Is this i sign of early labor

Daisy1702

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How much did she prolapse is she ok now? I've never delt with my sheep prolapsing but we have had cows do it
An orange sized mass. She is alright now as had a save ewe put in to keep it in. She is avoiding me as she thinks i caused this on her. Her vulva is now large and shes has produced some white mucas labour?
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BrahmerQueen

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An orange sized mass. She is alright now as had a save ewe put in to keep it in. She is avoiding me as she thinks i caused this on her. Her vulva is now large and shes has produced some white mucas labour?View attachment 93085
What does she look like now? Idk when you should take it out it's so hard to decide if they are about to lamb or if it will be a few more days. @farmerjan ?
 

farmerjan

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Have never used a "save ewe" for a prolapse... Only prolapses we do on cattle is a simple couple of stitches and 99% of the time they are for post calving prolapses. Maybe someone with more extensive lambing experiences can chime in.. @purplequeenvt?

No offense, but a prolapse animal does not stay around here. With beef cattle it is a little different than with some of the other more closely watched "farmstead" animals. We did have a cow that prolapsed her rectum and we kept her for 3 more calves.. but it went back in within a day or 2 and was not too big until the last time... vaginal prolapses are not that common for us, I guess we have had a couple over the years. And they have mostly all "fixed themselves" so not a big concern...or had a stitch or 2 and then when they are close to due date, have snipped them and they often have just stayed in; cow calved and never seen any more problems... Uterine prolapses are the more common and most of the time they are severe and if we save the cow, she does not get rebred. It is not impossible to get most uterine prolapses put back in, yes we use a vet for that, but what happens is sometimes they tear the main artery that goes to the uterus and you can't see it or tell when you put it back in... so she will either bleed to death internally, or she gets up and does okay. Either way, they leave the farm after they raise that calf if they survive it. We had a severe one about 3 years ago and lost the cow in less than 12 hours... been probably 5-10 years before that; we have had about 4-5 in the 40+ yrs we have had the beef cattle I guess.
 

Baymule

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I had a ewe prolapse, carrying twins, 30-45 days out from due date. I had round 2 of Covid and was so weak I could barely drag myself out to feed and water. @Ridgetop was most helpful with instructions on catching her, washing her back end all up, stuffing it back in and stitching her up. I was too sick and weak to do any of that. I had a friend come over, shoot her and put the meat in the freezer to feed his family. Of course she was registered and I wanted those lambs badly. Sometimes that’s just how it goes

The other registered ewe we bought at the same time, my husband named her Dessa. She has been with the ram for over a year—nothing. The only thing saving her is my husband picked her out and named her. He passed away, so she gets a free ride. She’s 18 months old. Someday maybe?
 

Baymule

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Even if i dont breed her again im gonna keep her because she was my first ever sheep and itd break my heart to kill her
We do get our favorites. I have one ewe left out of the original 4 we bought. She’s here forever. Ewenique is 8 years old and a big pet.

The ewe I had that I had that was prolapsing, I was sick, called vets, couldn’t get one out, so had to make a tough call. Sometimes reality sucks.

I hope your ewe does fine and gives you a beautiful lamb.
 

Ridgetop

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When is she due to lamb? Are you sure that she was prolapsing? How did you know? Check her udder for colostrum by squeezing her teats gently.

You will need to keep a close eye on your ewe. As soon as she is in labor you need to remove the retainer. Then be ready to rescue the lambs if she has trouble. Retainers are usually held on either by tying the retainer to the wool, or with a harness. The retainer will come out when the ewe gives birth since it is not a completely interior attachment. If the ewe cannot push the retainer out when lambing, she will not be able to deliver the lamb, and the lamb will die. You might want to get some Lamb-Lac just in case the ewe doesn't make it or you can't get the prolapse back in after she lambs. If the lambs are imminent, you need to remove the prolapse retainer attachments.

We have had a couple of prolapses, both rectal and uterine, over the past 33 years.

