[Jacob-list] Birth defect?

[ARTHUR PARTRIDGE]

--Original Message--
>Hi all, I'm posting this question for a friend who isn't on line and who
has a very puzzling problem. She has had two ewes lamb so >far, each with
twins. In each case one lamb was stillborn, and the second stillborn and
both surviving lambs have a deformity of >>the front legs in which they
will not straighten at the knee
========
I looked it up in Laura Lawson's book "Managing Your Ewe and Her Newborn
Lambs".  A book everyone should have in their sheep library.  Some of the
deformities are from lambs being in cramped conditions in the womb, usually
a problem with triplets and quads..   The book states that if this is the
case, the legs can be straightened by very slooooowly and carefully working
the joints and taking a lot of time to get the legs back where they should
be.  I remember a lamb, or maybe it was a goat, that had a deformed ear. 
Apparently the womb was so crowded with babies that this animal had it's
ear bent against the wall of the womb. The ear stayed in that position
permanently for the life of the animal. 
Cathy
Moscow, Idaho