Ewes not opening when lambing?

Western Pomise

Having an unusually high incidence of ewes not opening or of 'ring womb' this yr...have about 25 ewes lambed,from that have had to get vet for two ewes...both had lambs before without problems...vet had to do a C section on one of them.Came on a hoggett today who I gave plenty of time but was no sign of her to open....brought her to vet and she had to do C section and got single lamb ok.
Usually would only have to get vet to maybe one ewe each yr during lambing....but that's 3 already:(....
Think I saw people on here before talking about a relaxant injection you can get that you give to ewe to help her open up to lamb

Thanks for any ideas..

White Clover

Western Pomise wrote: »

Having an unusually high incidence of ewes not opening or of 'ring womb' this yr...have about 25 ewes lambed,from that have had to get vet for two ewes...both had lambs before without problems...vet had to do a C section on one of them.Came on a hoggett today who I gave plenty of time but was no sign of her to open....brought her to vet and she had to do C section and got single lamb ok.
Usually would only have to get vet to maybe one ewe each yr during lambing....but that's 3 already:(....
Think I saw people on here before talking about a relaxant injection you can get that you give to ewe to help her open up to lamb

Thanks for any ideas..

Good chance it's a selenium deficiency.
Neighbour had this problem with sucklers last year. Blood tests revealed they were deficient in selenium

Western Pomise

Thanks White Clover,the ewes are all in excellent strong condition and are well dosed and dosed with a vitamin/mineral dose on a reg basis too so would be disappointed if it was a selenium problem but will mention it to vet and take blood from the two that have had c sections....suppose will have to keep fingers crossed for rest of lambing.

As regards my query on an injection that can be used to relax the ewes muscles can anyone confirm that there is one?

Thanks.

tabby aspreme

What your looking for is Oxyitocin, ask your vet for a bottle, it's a hormone , but with that number there must be an underlying problem

Western Pomise

Vet calling today to make sure sheep with sections cleaned fully, will ask about thoughts on possible causes for sections in more detail and blood a few ewes.Will await results with interest.
On a more positive note got a ewe lambed out yday scanned for a single with a smallish single lamb with her,this morning she had a second hardy wee lamb with her;)

Western Pomise

Western Pomise wrote: »

Vet calling today to make sure sheep with sections cleaned fully, will ask about thoughts on possible causes for sections in more detail and blood a few ewes.Will await results with interest.
On a more positive note got a ewe lambed out yday scanned for a single with a smallish single lamb with her,this morning she had a second hardy wee lamb with her;)

Happy Easter to all,enjoying a glass of wine here watching MOTD,update on the ewes not opening,bloods came back from two ewes showing low calcium reading,bit baffled by it as all ewes well dosed for minerals,vet still not sure how that would cause ewes not to 'open' to lamb?....since I posted last have needed two more Caesarians done so a costly lambing season,still not full bloods back on the two ewes to give the full picture,that's what makes farming interesting I suppose,every year brings a new problem;(

ganmo

Western Pomise wrote: »

well dosed for minerals, vet still not sure how that would cause ewes not to 'open' to lamb?...

Calcium - used for muscle contractions(pulling open cervix?)...very surprised ur vet not knowing that

Calcium is more of a whole diet problem, and mineral doses generally don't have any calcium in them(that I know of)

Think back to last year, did you spread alot of P on the ground you made silage/hay on?

Western Pomise

Thanks Ganmo,think I did vet a disservice in my phrasing,tbf he said to try injecting ewes with calciject if they struggled to open(it worked on one) but he wasn't sure where Calcium prob appeared from as same fertilisee pattern last yr as for last donkeys years on ground the sheep graze on,get silage/hay off.

Think I might blood a few ewes before ram is let out next Autumn to see how things are.Tried them with licks when Calcium prob showed up,they turned their noses up at them!