambs but they were already dead and rotten so ewe pts. The ewe had ruptured muscles as lambs blown and she couldn’t move them to correct position to get abort them. If you know due date I’d try save lambs.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

We have a ewe -Skinny Lleyn- who lambed once and then developed a kind of crab like walk and all her gut hanging out one side.

She has since lambed four more times, twins every year, milks off her back hence her name, puts weight on in a few weeks after lambing and looks ace and is always one of the first to be tupped.

She’s one of the best sheep we’ve got.

 

[Collie lovers 2]

Keep an eye for her starting to lamb. Had one once and she never seemed to get pains or push but lambs were there ready to be born and were alive. Think she lived but impossible for lambs to get a suck.

 

[Jameshenry]

I have an old mule ewe due to lamb any day, scanned with twins, today her stomach is on the floor as she stands looking very unhappy. Happened very suddenly I think, certainly not like that yesterday. Has something ruptured or dropped? Is there anything I can do? Whats her chances? Or should I put the loader bucket on and get the gun.

Loader bucket and gun sounds like the easiest option to me !

 

[johnflimston]

She's ruptured her prepubic tendon.
If your lucky she will lamb ok and rear her lambs but there is a high risk of complications which will probably kill her.
If she survives cull her after weaning.

 

[It was already broken.]

She is dead today. Loader bucket tomorrow after breakfast.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Ah well, at least she achieved her life long ambition

 

[Fendt516profi]

She is dead today. Loader bucket tomorrow after breakfast.

What you doing with loader bucket tomorrow?

 

[It was already broken.]

What you doing with loader bucket tomorrow?

Picking her up mate. Drop her in the box. I hate losing the ewes. Dead new born lambs don't bother me at all. But the ewes are my girls, that is my flock, within my limited resources I try to do the best by them.