Ewes lambing late after Alamycin LA ?

[Jockers84]

My park ewes started with periorbital dermatitis 6 weeks pre lambing date, some were quiet severely affected so I gave them all LA Alamycin to try and prevent it getting worse. They’ve since cleared up and seem none the worse for it, only thing is they’re running late on lambing, 5 days. I’m wondering if this could be something to do with the Alamycin? The few that have the lambs are good quality and alert. In comparison the hill ewes (that never had the issue or meds) started bang on time as usual. The tups all went out to both flocks on the same day, there was enough ram power to prevent issues with sub fertility, they’ve been scanned and fed accordingly, they’ve bagged up well but just seems to be a delay on getting going?

Has anyone seen something similar? Worried the singles will be getting large if they stay in the oven too long

 

[Nithsdale]

Someone who knows better will be along to put you right but in the face of abortion storm you Jag everything with Alamycin LA and it stops them aborting...

How it works - I don't know. But I imagine it's doing the same thing to your ewes









Or, maybe your ewes were just slow into season in that group.

Either way, have patience, they've gotta lamb at some point!!

 

[Jockers84]

Yea they tupped fine, no many over to the second cycle.

I was thinking the same about a toxo storm so thought/hoped there might be a documented reason? More a question for our vet possibly. At least it’s on here as a reference for others, will keep you posted.

 

[Paulg4]

My park ewes started with periorbital dermatitis 6 weeks pre lambing date, some were quiet severely affected so I gave them all LA Alamycin to try and prevent it getting worse. They’ve since cleared up and seem none the worse for it, only thing is they’re running late on lambing, 5 days. I’m wondering if this could be something to do with the Alamycin? The few that have the lambs are good quality and alert. In comparison the hill ewes (that never had the issue or meds) started bang on time as usual. The tups all went out to both flocks on the same day, there was enough ram power to prevent issues with sub fertility, they’ve been scanned and fed accordingly, they’ve bagged up well but just seems to be a delay on getting going?

Has anyone seen something similar? Worried the singles will be getting large if they stay in the oven too long

We had a lot of eye problems this year and jabbed three quarters of the flock with alamycin about 10 to 12 weeks before lambing but they've all lambed pretty much on time. We also used a hill ram on some ewes and they have lambed a few days earlier than the ewes served by other rams.

 

[Gulli]

Someone who knows better will be along to put you right but in the face of abortion storm you Jag everything with Alamycin LA and it stops them aborting...

How it works - I don't know. But I imagine it's doing the same thing to your ewes









Or, maybe your ewes were just slow into season in that group.

Either way, have patience, they've gotta lamb at some point!!

It's stops them aborting because it kills the thing thats making them abort...

 

[Jockers84]

We had a lot of eye problems this year and jabbed three quarters of the flock with alamycin about 10 to 12 weeks before lambing but they've all lambed pretty much on time. We also used a hill ram on some ewes and they have lambed a few days earlier than the ewes served by other rams.

Thanks for the reply, this is the first year with a bad eye problem, have been lucky to avoid pink eye or silage eye. Hopefully it’s similar to orf and just spreads quietly within the flock.

Normally see a slight difference between breeds here, I’ve found the beltex lambs have a slightly longer gestation, the cheviot based ewes both hill and park normally about the same, the NZ Romney ewes seem to be a bit quicker to get going.

I’m not too worried, as previously said they’ll lamb at some point, maybe a blessing with the weather we’ve had the past few days. Only had the tups running for 5 weeks so it can’t go on too long thankfully

 

[Nithsdale]

Thanks for the reply, this is the first year with a bad eye problem, have been lucky to avoid pink eye or silage eye. Hopefully it’s similar to orf and just spreads quietly within the flock.

Normally see a slight difference between breeds here, I’ve found the beltex lambs have a slightly longer gestation, the cheviot based ewes both hill and park normally about the same, the NZ Romney ewes seem to be a bit quicker to get going.

I’m not too worried, as previously said they’ll lamb at some point, maybe a blessing with the weather we’ve had the past few days. Only had the tups running for 5 weeks so it can’t go on too long thankfully

They'll all lamb over a single weekend

 

[Nithsdale]

It's stops them aborting because it kills the thing thats making them abort...

Not strictly true because it doesn't cure abortion. It pauses the gestation at the time before the foetus is most susceptible, and gives a window for the abortion to pass

 

[Jockers84]

Update & Summary

Now that we’re well past the 1st cycle lambers I’ve had a bit more time to look at the figures.

The group of ewes affected by periorbital did seem to have about 6/7 days longer gestation length than the other group of unaffected ewes.

In addition to the eye problem (or possibly the underlying cause) there seems to have been an impending abortion issue.
The earliest lambs were fine, possibly strong enough to not been affected.
The middle lambs had significant losses, small, born sickly, no get up and go. The mothers were similar, dull and lost condition, lost a few with rotten lambs.
The later lambs are the best by far, proper size and thrive, mother are milky and keen to get on with the job.

It’s been a hard shift and would like to prevent from happening again, will have a hard cull this backend then jag everything remaining for toxo. I’ve decided to move to a closed breeding flock apart from the odd tup. Can make feed with any excess grass rather than buying stock to graze it. With less grazing pressure I hope to massively cut back on med/feed/labour costs.

The only thing I’ve noted as any sort of positive is that adoptions seem to be far better than usual so not many running with nothing at foot. Seem to possibly be that the ewes have slightly less energy to resist or they’re slightly depressed already and really willing to take any lamb, that’s just gut feeling though- not a proven fact.

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