Comment

DEALING with a vaginal or uterine prolapse and difficult lambing cases can present a dilemma to the busy farmer who is unable to correct the problem but considers it too expensive to call the vet and too busy to take the ewe to the surgery - valid reasons or weak excuses?

What is the current situation on most sheep farms? Have there been any recent veterinary developments in treating such problems? What should farmers consider this year when presented with an obstetrical problem in their sheep?

Current situation
Ewe deaths in lowground flocks in the UK are often quoted as five to seven per cent per annum with many losses associated with dystocia whether immediately (ruptured uterus pictures at bottom of page), blood loss), within several days (metritis graph top right, peritonitis, uterine prolapse) or after several weeks with bacterial infection localising in internal organs such as the heart (endocarditis).

There has been a disturbing trend in the United Kingdom over the past 10 years towards less veterinary care for ovine obstetrical problems despite success rates exceeding 97 per cent for caesarean operations undertaken on the farm (graph lower right).

A recent study asking why sheep farmers did not request veterinary assistance for dystocia cases reported that 33 per cent of 183 respondents quoted excessive professional fees, while 31 per cent of farmers considered themselves as competent as their veterinary surgeon in such matters.

The monthly total of lambing cases attended by NADIS veterinary practices serving farmers with 575,000 breeding sheep is shown above. This equates as one veterinary visit for obstetrical problems per 2,500 sheep or one veterinary visit every five years to the average UK flock. As a consequence farmers may be unaware of recent benefits in veterinary care of obstetrical problems.

A comprehensive review of lambing problems is recommended with particular reference to hygiene, antibiotic therapy and pain relief.

Hygiene/approach to dystocia cases
In a study of 95 farms, arm-length disposable plastic gloves were always used on 30% farms during assisted lambing, 7% used gloves for most lambings, 9% occasionally, while the majority (55%) never used gloves. More than one third of shepherds neither washed their hands nor used arm-length gloves before attempted correction of a difficult lambing.

Antibiotic administration to the ewe after lambing is no substitute for such poor hygiene.

Action: Always wash your hands in diluted antiseptic solution. Arm-length disposable plastic gloves are cheap and easily carried within pockets thus there can be no excuse for non-compliance with such basic hygiene even under extensive flock management systems.

Antibiotic therapy
All assisted lambings received an antibiotic injection on 35% of farms while the majority of farmers 65% treated only ewes which became sick soon after the assisted lambing. The latter is likely to result in womb infections and poor milk production which would be manifest as hungry lambs and poor growth.

Action: All assisted lambings must receive a course of antibiotics. Always follow the dose rate instructions. Do not stop treatment simply because the ewe seems better the following day.

Non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) Many antibiotics are combined with non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) at little extra cost and reduce inflammation and pain.

Caudal (epidural) analgesia
Over the past 10 years there have been considerable advances in the provision of analgesia (pain relief) for obstetrical conditions with dramatic improvements in the well-being of the sheep. Caudal analgesia (epidural) is routinely used for most corrections/manipulations undertaken by veterinary surgeon while dealing with a lambing problem and prolapses. Blockage of the ewe's reflex abdominal contractions greatly assists corrections/manipulations of dystocia cases and blocks all pain with obvious animal welfare benefits.

Epidural anaesthesia is routinely used before replacing vaginal and uterine prolapses. Suspending the ewe by her hind legs to replace the prolapsed tissues, often containing the distended urinary bladder, is unacceptable.

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