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retained placenta
Author: Deb 
Date:   03-03-05 10:27

I was wondering if anyone can tell me about their experience with a retained placenta. I have raised sheep for 26 years and have seen this three times...with the first two ending with a dead ewe (one died of sepsis and the second passed her uterus after oxytocin administration). Currently, I have a yearling dorset ewe lambing for the first time.She lambed on her due date, so this retention is not due to premature labor from mechanical injury. She had the lamb ok, and the placenta with visible cotyledons partially passed (hanging to the ground). After 12 hours I called the vet as it had not passed on its own, was smelling and the ewe was starting to go down. At 24 hour mark, vet administered oxytocin and Benamine and left me with additional doses. I cleaned and trimmed what was hanging but did not trim it to her vulva as the vet suggested we gently pull it from time to time to try to encourage it to disengage. We boostered immediately with CDT and already have dosed her with penicillin (she weighs 150-175 lbs). At any rate, as of 36 hours she has not passed it. She is eating and appears normal other than the smelly mess hanging from her.

From what I understand, there is no scraping the placenta out due to the caruncles of the uterus and that it is not easily manually detached either by going inside and trying to disengage it. Any ideas anyone? I just hate watching and waiting.

The lamb is doing very poorly. We've been tubing it since birth. Not sure why.
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RE: retained placenta
Author: Janet 
Date:   03-03-05 12:55

I have not had to deal with a retained placenta but know someone who has. She says her vet told her to tie the hanging stuff in a knot (to supply a SMALL pull) and that it took several days for her to completely clean. Her lambs had no problems.


Janet
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RE: retained placenta
Author: Deb 
Date:   03-04-05 06:14

Thanks for responding. We've been gently pulling on it over the last couple of days and it has lengthened quite a bit to the point where I had to cut it again yesterday to keep it clean. My husband gloved up and fished around 'in there' yesterday twice and tried to work it out a bit more but don't think it made much difference. He said it was so firmly attached inside that he couldnt budge it at all. I just dont get it! Her lamb is doing much better now. I was seriously thinking about tying a 1-2lb weight to the end of it.......which made my husband laugh.....then changed my mind. We're keeping up with the heavy doses of antibiotics (12 cc/day) for another day and then halving that for the next week or so. Poor girl is like a pin cushion but seems well and is eating steadily and chewing her cud so its more than we expected from her at this point. I guess if she lives we will have to cull her. I just dont understand why this happens. I 've read it can be from selenium deficiency, and I know we are in a Se deficient area so we supplement to offset it and inject with Bo-Se. I guess it could be from bacterial infection, but, we've never had spon. abortions in the past to suggest we have carriers in our flock. It must just be 'one of those things'. Other than that, we are having a good lambing season here in Upstate NY!
Thanks again!
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RE: retained placenta
Author: Virgil 
Date:   03-07-05 22:48

An old sheep herder friend of mine has great luck giving his ewes warm water after birthing. He tells me this helps the ewe relax and expell the placenta. Give it a try on the next ewe.
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RE: retained placenta
Author: Larry 
Date:   03-15-05 16:12

As a former dairy farmer (cows), I have had a lot of experience with retained placenta. Until a few years ago, most vets would manually remove the membranes about 3-4 days after delivery. This often resulted in uterine damage and problems rebreeding. The typical treatment is now antibiotic therapy (not just one shot of penicillin) for up to two weeks, allowing the membranes to become necrotic and release. Yes, it does look and smell bad, but if you can control the infection (early administration and persistence), the outcome is usually good. One advantage in ewes is that while cows usually need to be rebred within 60-90 days, sheep usually remain open for 6-7 months, giving the reproductive system time to recover. If this a common problem in the flock, the problem is probably metabolic or related to a mineral deficiency (Se). If not, a ewe who retains more than once is a candidate for culling.
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RE: retained placenta
Author: Deb 
Date:   03-22-05 10:32

Thanks Larry. We continued penicillin for 10 days and the ewe is doing fine. I did a lot of reading and I am convinced it's from Se deficiency because last friday we had it happen AGAIN with another ewe lamb! I am convinced there are ewes in our flock that are not consuming the mineral supplement so now we are putting it in their grain. The second ewe is doing fine just on penicillin shots. So, you dont see sterility in the cows as an end result? I figured with the ewes they would end up with scar tissue in their uterus' and be sterile and never 'catch' again. You dont see this with the cows?
Thanks so much for writing. There is not a lot of info out there! I think we might have to get on a schedule and start injecting with BO-Se, or feeding some wheat with our other grain because wheat is supposed to uptake Se better than others.....not sure.
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