# Sick lamb



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

I have just found one of my 2 week old lambs lying in the pasture.  She was fine this morning.  She is the runt of the set of triplets.  Any ideas?  She is inside but will only slightly hold her head up.  please help!


----------



## Roving Jacobs (Mar 8, 2014)

Getting her some place warm and taking her temp would be my first step.


----------



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

rectal temp 97.7


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Mar 8, 2014)

Get her warm!  Does she have a suckle reflex?


----------



## bonbean01 (Mar 8, 2014)

Agree with getting her warm!!!  If she is the runt of a set of triplets, she may not be nursing very much with bigger sibling competition.  Once her temp is up to normal, she may take a bottle?  Hope she does well!!!!


----------



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

at first VERY WEAK sucking reflux but it is slightly better now.  she actually tried to nurse my finger.  she is still on the heat register and I have my heating blanket on her on low.  He core temp was lower than 97.7.  I finally found a thermometer and got a reading of  32.8c or 91.04f.  she is able to hold her head up now and not laying flat


----------



## hilarie (Mar 8, 2014)

Can you tube feed her?


----------



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

I dont have a tube.  I am trying to think of what i have that would work


----------



## purplequeenvt (Mar 8, 2014)

Don't feed her until you get her warm! Put her by a wood stove or on a heating pad. Keep checking her temperature. Only start offering milk when she is back up to the correct temperature (a few degrees under is ok).


----------



## bonbean01 (Mar 8, 2014)

Agree with Purple...get her temp up first!!!  Good luck and hope she does well!


----------



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

temp is up to 100.76.  she stood and peed on my heating blanket but still doesnt seem to want a bottle.  maybe its too cold


----------



## purplequeenvt (Mar 8, 2014)

If she's never had a bottle before then it's not a surprise that she won't take it.


----------



## Heather (Mar 8, 2014)

should i keep trying with the bottle?  or go get a tube first thing in the morning?  she will spend the night in a large box in our heated garage


----------



## purplequeenvt (Mar 8, 2014)

I'd give her some more time. She'll eat when she's hungry.


----------



## Heather (Mar 9, 2014)

Thank you to all that responded!  My lamb died this afternoon.  We wouldn't take the bottle so we put her and the mom in a pen so only she could nurse.  She did.  She nursed for quite a while then escaped out of the pen.  We put her back in with her mom and had to run to my nieces birthday party.  Gone about one hour with daytime temp to 50 and still had the heat lamp going in the jug she climbed in the food bowl where my son and I found her dead.  He was very responsible about the whole thing.  He said mom, "this is going to happen when you have animals.  We tried everything we could."  Pretty special coming from a 7 yr old.  On a good note, while we were burying the lamb I noticed a heifer with two little legs sticking out.  15 minutes later...one registered black angus bull calf!!


----------



## happy acres (Mar 30, 2014)

I'm so very sorry for your loss!


----------



## AriesX (Mar 30, 2014)

Amazing how wise children can be.  We found a twin lying limp in the hay just after she was born - she probably suffocated while mom was delivering the second twin and we missed it so we couldn't help her.  My husband tried really hard to revive the poor thing even though it was a hopeless cause.  He finally stopped when my five year old patted his shoulder and said - "Daddy, I think the lamb is dead"


----------

