Resorbed lambs

[AftonShepherd]

Has anyone that keeps better records than me have any experience of a ewe repeatedly resorbing one of a pair of twins?

I bought an in-lamb Texel last year, scanned for twins but only had one (big tup out the side door). No idea if it was resorbed or an admin error.

This year she was scanned twins but produced a smaller single at 3am this morning. She's always been fit enough.

I'm normally lucky if I see 1 or 2 singles out of 300+ scanned twins so seems a fair coincidence, although this year she'd certainly be scanned earlier in her pregnancy than any of my hill ewes ever are.

 

[Nithsdale]

The ex is a vet (none of the vets we talked about ), I had a conversation about lamb reabsorption with once of the practice partners. The practice line is ewes don't reabsorb.

The lamb may well die after scanning, but it will be there, somewhere, in the cleansings. Bearing in mind at scanning the lamb is no bigger than your thumb nail - it would be easily missed at lambing...

I lambed a ewe yesterday scanned as twin, the 2nd was long dead. A tiny (easily fitted in the palm of my hand) thing grey/green in colour.. . If I hadn't been looking for a 2nd lamb i'd have totally missed it.


As for being hereditary, I've no idea.

 

[AftonShepherd]

The ex is a vet (none of the vets we talked about ), I had a conversation about lamb reabsorption with once of the practice partners. The practice line is ewes don't reabsorb.

The lamb may well die after scanning, but it will be there, somewhere, in the cleansings. Bearing in mind at scanning the lamb is no bigger than your thumb nail - it would be easily missed at lambing...

I lambed a ewe yesterday scanned as twin, the 2nd was long dead. A tiny (easily fitted in the palm of my hand) thing grey/green in colour.. . If I hadn't been looking for a 2nd lamb i'd have totally missed it.


As for being hereditary, I've no idea.

A vet from the same practice?

If it wasn't for being one of my handful of pures I'd have no idea she'd done it twice. She's only milking on one side this year - maybe she knew lol

 

[Nithsdale]

A vet from the same practice?

If it wasn't for being one of my handful of pures I'd have no idea she'd done it twice. She's only milking on one side this year - maybe she knew lol

No no. The ex was a vet at Ark, Lockerbie...

But forget "blonde" or "brunette", who knew "vet" was a type

Did your ewe have a female last year? Be interesting to see what she does. The ewe is obviously fertile, twins both years.
Blessing in disguise if she's only milking one side, though. I'd probably cull her for that

 

[AftonShepherd]

Big tup lamb last year, not the best I've ever seen but good enough for my mongrel ewes ?.

Ewe lamb this year, which could get kept if it looks as well as it's older siblings.

Ewe will be culled don't worry, had a touch of mastitis last summer but was still milking on both sides afterwards and had no lumps ?

 

[Nithsdale]

Big tup lamb last year, not the best I've ever seen but good enough for my mongrel ewes ?.

Ewe lamb this year, which could get kept if it looks as well as it's older siblings.

Ewe will be culled don't worry, had a touch of mastitis last summer but was still milking on both sides afterwards and had no lumps ?

Been a strange year for bags here. I've gotten a few which look and feel fine but still have anomalies causing issues...

 

[neilo]

A vet from the same practice?

If it wasn't for being one of my handful of pures I'd have no idea she'd done it twice. She's only milking on one side this year - maybe she knew lol

She certainly sounds like a keeper.? Will you be following the lead of the top tier of Texel breeders, and using her as an ET donor??

 

[AftonShepherd]

She certainly sounds like a keeper.? Will you be following the lead of the top tier of Texel breeders, and using her as an ET donor??

Already told her that she won't need to worry about resorbing a lamb next year.

 

[neilo]

Already told her that she won't need to worry about resorbing a lamb next year.

I’m sure they understand what you tell them. I had a ewe laid on her (strong) single in the pen a couple of days ago, so I skinned it and put a Cade on. She started to beat the bejesus out of it and had to be held to let it suck. I told her how strong the cull trade was whilst holding her and she took it as her own the next day.?

 

[Paul E]

I’m sure they understand what you tell them. I had a ewe laid on her (strong) single in the pen a couple of days ago, so I skinned it and put a Cade on. She started to beat the bejesus out of it and had to be held to let it suck. I told her how strong the cull trade was whilst holding her and she took it as her own the next day.?

You slipped up there Neilo, you should have said trade was REALLY good. She'd have gone with 2 then.

 

[Global ovine]

Resorbed lambs are rarely seen unless the placenta is clean, undamaged and spread out like a cloth to observe the veins that radiate out from the lambs' navels.
If one lamb has snuffed it, the veins will still be there but radiating out from a puss ball or something small and mummified (often a birdlike structure).
It is a myth than ewes go ahead and suck up one of a litter.
Foetuses are technically parasites that take from their mothers, not the other way around.
Resorbed foetuses that are counted at scanning are usually small and die due to insufficient uterine attachment area for the exchange of nutrients. That is bad luck, not bad genetics.
Genetics play a part in embryo survival, not in where they attach in the uterus and become a foetus.

A ewe which has had a cesarean lambing may have significant uterine scarring that may result in future poor placental attachment, but not a guarantee that this may always happen.

 

[AftonShepherd]

I’m sure they understand what you tell them. I had a ewe laid on her (strong) single in the pen a couple of days ago, so I skinned it and put a Cade on. She started to beat the bejesus out of it and had to be held to let it suck. I told her how strong the cull trade was whilst holding her and she took it as her own the next day.?

I've just had a similar "conversation" with mine. I've already got one lamb on the Heatwave so a second would be no great hardship!

 

[AftonShepherd]

Just discovered my only in-lamb hogg hanging a dead lamb (didn't expect her to lamb for a fortnight!) so problem solved - ewe will be off as soon as AB withdrawal is over.

Also, found the "resorbed" lamb in the straw while skinning - fits nicely in the palm of my hand.