I am certainly no expert, but this is my 4th round of lambing with this herd. This year, the one ewe who has lambed so far actually buried one placenta in the straw. Never seen that before. Placentas come after the birth, so you likely will not find a third placenta without a lamb.
Lately she has been pawing the ground on occasion. Sometimes it's to let me know she's hungry. Sometimes, it's to tell the dog to get the heck away. Her sister paws the ground to tell the lambs to keep their distance. It could be anything, from what I am seeing. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies Sent from my iPad > On May 13, 2014, at 4:34 PM, David Sussman <david.gadog...@gmail.com> wrote: > > We have a new mother ewe, her first time, who just gave birth to two males > this morning. Throughout the day we have noticed her continuing to paw at > the ground like she had been doing in the previous days, but from what > we've read it is unusual for it to continue after birth. This is her first > experience so it's possible that she is just nervous (she is normally very > personable) but we are a bit concerned about a third (possibly stillborn?) > lamb in her. I have been checking for the placenta but haven't seen it > (she may have eaten in when I wasn't around) so it's possible that she's > still waiting to pass it and that is causing her behavior. > > To clarify, she has been penned with her two lambs with ample straw and > generally digs at the hard dirt below the straw as opposed to the straw > itself. > > At what point should we start to be concerned? We've had about a dozen > births here so far but nothing quite like this. We appreciate the help. > > David Sussman > Sebastopol, CA > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
