We are now in the full flow of lambing season with all the usual complications.

A query that is quite common is the ewe going down with pregnancy toxaemia. This is more commonly known as twin-lamb disease and usually affects thinner ewes carrying multiple births.

It can also occur in over-conditioned ewes or ewes that have been stressed like those that have been run by dogs. I have seen a few cases of over-fat ewes also getting twin-lamb disease. That is why monitoring body condition score during pregnancy is so important.

Twin-lamb disease

What happens is the ewe can’t get enough energy or is not consuming enough energy to match that required for her own maintenance and the growing lambs in her womb. So there is a deficit of energy causing the ewe to become recumbent and inappetant. In fat ewes it can often be a suppression of appetite or some other stressor which stops feed intake which leads to the problem.

These ewes will often isolate themselves and can appear blind and almost stupid. They will salivate more, may have tremors and will eventually end up going down and not eating.

Often the lambs will die inside in the womb which can then lead to a temporary delay in the clinical signs. However, this is only short term and another set of problems occurs when she begins to abort as they will often not open to lamb properly.

Treatment

To treat these effectively it is important to catch them early on before they go down. Often when ewes go down there can be irreversible damage done that can be difficult to correct. There are lots of treatment options available that are based around glucose, dextrose and propylene glycol drenches.

It is also important to separate these ewes into single pens, give them concentrates, plenty of fresh water with electrolytes added and fresh hay or silage. One oral drench is not enough and they require drenching every 3-4 hours. I use a lot of multilamb rapid, chanatol, liquid life aid, ewe reviver for these - they are all based on the principal of raising blood glucose levels in the brain.

If the ewe is gone past 135 days sometimes we will induce them to take the pressure of the ewe. I also use a sheep side ketometer to help me make a diagnosis.

If you are seeing a lot of these cases then it is important to increase the energy nutrition of the flock. This can be done in the short-term by adding treacle or molasses.

For a more long-term solution ewes should be body conditioned and have concentrates increased, especially those carrying multiple lambs. If feeding big numbers of sheep it is also worthwhile having forage analysis done so you know what you’re feeding.