Pregnancy toxemia is a metabolic disease affecting ewes carrying multiple lambs. Adequate nutritional management is critical to preventing this painful and often fatal condition.
Pregnancy toxemia causes genuine suffering in affected ewes — progressive neurological deterioration, recumbency, and death within days if untreated. The welfare cost is significant because the condition is largely preventable through adequate nutritional management. Ewes in inadequate body condition entering late pregnancy cannot meet the energy demands of multiple fetuses, and hypoglycemia triggers the cascade of symptoms. Flock-level prevention through regular body condition scoring, appropriate feeding adjustments, and pre-lambing supplementation eliminates most cases. Where prevention fails, prompt recognition and treatment are critical welfare interventions.