Hello, I have a Shetland ewe with 3 week old twin lambs. All has gone well until this morning when I noticed one side of her udder was fuller than the other. By noon it was huge and the teat was huge to. I milked her out until it was nearly the size of the other side. One of her lambs came up while I was doing this and just sniffed, wouldn't suck. By 9pm tonight, it was back like at noon, so I milked her again until it was about the size of the other size. Funny, but when I was done, she and the other ewes seemed very interested in the milk I had let out on the straw. Both lambs and the ewe seem to be fine, and are eating everything, grass, oats, hay, water. The udder didn't feel any hotter than the other side, no noticeable lumps. The milk came easier at noon than at 9pm, but I'm not a very experienced milker, and it wasn't hard to get it going then either. I didn't measure either time. Any suggestions? These are my first lambs. (I have 6, the other ewes are fine) They seem to be consuming more mineral block than usual. I attributed it to the lambs. Thanks, Salcha Jill

-- JillSchreiber (schreiber@alaska.com), May 30, 2001

Answers

Jill, at 3 weeks old the lambs should still be nursing a lot. With twins, they tend to nurse together, one on each side. Do you see them nursing? Is one much bigger than the other? Can you feel full warm stomachs?

Sheep milk is some of the finest milk you can get. If there's nothing wrong and your ewe simply has too much milk, try using it - we can't get enough of ours!

-- David C (fleece@eritter.net), May 30, 2001.

Sounds like you've done the right thing. Also, sounds like both of the lambs "favor" the one teat -- presuming both are growing equally well, and that one isn't lagging behind. The enlarged milk-filled teat may make it difficult for lambs to latch on, so they just ignore it and go for the other side.

You may have to continue milking down the one side for a while, just to keep the ewe comfortable.

-- Anita Evangelista (evangel@atlascomm.net), May 30, 2001.

Our does during pregnancy and early lactation really consume the loose minerals. Go through hardly any this time of the year. I also think you are doing the right thing. Keep the side milked out, as the lambs grow and demand more milk, the bigger lamb will kick the smaller one off of "their" side and with you milking, the smaller lamb will have somewhere to go! Mastitis (except subclinical staph) is pretty easy to spot, and with all the nice things you said about the udder, I doubt you have a problem with that. The teat is enlarged from the pressure of the milk in it. With kids/lambs nursing or keeping a good milking schedule, the milk stays in the udder where it belongs, keeping the teats a better shape. vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 30, 2001.

Update. I have milked her twice today. Completely at 9 tonight. Her ram lamb had an 'episode' for lack of a better word this morning at grain time. I thought he was choking. Bucking and blowing froth. I caught him up and as soon as he relaxed, he seemed fine. Made me think about his not nursing that caused the udder problem. I saw him try to nurse a few times today and she stepped right over him. He grazed fine, and ate grain. In my sheep book, the most obvious thing was too much grain. the babies have really taken to grain in the last few days, and I locked them in to fertilize the pasture. Could he have messed up his grain/roughage ratio by not being allowed to graze? I let them out today and used the dog to keep them away from the fertilizer, not something I want to do every day as I have to watch them all the time. He seemed fine, and so does she, except she really objects to being milked! I didn't grain them tonight, and will see how things look in the morning. These guys all look so healthy, I'm only concerned that she will stop producing on that udder when I stop milking her if he doesn't kick in. This will be soon as milking her is not fun! Thanks for the help, Salcha Jill

-- JillSchreiber (schreiber@alaska.com), May 31, 2001.