Northeastfarmer
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In my experience it’s lack of exercise but every farm is differentI think your right as it’s nearly always a very fat ewe and not necessarily a triplet.
In my experience it’s lack of exercise but every farm is differentI think your right as it’s nearly always a very fat ewe and not necessarily a triplet.
You could be right as our ewes are housed for a couple of months pre lambing but I am not taking them for a walk (although the exercise would do me good as well)In my experience it’s lack of exercise but every farm is different
Or a genetic factor actually in pelvic floor 'design' or natural strength ?
after the cause ......Trouble is once the intestines or something equally disastrous gets pushed /kinked in around the pelvis itself that's going to cause one heck of an irritation ...
I wont give a like for thatYep, I thought I could maybe get her before they were all out but quickly realised it was a rifle job.
yes hard as in big lambs and carrying too much fat and if those ewes were not metabolising enough calcium as well ,etc etcSo even although I get rid of all prolapsed ewes from the year before, do you reckon a hard lambing may damage the ligaments in some way and give the ewe more chance of prolapsing the next year.
but its a fair challenge to get ewe lambs/ maiden shearligs just right isnt it a big single and being too fat can reek havoc plus again lack of the correct minerals and amounts neededThis wouldn't really explain first time lambers though I suppose.
The pressure comes from the growing lambs and possibly being too fat back there maybe at the same time a gut full, a big meal of cake , slow moving through , and also not helping would be a full bladder apparently, then the way out around through the pelvis with muscle tone and the broad ligaments holding them ...not fully fit through lack of minerals , calcium, ie a metabolic problem could cause the perfect storm.Surely there must be some pressure build up that causes an intestinal prolapse as the anatomy of a ewe under normal conditions doesn't require ligaments to hold her intestines in.
The hay itself (calorie or fibre wise ) wont cause prolapse imo thats an 'old wives' tale but read the bottom of GO's post #27 to see how minerals in it or other foragecan cause problems eg magnesium and potash .Perfect
All makes good sense.
I am never sure about the Calcium side of prolapses, I've had years were hypocalcemia is a big problem, particularly in Blackies, but there never seems to be any problem with prolapses in them even though they are obviously having Calcium deficiencies. Was told it was because they were getting too much Calcium from the feeding and so didn't start to mobilise their own Calcium reserves and so ran short. They were only getting half a pound of cake, but apparently Blackies do better thin than fat.
The worst year of intestinal prolapses we ever had was when we bought hay from England. It was amazing hay and the ewes loved it, but they got over fat on it and started exploding out the back.
The vet couldn't decide if it was because they were eating too much hay or because of the condition they had put in and were over fat.
Unfortunately we don't seem to get hay like that in Scotland, think it came up from Oxfordshire, high power stuff for sure.
Lots of factors, but read the informative link in comment 49 by GO. It discusses cal unavailability being locked up by cations. Perhaps dont feed the high potassium fodder beet ?Had my first intestinal prolapse 5 minutes ago, hence why I am now reading up on what the factors are and what everyone else thinks in here.
This was a 4 crop texel ewe, in good condition but not what I would say was over fat.
Went to feed the first 150 in the shed due to start lambing this week and she just lay down and pushed the whole lot out, no uterus out, just guts.
One thing I did notice was that the intestines gassed up very quickly, tried to put them back in but she had them all the way out in under a minute.
Could the intestinal prolapse be to do with gassing up and then the pressure causing the prolapse.????
The intestines were like balloons when they came out or is that just what they look like when they come out.
I feed them hay, which is well made but off old grass, 1kg a day of nuts split in 2 feeds and they get 1 fodder beet a day each to try and stop twin lamb, probably about 0.5kg per head of beet.
No doubt everyone will tell me 1kg a day is a lot but have tried feeding less in years gone by and end up with thin mules with no milk and high rates of twin lamb.
I sometime use haylage but its a hastle getting it in and its starts heating if the weather gets warm, not to mention the year I got silage eye.
With regards to uterine prolapse, I had 100 of the ewes in a steep field and had a uterine prolapse every morning for 4 days so ran them in and that stopped it. I think walking up and down steep hills with a belly full of lambs can be a factor.
I've heard every theory for prolapsing, from breed, feed, fatness, minerals, too much exercise, too little exercise, too much fodder beet, pushing into feed rings to reach the bale, stress, too many lambs etc etc
I get a fair few bed out a year but save most with a prolapse harness, and have found that if I cut the fodder beet down to a minimum for the month before lambing, and keep them off the steeper fields when close to lambing the it is certainly less of a problem.
I've had every age of ewe put their uterus out, 1 2 or 3 lambs in them, every breed (although mules are the worst), fat ones do it, thin ones do it....... I honestly don't think there is one cause to it, probably many causes any of which can be the contributing factor.
I definitely think the risk of a few guts out with a little too much feeding is better than 600 thin ewes and endless problems with no milk or weak lambs.
As dad always says "if you have livestock you get dead stock"....... and it's probably the most annoying thing anyone can say to you when you are pulling a ewe out of the shed by the back legs.
One thing that is spot on with sheep is that as soon as you start thinking how you haven't lost a ewe for months, there will be one the very next day haha
just reread this about your Blackface's , ive never kept them , nearest weve had to them would be i suppose but bigger noe mules and had ordinary prolapses every now and thenPerfect
All makes good sense.
I am never sure about the Calcium side of prolapses, I've had years were hypocalcemia is a big problem, particularly in Blackies, but there never seems to be any problem with prolapses in them even though they are obviously having Calcium deficiencies. Was told it was because they were getting too much Calcium from the feeding and so didn't start to mobilise their own Calcium reserves and so ran short. They were only getting half a pound of cake, but apparently Blackies do better thin than fat.
The worst year of intestinal prolapses we ever had was when we bought hay from England. It was amazing hay and the ewes loved it, but they got over fat on it and started exploding out the back.
The vet couldn't decide if it was because they were eating too much hay or because of the condition they had put in and were over fat.
Unfortunately we don't seem to get hay like that in Scotland, think it came up from Oxfordshire, high power stuff for sure.