Pregnant ewe Losing Colostrum

Myrtle is a 5 year old ewe who has tooth issues, so has been kept indoors for the last 4 weeks to ensure that she gets enough food as she is pregnant with twins.

The earliest date that she should produce lambs is 15th March (dated by when the ram was first in the field +147 days). At a push, if she delivered at 140 days, then around about 8th March if she were mated on the day of the ram going in her field.

She is very slim, but her belly has begun to fill out in the last week or so. Also over the last week her udder has developed rapidly. She is well and eating ewe nuts/treats/ewe lick etc.

Today I saw a stream of colostrum/milk which had escaped from one of her teats in the position where she had been lying down. Her udder was huge and congested and some milk/colstrum was dripping from both teats. Her vulva is not swollen, no signs of blood or discharge.

She seemed to be in some distress from her udder, so I gave her Metacam and gently milked off about 100mls from each side with great ease. (I would never normally take colostrum from a ewe who has not delivered, but her pain/congestion was obviously significant and she was dripping from both teats in any case.

I spoke to my neighbour....life-long sheep farmer of thousands of ewes. His initial thoughts were that she may have lambed and the foetuses were very small. As she has been in a confined area indoors which I clean daily, a thorough search of the area confirmed no birth had taken place. He examined her and confirmed she has lambs 'on board' still, and that loss of such large amounts of colostrum/milk was very strange.

Well, I'm baffled. I've never seen so much milk coming from a ewe who should have over 3 weeks, at least to go. Have her lambs died? What is going on hormonally? Will she deliver very soon?

I'll go and take some pics. (and say a little prayer for her).

I know nothing about sheep, but with dairy goats that can happen and it's not a huge deal. If she were one of my goats, I'd milk enough to give some relief and freeze it. Once the lambs/kids are born give them some of the frozen colostrum.

Have you tried some soaked beet pulp for the ewe? Might be able to get some weight on her.

Watch her closely for toxemia too.

I had a ewe develop a huge udder (milk included) a good 3 weeks prior to delivery this year. Doesn't sounds a big as your ewe's udder though. No chance she was caught earlier then planned?

purplequeenvt said:

No chance she was caught earlier then planned?

Click to expand...

I'm beginning to think that this is what must have happened.

She looks very thin to be term with twins.





Took this pic and realised....there is a little blood on her udder. Hopefully she has started, though I don't have good feelings about this labour.



She's wandering around...not looking distressed.

I'll take a little more colostrum/milk off her soon (just enough to make her comfortable) and then ....well, just say another little prayer for her (and watch her closely).

Goat Whisperer....I'm doing just as you said with the colostrum. I took off a hundred or so mls from each side and froze that down earlier today. I'm planning to take a little more soon.

Myrtle has broken teeth and cannot handle silage, so has been having ewe nuts,grain, biscuits, bread etc for a month now. She has fattened up a bit and has a tremendous appetite, so she probably isn't in too bad a shap[e to face her labour. I'm just hoping the labour and lambs are normal. If she has live twin lambs I'll take one from her and bottle feed it.

@Sheepshape, the beet pulp I feed are tiny, tiny shreds. When soaked it's like mush. Very different than silage
Either way, if she is looking better keep doing what you are doing

We used to do this same thing with one of our ewes, she was a terrible mama and if you didn't catch her before she got up from delivery she would try to stomp the lambs. She too acted like she was over burdened in the udder, it was years ago and I can't recall but I think she had her lambs earlier than we thought she should have. We froze quite a bit of colostrum that way and when the lambs were born we had plenty to feed them. Sounds to me like your doing just right! After that experience we routinely milked off a little colostrum and kept it frozen, came in handy more than once.

Let us know how this turns out but I suspect your going to have lambs real soon! Hope and pray for a good outcome!
(We find ourselves praying for animals too! Lol! Had a mare who was very sick, I thought she would be dead before the vet could see her three or four days later. She made it and on top of that she pulled through. She is fat and sassy as ever! Don't give up and "pray without ceasing!")

Goat Whisperer....I think I know the stuff....we have 'beet pellets' over here (essentially shredded and partly dried sugar beet)...a high energy source. I've been feeding Myrtle 'breeding ewe nuts'....18% protein and designed to be fed in the last 6weeks or so of pregnancy and during lactation when the ewe isn't able to physically eat enough pasture-based food to provide enough protein/calories etc. My other ewes get either 1lb (singletons) or 2lbs (multiples) daily in two rations.Myrtle and another sick ewe have free access to these, plus grain, bread, biscuits , ewe lick etc etc (thoroughly spoiled) They take a long time to eat, but there's no competition and they are protected from the elements in the barn.


sonorabitandspur....at least Myrtle is a great mama if previous years are anything to go by. Myrtle has a daughter, Tuesday, and I hope she will be as good a mum when she has her 'ram visit' next year. (Just as a rather silly 'aside' and an explanation of their names Myrtle has a weird (Murrrr) sound for a bleat and Tuesday was born on a Tuesday).

I've just checked Myrtle again (early morning here) and she is sitting quietly chewing. Nothing else has happened. Last night there was very little 'free' colostrum, probably due to the earlier anti-inflammatory, and she seemed very comfortable, so I didn't milk her.

I wonder what today will bring?

Just some thoughts: maybe you could feed Myrtle a higher energy, lower protein feed? That will slow down her milk production a little, but still allow her to maintain her weight. Then you can up the protein again once she's lactating. Our standard "sweet feed" (processed grains) maintenance ration for lambs and dry ewes is 12-14% protein and the one for lactating ewes is 16%, so that is why 18% seems high to me. You could even keep the same feed but replace it partially with cracked corn or another high energy feed.