# Triplet newborn lamb scours



## Sheepbaroness (Jun 7, 2021)

Hello! I have just had my first set of triplets, dorper sheep, the ewe is experienced, healthy, two of the lambs are fine, but one has scours, she is somewhat lethargic. She is now not following mom and siblings. Not sure what I can do about it besides take her to the vet


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2021)

How old are they? If you don’t have them in a small pen, do so as soon as you can. Stick your finger in the weak ones mouth for a quick temperature check. If cold or cool, take quick action. First comes warmth. A box or laundry basket will do. Put a towel over it to make a tent. Put a hair dryer blowing in the tent. Make sure to keep the baby’s head OUT or you will cook its little kinds. Once warm, tie mom up and help the baby nurse. This means sitting and helping guide the lamb to the test.

Or you can bottle feed. 
1 gallon whole cow milk
1 cup cultured buttermilk 
1 can evaporated milk

pour out 2 1/2 cups milk out, pour in buttermilk and evaporated milk. Shake to mix. Warm a couple of ounces up and bottle feed. I used 97 cent baby bottles from Walmart, they worked just fine.

But WARM the lamb first!


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2021)

If the lamb didn’t get colostrum, it is imperative to milk out the ewe for the lamb. Or call feed store to see if they have sheep and goat colostrum mix.


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 7, 2021)

Baymule said:


> If the lamb didn’t get colostrum, it is imperative to milk out the ewe for the lamb. Or call feed store to see if they have sheep and goat colostrum mix.


Thank you for the detailed and quick response! They are not penned up, they’re on a 9 acre pasture, it’s currently mid 70°s with a high of 90 today, yesterday when they were born it was about 100°, I didn’t think she was cold but I didn’t feel her mouth either, could she possibly still be cold from the overnight temps? 
I pushed the mom back to where the lamb was and by then it had stood up and was bleating loudly and rejoined mom and I saw it nurse a little and then follow mom and siblings down the field to another shady spot. At this point I don’t know how serious it is, I’m planning to check on them again in two hours.


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 7, 2021)

Sheepbaroness said:


> Thank you for the detailed and quick response! They are not penned up, they’re on a 9 acre pasture, it’s currently mid 70°s with a high of 90 today, yesterday when they were born it was about 100°, I didn’t think she was cold but I didn’t feel her mouth either, could she possibly still be cold from the overnight temps?
> I pushed the mom back to where the lamb was and by then it had stood up and was bleating loudly and rejoined mom and I saw it nurse a little and then follow mom and siblings down the field to another shady spot. At this point I don’t know how serious it is, I’m planning to check on them again in two hours.


I’ll probably pen them too, would eliminate chasing them across the big field, the ewe is a good mom except she’s always been exceptionally nervous and never wants anything to do with me


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## farmerjan (Jun 7, 2021)

You probably need to keep them penned together for a couple days to allow the littler one to get some good feeds and get a little more strength.  At least in a smaller lot where she can't go off too far from the lambs.  Make sure she is not rejecting the triplet... sometimes they "know" they cannot take care of 3 and will reject one... sometimes they just aren't attentive enough.  Some sheep can count to 3 and some can only count to 2..... the best of ewes will sometimes only want 2.... if you can get it past a couple weeks and then she does not have enough milk, you can supplement the third with a bottle and a couple ounces a couple times a day... it will learn to come to you for the bottle even while staying with the others, or take it away and bottle raise it.  But the longer on the ewe, the better start for the lamb.


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 7, 2021)

farmerjan said:


> You probably need to keep them penned together for a couple days to allow the littler one to get some good feeds and get a little more strength.  At least in a smaller lot where she can't go off too far from the lambs.  Make sure she is not rejecting the triplet... sometimes they "know" they cannot take care of 3 and will reject one... sometimes they just aren't attentive enough.  Some sheep can count to 3 and some can only count to 2..... the best of ewes will sometimes only want 2.... if you can get it past a couple weeks and then she does not have enough milk, you can supplement the third with a bottle and a couple ounces a couple times a day... it will learn to come to you for the bottle even while staying with the others, or take it away and bottle raise it.  But the longer on the ewe, the better start for the lamb.


