Section on a ewe..

iron man

lads.. just wondering if a ewe had s section this year.. will she be ok for next year.. it's a PB suffolk... the vet sayes she should be fine but I'm not sure... I know cows can be ok again but not convinced about a ewe...

Country lad

iron man wrote: »

lads.. just wondering if a ewe had s section this year.. will she be ok for next year.. it's a PB suffolk... the vet sayes she should be fine but I'm not sure... I know cows can be ok again but not convinced about a ewe...

If it was me would.not chance it as a couple of years ago had a section on ewe the following.year had same problem again with her

Willfarman

Given that she’s a purebred then I’d chance her again.

iron man

Willfarman wrote:

Given that she’s a purebred then I’d chance her again.

yup... she has bred 2 exceptional ram lambs...that's why I'm not sure

Dinzee Conlee

iron man wrote: »

yup... she has bred 2 exceptional ram lambs...that's why I'm not sure

What was the section for?

If it was for something that might not happen next year, like a big lamb, then I'd chance her.
If it was something else, I'd cull her.

The other side of it is - I wouldn't like to be paying big money for a Suffolk ram, out of a ewe that wasn't able to lamb herself, due to some issue that the ram might pass on...

So, the big question is why the section? (If it was something that could be inherited, would that affect the future of the 2 ram lambs she now has?)

iron man

the section was from her not opening fully... Lambs were a good size but her passage way still had a few rings not open... lambs are weaned and thriving well. . very good size... not her fault....just wondering if anybody has experience of ewes holding to ram again and going full term... as well as attempting to lamb them...

Dinzee Conlee

iron man wrote: »

the section was from her not opening fully... Lambs were a good size but her passage way still had a few rings not open... lambs are weaned and thriving well. . very good size... not her fault....just wondering if anybody has experience of ewes holding to ram again and going full term... as well as attempting to lamb them...

In this case - cull...

Had a section on a ewe like this before, kept her, she went in young, couldn't lamb again, wished I hadnt given her another chance...

I also wouldn't keep ewe lambs from such a ewe, and if given a choice, wouldn't buy a ram from such a ewe...

EDIT : Not having a go at you personally Iron Man, just saying what I would do myself...

iron man

yup.. point taken...

wrangler

iron man wrote: »

yup.. point taken...

Was it her first lambing
I'd try her again too, they always go on alright here.
Even if you have to operate again, it's a fairly successfull op,
You can cull then if she does it again

Donegalforever

iron man wrote: »

lads.. just wondering if a ewe had s section this year.. will she be ok for next year.. it's a PB suffolk... the vet sayes she should be fine but I'm not sure... I know cows can be ok again but not convinced about a ewe...

I had a Texel ewe (non PB) that had a section a number of years ago.
Like you, I asked the Vet if the ewe would be OK for breeding again and he said yes. I took his advice and she lambed for the next three or four years without assistance. (I sold her because of her age).

Sheep breeder

Donegalforever wrote: »

I had a Texel ewe (non PB) that had a section a number of years ago.
Like you, I asked the Vet if the ewe would be OK for breeding again and he said yes. I took his advice and she lambed for the next three or four years without assistance. (I sold her because of her age).

Haven’t had a section in the last 5 year and always had one a year due to ring womb, reckon the change is due to changing up to 20% ration. Any way rule of thumb used was if the section was quick, clean and ewe recovery was quick and stick mark healed well. Breed the ewe again and had very good success rate and ewes not having the problem again.

The man in red and black

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Haven’t had a section in the last 5 year and always had one a year due to ring womb, reckon the change is due to changing up to 20% ration. Any way rule of thumb used was if the section was quick, clean and ewe recovery was quick and stick mark healed well. Breed the ewe again and had very good success rate and ewes not having the problem again.

Good point here. If all went routine and no infection should be minimal scar tissue. Different story if dead stink lambs and ewe took a month to get over the section etc. Either way for OP's sake I would agree with the comment further up that wouldn't keep a ewe after a ring womb and wouldn't recommend to keep her daughters either. Best to avoid breeding from these ones for the small percentage heritability of these traits.