Author Topic: Lame pregnant ewe (Read 2725 times)

Richmond · « **on:** March 16, 2022, 11:26:04 am »

One of my heavily pregnant ewes has suddenly gone very lame (right foreleg/foot). She was absolutely fine on Monday night then I discovered her lying down on her own yesterday morning. She can hobble (just) to the hayrack and water, and is doing a bit of grazing on her knees, but is lying down most of the time. We looked at her yesterday but apart from a bit of broken hoof which we trimmed off couldn't see anything obvious -no abcess or injury or heat in the foot.
I'm fairly certain she's having twins again (she's pretty huge and had twins last year) although she's not been scanned, and is due around 27th March (ram went in 1st Nov).
Is there anything I should be doing for her? Should I get the vet involved?

shep53 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 16, 2022, 11:38:03 am »

Do what ever you think is best for her whether that is call the vet to visit / phone the vet to ask what they think / watch her so long as she eats ,drinks to see if she gets better /worse . Could be anything wrong injury or infection ? Sorry only you can decide

Richmond · « **Reply #2 on:** March 16, 2022, 11:54:25 am »

Thanks Shep. Was hoping you'd reply

Yes am checking her often - may ring the vet if she's no better tomorrow. Fortunately she is a greedy sheep and as long as she has her head in a bucket we can get a good look at the foot.

Richmond · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2022, 02:37:51 pm »

I've just had another good look at her foot and it is dry and clean with nothing between the toes. She allowed me to squeeze and prod most of the food except for the very tip of one of her toes which does seem sensitive. She has broken the horny part off the end and I'm wondering if the sensitive underneath part is now a little exposed and causing the pain. I will continue to monitor her.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2022, 10:19:38 am »

Women who have carried children tell me that every little pain in the feet and legs get multiplied the nearer you get to the birth.

She sounds pretty tame so you won't be stressing her just checking the foot every day. (I assume you are not tipping her up, that's always to be avoided in heavily pregnant ewes.)

So as long as the foot doesn't seem to be infected, the ewe can get to food and water (if not, put food and water near to her so she isn't reducing her intake), and she doesn't seem distressed, monitoring would sound like the best plan.

She may well be completely sound once she's lambed. If not, you can have a proper look once the lambs are born, licked and fed, and she has bonded with them.

Richmond · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2022, 10:37:08 am »

Thanks Sally. No I'm not tipping her up, once she gets her head in a bucket I can just pick the foot up as if she were a horse.
We had a lot of heavy rain yesterday so I'm hoping the ground has softened sufficiently to make things a little easier for her. It's been very hard and dry recently.

Anke · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2022, 04:10:29 pm »

If she is still keen on her food (concentrates rather than just hay/grass) then she is not suffering from pregnancy toxaemia coupled with low calcium - which can cause them to go lame, stiff and not keen (or unable) to get up (or down). And as she has less than a month to go to lamb she probably just has to grin and bear it, and you will have to assess it after lambing as Sally has said. As long as your observations defintely point to her hoof/foot rather than the leg(s).

I would just watch out for her, and if she is reluctant to move for the bucket, a propylene glycol type drench would not do any harm (though she will hate you for it).

Sudden draw-dawn of the clacium reserves from her bones to make milk/colostrum, can be incredibly painful and can kill a ewe/goat quite quickly. A sub-cutaeneous injection of Calciject may be needed in that case.

Richmond · « **Reply #7 on:** March 18, 2022, 08:29:40 am »

Thanks Anke. I will bear what you've said in mind but I'm now pretty certain it's nothing more sinister than a sore toe, complicated by being heavily pregnant. She is very keen on her food and at the merest whiff of food can move pretty quickly and is very adept at shoving the smaller sheep out of the way in order to get to her bucket! Lambs due next weekend hopefully so we've just got to get through one more week.

Anke · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2022, 07:30:20 am »

Quote from: Richmond on March 18, 2022, 08:29:40 am

Thanks Anke. I will bear what you've said in mind but I'm now pretty certain it's nothing more sinister than a sore toe, complicated by being heavily pregnant. She is very keen on her food and at the merest whiff of food can move pretty quickly and is very adept at shoving the smaller sheep out of the way in order to get to her bucket! Lambs due next weekend hopefully so we've just got to get through one more week.

Sounds like she is ok then... once her lamb(s) are there she may forget well about it...