[Jacob-list] Late breeding of a ewe

[Gotothewhip at aol.com]

What concerns should I have.. I have an OLD (13 yrs) ewe that appears to be  
bagging.  She is from the flock I bought in February.. 
 
She was pretty darn skinny when I sheared her down in May.. We poured the  
feed to her and my other old ewe.   She had a tooth abcess.. We had  the vet 
remove and take care of it, and she seemed to start putting on weight  again.. 
Her and my 15yo ewe are on free choice alfalfa, plus 3 lbs of grain  split 
between them 2x a day.  She is far from being fat.. but is gaining  well
 
I am a bit worried as the 15yo had 3 VERY tiny lambs.. which I understand  is 
common... This ewe's twin sister had 2 VERY LARGE twin ram lambs in March...  
she tore.. We lost her....
 
SO I am OBVIOUSLY very concerned.
 
She began bagging about 1 week ago.. She has always had quite a bit of  
tissue down there.. But I am now seeing obvious filling of her bag..or so I  
think.. I guess it may just be fat filling in??????
 
When we first got the flock.. the rams ran with the girls for a little  while 
(as we thought they were all bred) until we figured out who went  where.
 
This ewe... She kept the ram company, even after we separated out the  ewes.. 
as he has always had a weather running with him.. and we didn't have one  
then.  This ewe.. We figured she was just bred late....and we waited and  waited 
and waited on her to lamb....Now we know she must not have bred in the  fall 
like everyone else.... Concidering her age.. (Which we didn't know until we  
got the papers) That isnt really a surprise!
 
I think I will nab a squirt of milk tonight to see what is going on... Like  
we do with all of our broodmares....I know its not the BEST thing.. But maybe  
will give me an idea of what she is doing....
 
Any advice other than lots of prayers for a single healthy ewe lamb? (We  had 
a 100% ram crop this year)
 
 
 



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