|
|
|
In the more than 100,000 C-sections Janie Petramala has performed on her lamb farm south of Swink, Colo., this is the first time she has encountered conjoined lambs.
Petramala had been trying to help her ewe deliver, but it continued to have problems. When she was unable to pull the lamb out, she decided she needed to perform a C-section.
Ewes generally deliver two to four lambs at a time, but Petramala was quite surprised to find that the four front legs were connected to the four back legs. Upon closer inspection, she found that the lamb also has three eyes, four ears, two tails, one umbilical cord and one mouth — though the jaw is not connected and one nose — with only a hole — no septum.
The lamb lived for about four minutes after being born, blinking at Petramala as she continued working on the ewe.
Conditions of the ewe at this time are uncertain, though survival rates for ewe C-sections are 1 in 10.
La Junta Tribune-Democrat
In the more than 100,000 C-sections Janie Petramala has performed on her lamb farm south of Swink, Colo., this is the first time she has encountered conjoined lambs.
Petramala had been trying to help her ewe deliver, but it continued to have problems. When she was unable to pull the lamb out, she decided she needed to perform a C-section.
Ewes generally deliver two to four lambs at a time, but Petramala was quite surprised to find that the four front legs were connected to the four back legs. Upon closer inspection, she found that the lamb also has three eyes, four ears, two tails, one umbilical cord and one mouth — though the jaw is not connected and one nose — with only a hole — no septum.
The lamb lived for about four minutes after being born, blinking at Petramala as she continued working on the ewe.
Conditions of the ewe at this time are uncertain, though survival rates for ewe C-sections are 1 in 10.
La Junta Tribune-Democrat