Ok I just loved them back to my house in a smaller pen, thank you so much!


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2021)

So glad the little one is sucking. Penning them up is the best thing to do , to let the little one have more of a chance to eat. And you can keep a close eye on them easier.

Ewe doesn’t want any thing to do with you? Nooooo!!!!! Mine mob me for treats. I have a Katahdin ram over Katahdin/Dorper ewes. I recommend sitting on something low, like a milk crate, in the pen. That way you aren’t towering over her, big scary monster! Put some treats, I use whole corn or animal crackers, in a pan. Put it close, but not too close to you and don’t look at her. It may take awhile, but she’ll come around. Mine are all spoiled brats.

Anyway, good luck with the triplets and let us know how they are doing! Congratulations on the triplets!


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## misfitmorgan (Jun 8, 2021)

You can try electrolytes for the one scouring if it continues, they sell it in packets at any store like tractor supply. 

Also yeah you are going to need to start supplementing with a bottle. The ewe will not have enough milk for 3 lambs for long and if you dont start early the lambs will refuse the bottle later most likely. Two years ago we had to fight for 2 days to get a ewe raised lamb to take a bottle, she also never became friendly with people despite being bottle fed for 5 weeks. She was actually a single but we lost mom when she got in a fight with our herd queen(goat) in a confined space. Make sure she gets as much colostrum as possible from mom, you can offer a bottle to all the lambs and one will drink more...thats the one that will need bottled later. Even if mom tries to keep feeding all three it is going to take a huge toll on her, twins are toll enough let alone more.


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 8, 2021)

Baymule said:


> So glad the little one is sucking. Penning them up is the best thing to do , to let the little one have more of a chance to eat. And you can keep a close eye on them easier.
> 
> Ewe doesn’t want any thing to do with you? Nooooo!!!!! Mine mob me for treats. I have a Katahdin ram over Katahdin/Dorper ewes. I recommend sitting on something low, like a milk crate, in the pen. That way you aren’t towering over her, big scary monster! Put some treats, I use whole corn or animal crackers, in a pan. Put it close, but not too close to you and don’t look at her. It may take awhile, but she’ll come around. Mine are all spoiled brats.
> 
> Anyway, good luck with the triplets and let us know how they are doing! Congratulations on the triplets!


Thank you! Yes most of my other sheep are very friendly, several let me scratch them all over, this one has always been a little wary, not sure why, assumed it was genetic. 
But good news with the lambs this morning they all still look well, a vet friend gave me some resorb to feed to the scouring lamb, but if the lamb’s belly is full of milk I’m not sure if I should still try to bottle feed it. Also this ewe is producing way more milk than I’ve ever seen on her before, not sure if this means she might be able to keep up with their demands?


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 8, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> You can try electrolytes for the one scouring if it continues, they sell it in packets at any store like tractor supply.
> 
> Also yeah you are going to need to start supplementing with a bottle. The ewe will not have enough milk for 3 lambs for long and if you dont start early the lambs will refuse the bottle later most likely. Two years ago we had to fight for 2 days to get a ewe raised lamb to take a bottle, she also never became friendly with people despite being bottle fed for 5 weeks. She was actually a single but we lost mom when she got in a fight with our herd queen(goat) in a confined space. Make sure she gets as much colostrum as possible from mom, you can offer a bottle to all the lambs and one will drink more...thats the one that will need bottled later. Even if mom tries to keep feeding all three it is going to take a huge toll on her, twins are toll enough let alone more.


Ok thank you, I was wondering about this


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## Baymule (Jun 8, 2021)

You might want to keep her confined for awhile. Offer sheep mineral and dolomite lime. I buy it at Lowe’s as garden lime, but read the label to make sure it is dolomite lime. She needs the right calcium for milk.

@misfitmorgan do you think the ewe will be able to raise all 3 if she is supplemented? What would you recommend and how much? I have a ewe that puts it all in her bag and she gets pulled down. I give her cracked corn, a half cup twice a day. What do you think ?