One was a ewe that had lambed several weeks before and suffered a complete uterine prolapse. I washed the uterus with cold water and replaced it. We sewed her up with dental floss and a carpet needle and gave Penicillin. The floss was left in for a couple weeks, then we cut the stitches. It held and we sent her to auction. Uterine prolapses are difficult since the organ is very heavy and as soon as it is exposed to the outside air it dries out, drags on the ground, and starts to swell. Once swollen it is almost impossible to replace. I was lucky to get it back in her and had to use a glass soda bottle to help push it back in. (Had read about that trick in "All Creatures Great and Small".)

One large Suffolk ewe threatened to rectally prolapse during the last few weeks of her pregnancy. I treated her with Preparation H and after lambing triplets she was fine.

Another ewe prolapsed rectally in her last month of pregnancy and the vet did a tube surgery which held until she lambed. I had to cut her pretty badly to deliver the lambs. First lamb was very large and didn't make it but the second one survived. The vet came back out and sewed up the ewe who was able to nurse her lamb for 6 weeks. Then we had her euthanized since she was not doing well. Her lamb is one of our best ewes and had twins with no trouble. She is due to lamb again in a few weeks.

We currently have a 6-month-old lamb that has been rectally prolapsing for several months. The prolapse goes back in for several days, then comes out again. She is going into our freezer as soon as we can get her to the butcher. (No relation to the other rectal prolapse.)

Uterine and vaginal prolapses are bad and often will repeat. They are difficult to repair, and often the animal doesn't do well afterwards. That is why you want to cull ewes that prolapse. They are not worth the trouble to keep them from prolapsing. It used to be thought that prolapses were caused by extremely short docks or heredity. There is not enough proof either way, since people routinely cull prolapsing animals.

Good luck with saving her lambs and your ewe.
 

Daisy1702

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When is she due to lamb? Are you sure that she was prolapsing? How did you know? Check her udder for colostrum by squeezing her teats gently.

You will need to keep a close eye on your ewe. As soon as she is in labor you need to remove the retainer. Then be ready to rescue the lambs if she has trouble. Retainers are usually held on either by tying the retainer to the wool, or with a harness. The retainer will come out when the ewe gives birth since it is not a completely interior attachment. If the ewe cannot push the retainer out when lambing, she will not be able to deliver the lamb, and the lamb will die. You might want to get some Lamb-Lac just in case the ewe doesn't make it or you can't get the prolapse back in after she lambs. If the lambs are imminent, you need to remove the prolapse retainer attachments.

We have had a couple of prolapses, both rectal and uterine, over the past 33 years.

One was a ewe that had lambed several weeks before and suffered a complete uterine prolapse. I washed the uterus with cold water and replaced it. We sewed her up with dental floss and a carpet needle and gave Penicillin. The floss was left in for a couple weeks, then we cut the stitches. It held and we sent her to auction. Uterine prolapses are difficult since the organ is very heavy and as soon as it is exposed to the outside air it dries out, drags on the ground, and starts to swell. Once swollen it is almost impossible to replace. I was lucky to get it back in her and had to use a glass soda bottle to help push it back in. (Had read about that trick in "All Creatures Great and Small".)

One large Suffolk ewe threatened to rectally prolapse during the last few weeks of her pregnancy. I treated her with Preparation H and after lambing triplets she was fine.

Another ewe prolapsed rectally in her last month of pregnancy and the vet did a tube surgery which held until she lambed. I had to cut her pretty badly to deliver the lambs. First lamb was very large and didn't make it but the second one survived. The vet came back out and sewed up the ewe who was able to nurse her lamb for 6 weeks. Then we had her euthanized since she was not doing well. Her lamb is one of our best ewes and had twins with no trouble. She is due to lamb again in a few weeks.

We currently have a 6-month-old lamb that has been rectally prolapsing for several months. The prolapse goes back in for several days, then comes out again. She is going into our freezer as soon as we can get her to the butcher. (No relation to the other rectal prolapse.)

Uterine and vaginal prolapses are bad and often will repeat. They are difficult to repair, and often the animal doesn't do well afterwards. That is why you want to cull ewes that prolapse. They are not worth the trouble to keep them from prolapsing. It used to be thought that prolapses were caused by extremely short docks or heredity. There is not enough proof either way, since people routinely cull prolapsing animals.

Good luck with saving her lambs and your ewe.
Pink mass definitely not lamb. Due Wednesday. Im not milking her due to her needing colostrum for the lambs
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