Pregnancy toxaemia, or twin lamb disease, is a metabolic crisis in ewes carrying multiple foetuses that causes severe neurological signs and death if not treated promptly, representing a preventable welfare emergency.
Pregnancy toxaemia causes severe neurological suffering — affected ewes experience confusion, inability to find food or water, and progress to seizures and coma. The grinding of teeth (bruxism) indicates significant pain or discomfort. Without treatment, death typically occurs within 3-5 days. This is a welfare emergency where rapid intervention is critical. Most cases are preventable through appropriate nutritional management in late pregnancy — ensuring ewes carrying multiples receive adequate energy supplementation. The condition disproportionately affects high-producing ewes carrying the most lambs, meaning that selection for prolificacy without matching nutritional support creates predictable welfare risk within flocks.