[Jacob-list] "Intersex" lambs

[Dave & Katrina]

Sorry to jump in here, but we were the ones to report this lamb to Fred, so
thought it might be helpful to answer. My husband says officially now
everything that can happen, has happened to us in the relatively short time
we have had Jacob, both good, bad and strange. I assured him the sheep
still had some fast ones to pull... However, this WAS one of the strange
ones:

Last year, we had triplets born here, pretty much outbred and immediately
the mother rejected one...a cute little ewe lamb.  I was disappointed since
this was the first bad mothering experience we had.  But the mother was
insistent and the lamb became our first(and only) bottle lamb. (now I think
kindly of the ewe for recognizing a problem. How do they know that??)
 It almost died during all of that, but was a fighter and soon was running
thru the house and playing with the dog.  The dog took to cleaning it up
and I later noticed a tiny piece of skin coming out of her vulva.  I
worried the dog had done damage and immediately separated them.  The lamb
went to a woman who did not want to breed and just wanted a pet.  It took
over her house and from what i heard later the woman bottle fed til it was
about a year old.  This spring the woman called me and was worried cause
the sheep was now butting her.  I thought it was having a temper tantrum
from having been bottle fed so long, and wasn't able to offer much advice. 
I did mention that this is a problem with pet rams, but I haven't thought
of it as a problem with ewes.  (She was a bit of a worrier, so I chalked it
up to that.)  

The previous fall she had called and said that the lamb had been developing
a budge out of its vulva and she and her vet were worried about a growth of
some sort...they were planning to remove it, but after they heard the dog
story, they assumed that it was damaged in some way and since it did not
seem to be a problem, left it alone.  I was feeling a bit bad, but...

So... apparently in the spring it grew a bit and the Vet checked it out
again. Turned out to be a testicle, with the other one growing on the
inside!  The Vet called and let us know. You can imagine my husband's face,
i am sure.  I have not had contact with them for a while now so don't know
if what has happened to the she/he, but my husband was able to see the
yearling hermaphrodite in full fleece and reports the animal was
magnificent.  Larger horns than a ewe (I think she was a fused 4 horn).
Wish I had a picture.

Interestingly, a friend of ours had a child born with ambiguous genitalia
around the same time we heard about the lamb.  I was told in both
situations the cause was most likely not genetic but a fluke of multiple
births!
Katrina Lefever
Chicory Lane Farm
Hanover Pa
http://wwwfac.wmdc.edu/HTMLpages/Graduate/TI/pages/lefever/chicory.htm 

> [Original Message]
> From: Susan Nielsen <snielsen at orednet.org>
> To: <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
 > Date: 9/13/02 1:19:23 PM
> Subject: [Jacob-list] "Intersex" lambs
>
> I was re-reading my Jacob Sheep Conservancy newsletter, and noted
> that Fred mentioned an occurrance of an "intersex" lamb in his
> tally of congenital defects.
> 
> Fred: Would you describe the physical appearance of an intersex
> lamb?
> 
> Susan
> --
> Susan Layne Nielsen, Shambles Workshops      	|"...Gently down the
> Beavercreek, OR, USA -- snielsen at orednet.org  	|stream..." -- Anon.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Purveyors of fine honey, Jacob Sheep, Ashford spinning products
> 			and Interweave books
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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--- Dave & Katrina 
--- oberlef at supernet.com
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