Ringwomb..........grrrrrr!!

[exmoor dave]

right i was up half the night last night dealing with a 2t with ringwomb, only lambed bout 50 so far and that's the 2nd case of ringwomb..........rather concerningly both have been the only 2 grimmers scanned to twins to lamb so far. hopefully that's just bad luck!

anyway got the lambs out, ewe will be ok, but the lambs were premature so died over night.

ringwomb has to be my single most hated problem at lambing!

the vet isn't really a option as i won't see change from at least £150 for a CS, plus last time i took a ringwomb ewe in the vet just dived on in to lamb it normal and ripped the ewe all to buggery!

what does everyone else do when they have a case?

anything to speed up the process?

anyone know what causes it? or is it like prolapses i.e. loads of potential reasons but no definitive one?

views from the easycare/ out door lambers welcome as well.










oh the joys of keeping sheep!

 

[Yale]

Assume you gave her a jab of calcium,can help.

Otherwise they are a pain especially when you are really busy.

Had one beginning of season last year,couldn't only get three fingers in after an hour so off to vets,caesarian and two premature lambs which died later and a ewe which went in the barrens in a few weeks,oh and a vets bill.

 

[exmoor dave]

yep shot of cal/mag/sugar and left her while i had some tea.

i think her only saving grace was that she was having two small premature lambs, if it had been a big single, there would have been no chance.

 

[Jon.S]

had one last year, took her to the vets for CS. 2 live lambs. Put the lambs in a box in back of the landrover with the mother. Got home the git had tipped the box over and flattened the lambs. Fostered two lambs onto her all going well until about a day I was going to turn them out ( about a week later). Went to the shed first thing both lambs dead and the ewe followed shortly after. Was ever so slightly miffed to say the least!

We mineral drench all the ewes about a month before lambing. Had a hell of a lot of trouble one year with ringwomb, the following year we drenched and had bugger all in comparison. It may be everything to do with the mineral drench or absolutely nothing but I don't fancy not drenching and finding out the had way it was!

 

[Wooly]

Ringwomb..............must look that up!


You sure that you are not lambing them too early? That's the trouble with having them under 24 hour watch, you tend to rush in too quickly.

When they are in the middle of a very large field, you only tend to catch the ones that are worn out through trying to lamb for ages and therefor maybe we don't interfere when the ewe is not ready.


Just look at females. Some pop out a sprog in minutes while others take days. It's probably the same with animals, but so easy to try and pull the lambs out because you are there.

 

[andybk]

yes recon i would have left her even overnight , seperated , if she was premature unlikely lambs would have lived long anyway , but i appreciate your predicament , the first few years with cctv (as wooly mentioned) was always a bit quick to help out , and sometimes a struggle , looking back maybe knackered a few big lambs with rib damage , now i just leave till there is an obvious problem and surprising how few need help .
Seem to remember a small bottle of oxytocin in the fridge helped on a few occasions , both for contractions and milk let down

 

[llamedos]

I think early intervention is a mistake we have all commited, and rib and liver damage on big lambs very easy if posterior presentation

 

[exmoor dave]

defo not early intervention! i'd already left her half a day with a water bag out and done all the tricks i know of like a cal injection,
didn't know about oxytocin thou, may have to have a word with the vet about that

in this case she was lambing prematurely- you could see by the look of the lambs and lack of a fully formed udder, she was probably a few days earlier than 5 days either side. what started the premature lambing off i don't know, just bad luck i hope

other one i had the other day was full term.

both classic ringwomb- not just taking their time, but not actually doing anything to lamb at all, no nesting, bleating, no lying down or straining etc, just a small water bag but otherwise absolutely no sign of lambing, i usually leave them best part of a day and hope they start doing something but neither of these did.

usually get one or two a year but not two with in the first week!

 

[Woolgatherer]

It is possible to manipulate the cervix open sometimes but it's not easy and doesn't always work. Major cramp in hand too. I don't think you can use oxytocin for ringwomb. It does strengthen contractions but I don't think it helps dilation. Check with the vet but I'm pretty sure that you can make things worse.

 

[Downton_shep]

+1 for manipulating/teasing the cervix if its thin and you can get a couple fingers in. Before that though a shot of calcium and leave her to it. True ringwomb is pretty rare the Cervix will be thick and only one finger will fit in.

 

[Jon.S]

asked our vet about the calcium injection. He reckoned it doesn't make any difference at all just that people give them more time after injecting

 

[Downton_shep]

asked our vet about the calcium injection. He reckoned it doesn't make any difference at all just that people give them more time after injecting

Probably true but I'll still always use it. Can't do any harm and cheap as chips

 

[exmoor dave]

+1 for manipulating/teasing the cervix if its thin and you can get a couple fingers in. Before that though a shot of calcium and leave her to it. True ringwomb is pretty rare the Cervix will be thick and only one finger will fit in.

yep thats what it was.........mega dead hand by the end!

 

[Downton_shep]

yep thats what it was.........mega dead hand by the end!

are they going on the cull lorry?

 

[jonny]

Local vet recommends oxytocin every hour for 5 or 6 hours

 

[exmoor dave]

are they going on the cull lorry?

the one earlier in the week was full term so had a decent udder so has had a triplet adopted on, she'll rear that then off as a cull, she's had her orange cull tag so i don't forget her!

this one hasn't really got a udder, so orange tag in, then once the withdrawal on the meds are up she's off to market!

 

[Forever Fendt]

Had about 4 with ring womb in the first 50 last year most lost the lambs mentioned it to a farmer in scotland who we were doing some work for at the tlme he told me to leave them and not interfere i did have 3 more and left them as said and all ended ok with live lambs but i was not happy leaving them this long was i just lucky with these last 3 i dont know ?

 

[Blod]

asked our vet about the calcium injection. He reckoned it doesn't make any difference at all just that people give them more time after injecting

Each to his own. Our vet recommends it and I have found it to work a treat. Maybe lack of calcium is not a problem in your area.

 

[Jon.S]

Hmmm maybe not, although as a chap trying to sell me trace element fertiliser told me we're short of every known trace element possible and that we needed to use copious amounts of his hilariously expensive fertiliser. Amazing fellow really as he hadn't even tested the soil!!

 

[M-J-G]

Calcium and Planipart, leave her for half an hour, then pump her full of gel and work at her for a few min wearing a glove. Antibiotics are a must as she'll probably get metritis with all the internal handling.