[Jacob-list] Unfortunate lambs

[Johann K]

Peg,

Four lambs is pretty impressive!  :)  Did she successfully raise the three live ones by her self or did she need help?

Johann

From: peg at sweetgrass-jacobs.com
To: johanndiedrich at msn.com; jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Subject: RE: [Jacob-list] Unfortunate lambs
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 11:48:44 -0500



Hello, Johann.   I’m sorry to hear about your lambs.   We haven’t had experience with abortions, so I can’t help you with that.   I did want to tell you that years ago, one of our ewes had full sized triplets, along with a fourth very small fetus.   I also nearly missed the tiny one, big enough for me to tell it was a ram.   I assumed that the mother had “run out of room” early on, and that the fourth one simply stopped developing.   Since the lambs are in a sterile environment, they don’t decay – and there was nothing foul (no odor, whatever) associated with the tiny fetus.   The other three were fine and she raised them all.  Hope that this helps to answer half of your problem.   -Peg Peg Bostwickpeg at sweetgrass-jacobs.com517-626-6981 From: jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com [mailto:jacob-list-bounces at jacobsheep.com] On Behalf Of Johann K
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2011 9:40 PM
To: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
Subject: [Jacob-list] Unfortunate lambs One of my ewes aborted two lambs yesterday, and they were at very different gestational stages.  The larger one was pretty far along, with wool starting to grow in.  Hooves were still soft and jelly like with the actual hard part only half grown in.  Eyes not fully developed yet.  When I opened it's eyes they just looked dull and foggy.  It was a beautifully marked ram lamb though.  I'd say it was due to be born within the next few weeks to a month.  It's twin was only a fraction of it's size.  So small that it came out still in it's sack and I didn't realize there was a lamb inside.  I just thought it was some after birth.  As an afterthought I broke open the sack and found it.  It had no wool at all yet, and ears completely flat against it's head.  The bones in its skull had not fused yet, and I think it may have been a female.  It was so small that it was hard to tell.  I figured that maybe the smaller lamb had died for whatever reason weeks or even months ago and the mother's body finally got around to rejecting it with the good lamb in tow.  Now, I'm starting to wonder though.  The small lamb didn't seem rotten, or any more dead smelling than the large one.  Is it possible that they were two separate overlapping pregnancies?  I've read this can happen.

The ewe gave no signs that anything was wrong before this happened.  She had been active and energetic as usual.  After aborting she just went about her usual business eating and following me around shouting.  I read that an infection can be a cause for abortion, but it wouldn't explain the huge difference in developmental ages.  Before I disposed of the them I took some pictures of the bigger one.  

I know it's too late to do anything, but I wanted to share what happened since it seems so strange.

Johann  		 	   		  
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