[Jacob-list] Re: Stillbirth

[Mary Ellen Hansson]

Hi all,

Ewes that can't count to two shouldn't be the norm.  They are trouble.
They cost money.  I cull them unless there is a VERY strong and
overriding rationale to keep the genetics.

I am not used to seeing losses at birth either.  The 3 lambs that I have
lost in 9 years go like this:  (1)  Shetland ewe, 2nd born
breech.....aspirated before birth as I was running around behind the
barn after another lamb who was WAY too healthy., (2) Jacob ram, who was
like Jacob and Esau---both were attempting to be born breech AT THE SAME
TIME.  Ultimately, the first lived to become table food for somebody and
the second was born dead---very much alive before delivery, and (3) came
home this spring and found a cleaned off single.  Best guess on that one
is it was born backwards and aspirated during delivery.

If the placenta was attached to this dead lamb, that would indicate a
problem with delivery.  A detached placenta before the animal is born
(be it human or critter) will result in loss of oxygen to the animal and
death if not corrected immediately---  Sounds like the little ewe lamb
might have been dead before delivery or that something went awry during
labor/delivery.  Not being there, one can only guess at the scenario as
our sheep cannot tell us what is going on so we understand much.

I did have a miscarriage one year of a girl in a set of apparent twins.
I had a ram lamb and 5 days later the mother just literally dropped out
a ewe lamb mummified (vet's description) in front of my eyes.  Had I not
happened to be standing there admiring the ram lamb, I would never have
believed the whole thing.  Lamb was fully formed, coloring all there,
but had died before the wool came in.  Vet felt it unusual that the
pregnancy had not been lost.

Mary Ellen Hansson
ISeeSpots Farm www.iseespots.com
Jacob Sheep, Fiber, Spinning equipment,
Books, Patterns, Knitting/Crochet/Tatting