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## misfitmorgan (Jun 8, 2021)

Baymule said:


> You might want to keep her confined for awhile. Offer sheep mineral and dolomite lime. I buy it at Lowe’s as garden lime, but read the label to make sure it is dolomite lime. She needs the right calcium for milk.
> 
> @misfitmorgan do you think the ewe will be able to raise all 3 if she is supplemented? What would you recommend and how much? I have a ewe that puts it all in her bag and she gets pulled down. I give her cracked corn, a half cup twice a day. What do you think ?


Even with a perfect diet she will simply not be able to eat enough to keep up with 3 lambs unless she has an amazing capacity udder....I don't believe hair sheep have had a large focus on diary. Even diary sheep would struggle after a few weeks with triplets. You are also asking for issues with hypocalcaemia with that many lambs, esp after the ewe carried them to full term. Ewes on a perfect diet still lose 1/5lb a day while nursing triplets, we are talking places that get every type of feed checked and have a livestock feed specialist formulating the diet based on those results, that they then re-formulate for every new batch of feed ex. each new silage bag, or corn silo,  etc.

You need to give more grain @Baymule , lactating ewes in general need 1lb of grain per lamb they are nursing. The high butterfat in their milk means it takes a lot out of them to make it. If you are feeding your ewe 1lb per lamb and you see she is getting to conditioned dial it back a bit. You would probly do better with a commercial sheep grain as it will have calcium, more protein, potassiam, etc that they need. If you have really good pasture you might be ok with just cracked corn for a ewe with singles or twins. Ewes are resilient and it is possible to run a grain free operation if you have sheep that are bred for it with full access to excellent pasture and lower birth rates on a slower breeding schedule. If you have lamb once a year for instance instead of twice a year you are much more flexible. The little I know about hair sheep they were bred for mostly pasture/grass feed, so likely manage better without grain. If your ewe/s are getting pulled down to much just increase the grain, try 1lb per lamb for a couple weeks then you can adjust it down to see what your ewe really needs.

BTW your current 1/2c of cracked corn should weigh approximately 0.25lbs so just double your current daily amount if she has a single, if she has twins you want to give 4c/day.


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## Baymule (Jun 8, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> Even with a perfect diet she will simply not be able to eat enough to keep up with 3 lambs unless she has an amazing capacity udder....I don't believe hair sheep have had a large focus on diary. Even diary sheep would struggle after a few weeks with triplets. You are also asking for issues with hypocalcaemia with that many lambs, esp after the ewe carried them to full term. Ewes on a perfect diet still lose 1/5lb a day while nursing triplets, we are talking places that get every type of feed checked and have a livestock feed specialist formulating the diet based on those results, that they then re-formulate for every new batch of feed ex. each new silage bag, or corn silo,  etc.
> 
> You need to give more grain @Baymule , lactating ewes in general need 1lb of grain per lamb they are nursing. The high butterfat in their milk means it takes a lot out of them to make it. If you are feeding your ewe 1lb per lamb and you see she is getting to conditioned dial it back a bit. You would probly do better with a commercial sheep grain as it will have calcium, more protein, potassiam, etc that they need. If you have really good pasture you might be ok with just cracked corn for a ewe with singles or twins. Ewes are resilient and it is possible to run a grain free operation if you have sheep that are bred for it with full access to excellent pasture and lower birth rates on a slower breeding schedule. If you have lamb once a year for instance instead of twice a year you are much more flexible. The little I know about hair sheep they were bred for mostly pasture/grass feed, so likely manage better without grain. If your ewe/s are getting pulled down to much just increase the grain, try 1lb per lamb for a couple weeks then you can adjust it down to see what your ewe really needs.
> 
> BTW your current 1/2c of cracked corn should weigh approximately 0.25lbs so just double your current daily amount if she has a single, if she has twins you want to give 4c/day.


