No milk in ewes

Englebert Humperdink

Hi. Had three ewes with twins and one with triplets yesterday. None had milk. Gave them 2ml Oxytocin and gave the lambs artificial colostrum. Ewes are on 18% E&L nuts since mid. January. They are slowly coming into milk today. What I want to know is what the hell is causing this. The ewes are in pretty good condition maybe too good. Is there anything I can do to stop this with the rest of them? Thanks

tabby aspreme

What's the protein source in the ration, you need soya for milk , a lot of nuts have rapeseed which is not as good.

Englebert Humperdink

tabby aspreme wrote: »

What's the protein source in the ration, you need soya for milk , a lot of nuts have rapeseed which is not as good.

I'm using Stewards ewe and lamb 18%. It says it uses soya bean

Wendell Gee

You might have a selenium deficiency. I'd recommend getting the vet to take a few blood samples. We had milk problems one year and that was a causal factor.

Englebert Humperdink

They have lick buckets with them for ages. I'm shaking mineral dust on the nuts at feeding time now. Surely that would prevent any mineral problems?

rangler1

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

They have lick buckets with them for ages. I'm shaking mineral dust on the nuts at feeding time now. Surely that would prevent any mineral problems?

How much meal per ewe per day are you feeding for the last two to three weeks and have they adequate clean water.
Twins and triplets would need to be getting almost a kg/day at this stage or more if silage/hay is poor quality

Englebert Humperdink

They are on about 0.7kg since mid January. They have lots of milk when they get going but none initially. They let it down when they get the oxytocin. I tried giving them rolled oats and soya bean meal today. The thinking being if they lose a little condition they might let down the milk quicker. Thanks for your ideas.

tomwaterford

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

They have lick buckets with them for ages. I'm shaking mineral dust on the nuts at feeding time now. Surely that would prevent any mineral problems?

Would it. Not take a while as minerals build up and not easily rectified??

case5130

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

They are on about 0.7kg since mid January. They have lots of milk when they get going but none initially. They let it down when they get the oxytocin. I tried giving them rolled oats and soya bean meal today. The thinking being if they lose a little condition they might let down the milk quicker. Thanks for your ideas.

Have one my self today with triplets gave her the shot and a bottle milk to the lambs not overly fat and in same amount if meal ur using ... How long before the shot works ...

Englebert Humperdink

Normally it takes between three and twelve hours. If it takes longer than that give them another 1 ml oxytocin. Keep the lamb up with beestings or colostrum until she gets going. Leave the lamb in with the mother and if she has any milk they will bring her on.

ganmo

tomwaterford wrote: »

Would it. Not take a while as minerals build up and not easily rectified??

Depends on a world of things
what levels of minerals are in the feed, the mineral (some aren't stored) and what other minerals there are that would reduce absorption of other minerals.

case5130

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

Normally it takes between three and twelve hours. If it takes longer than that give them another 1 ml oxytocin. Keep the lamb up with beestings or colostrum until she gets going. Leave the lamb in with the mother and if she has any milk they will bring her on.

Have them in and giving a bottle every two-three hours there lively thank fully and have been sucking at her but nothing yet ..

tomwaterford

ganmo wrote: »

Depends on a world of things
what levels of minerals are in the feed, the mineral (some aren't stored) and what other minerals there are that would reduce absorption of other minerals.

Something I'd love to learn more on....even about minerals affecting fertility etc

But realistically with amount of sheep I have...wouldn't be worth my while taking too much time off to learn

case5130

Gave here the shot last nite at 6pm still no milk lambs getting a bottle any thing else I can do to her ... Has a big bag just no milk

Englebert Humperdink

case5130 wrote: »

Gave here the shot last nite at 6pm still no milk lambs getting a bottle any thing else I can do to her ... Has a big bag just no milk

I would give her another 1ml of oxytocin. Give her a fistful of soya bean on a little nuts. Maybe let her out on grass for a few hours. That's all I can think of. Is her elder hard or soft?

case5130

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

I would give her another 1ml of oxytocin. Give her a fistful of soya bean on a little nuts. Maybe let her out on grass for a few hours. That's all I can think of. Is her elder hard or soft?

Soft giving her 1.1 kg meal twice to help 18% e+l so hope it brings her on but she is old 5 years old

eorna

If you have some paddock with good grass. Leave her there for few hours should do the trick

Englebert Humperdink

case5130 wrote: »

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

I would give her another 1ml of oxytocin. Give her a fistful of soya bean on a little nuts. Maybe let her out on grass for a few hours. That's all I can think of. Is her elder hard or soft?

Soft giving her 1.1 kg meal twice to help 18% e+l so hope it brings her on but she is old 5 years old

Add your reply here.
Just wondering if your ewe ever came into milk ?

razor8

case5130 wrote: »

Soft giving her 1.1 kg meal twice to help 18% e+l so hope it brings her on but she is old 5 years old

I'd be careful you don't sicken her giving that about meal in one feed

case5130

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

Add your reply here.
Just wondering if your ewe ever came into milk ?

Nope not a drop ... Got three more shots of the vet and they done nothing

Englebert Humperdink

You will have to mark her for culling then. Either foster the triplets or stick them on done deal. That's a pity, but you did all you could.

case5130

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

You will have to mark her for culling then. Either foster the triplets or stick them on done deal. That's a pity, but you did all you could.

Have her well marked for road ...lambs doing great on a bottle but one bit scoury

Englebert Humperdink

I have discovered what the problem was. I changed to a different brand of nuts on Wednesday. All the ewes have had milk since. Those nuts were useless. There's no way they were 18%. I had a ewe dropped with a single lamb Wednesday morning. She hadn't a drop of milk initially. On .77 kg since January if the nuts were any good she should have had loads of milk. I'll never use that brand again. Does anyone know where I could get them tested privately?

rangler1

Englebert Humperdink wrote: »

I have discovered what the problem was. I changed to a different brand of nuts on Wednesday. All the ewes have had milk since. Those nuts were useless. There's no way they were 18%. I had a ewe dropped with a single lamb Wednesday morning. She hadn't a drop of milk initially. On .77 kg since January if the nuts were any good she should have had loads of milk. I'll never use that brand again. Does anyone know where I could get them tested privately?

FBA laboratories in Capoquinn would probably do it for you

Soya bean meal is the best source of protein for ewes, nothing else comes near it, your ration could be 18% but if the protein source isn't soya, it's not good enough for ewes unless you've good grass.
I bought stewarts nuts this year to put through the snacker for the ewes after lambing and got the wrong ration by mistake, it was an 18% based on rapeseed protein and just didn't do the job, i changed to a soya based ration and it made a huge difference.......but there was €50/ton difference in the price