The cracked corn is in addition to the pellets she gets. Sorry I was not clear on that. Sometimes she does get more corn, I just watch her condition. She used to run into the fence and literally bounce off the walls to get away from me. But time and cracked corn changed all that. Now she knows her name and adores attention, even pawing at me for more. She not only lets the granddaughters love on her, she approaches them and asks for attention. She’s a keeper until she goes to that great sheep pasture in the sky.


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## misfitmorgan (Jun 8, 2021)

Baymule said:


> The cracked corn is in addition to the pellets she gets. Sorry I was not clear on that. Sometimes she does get more corn, I just watch her condition. She used to run into the fence and literally bounce off the walls to get away from me. But time and cracked corn changed all that. Now she knows her name and adores attention, even pawing at me for more. She not only lets the granddaughters love on her, she approaches them and asks for attention. She’s a keeper until she goes to that great sheep pasture in the sky.



Then you are likely doing good!


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 8, 2021)

Thank you so much, this is so helpful!


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 14, 2021)

Hello again, not sure if I should start a new thread, the lambs are all doing great, I have been kind of shoving the bottle in their mouths every time I go out there usually 2x/day, although it is more difficult now that they are faster, I am assuming the lambs will at some point not be able to get enough milk from mom and then may be interested in the bottle if they’ve been exposed to it consistently altho I hope I’m not conditioning them to hate it by forcing it into their mouth, and I just let them taste it, bc their bellies are always full.
 i am giving the ewe free access to alfalfa hay and am currently giving her about 1 and 1/2c cob, I normally don’t really grain my sheep except as a treat so I started slow and went up to 2c but she was having really runny poop so I thought I should drop it down a little at least for a couple days. Apparently a commercial feed for lactating ewes doesn’t seem to exist, at least i can’t find any online or at any feed stores, and I already had the cob on hand. Anyways my main question is what do you think about this feeding program? So far the ewe looks fine and normal to me. The lambs are 8 days old today.
Thank you for any advice


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## Baymule (Jun 14, 2021)

Are the lambs showing interest in their moms feed yet? Build a creep feeder for them, then they can eat feed and it will take a load off the ewe.


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## Baymule (Jun 14, 2021)

Here is a picture of mine. Right above the lambs back are 2 vertical slats. I open or close them according to size of lambs, with deck screws. Not hi tech, but it works. It was a 12’ panel I got in a pile of free pallets. Maybe it will give you ideas. Or you can make a creep feeder with holes for lamb sized heads, but not big sheep.


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## misfitmorgan (Jun 15, 2021)

Sheepbaroness said:


> Hello again, not sure if I should start a new thread, the lambs are all doing great, I have been kind of shoving the bottle in their mouths every time I go out there usually 2x/day, although it is more difficult now that they are faster, I am assuming the lambs will at some point not be able to get enough milk from mom and then may be interested in the bottle if they’ve been exposed to it consistently altho I hope I’m not conditioning them to hate it by forcing it into their mouth, and I just let them taste it, bc their bellies are always full.
> i am giving the ewe free access to alfalfa hay and am currently giving her about 1 and 1/2c cob, I normally don’t really grain my sheep except as a treat so I started slow and went up to 2c but she was having really runny poop so I thought I should drop it down a little at least for a couple days. Apparently a commercial feed for lactating ewes doesn’t seem to exist, at least i can’t find any online or at any feed stores, and I already had the cob on hand. Anyways my main question is what do you think about this feeding program? So far the ewe looks fine and normal to me. The lambs are 8 days old today.
> Thank you for any advice


Any sheep grain should be fine. If you notice her getting thin just up the ration. Runny poo can be a result of lambing as well, lots of sudden changes. Our ewes seem to have some questionable poo for up to 2 weeks after lambing. Typically a time when parasites blooms as well which can affect poo.


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## Sheepbaroness (Jun 16, 2021)

misfitmorgan said:


> Any sheep grain should be fine. If you notice her getting thin just up the ration. Runny poo can be a result of lambing as well, lots of sudden changes. Our ewes seem to have some questionable poo for up to 2 weeks after lambing. Typically a time when parasites blooms as well which can affect poo.


Ok good to know, thank you!


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