# Runt Lamb, when to wean her



## Arpyhh (Apr 24, 2014)

Hi all, I am new here.

I have had chickens for a couple of years, but a few weeks ago we got 2 lambs and 2 kids, all around 8 weeks old (so they told me)
I have been feeding them Grobers Milk replacer 3 times a day about 500 ml each feeding. I give them hay and grain pellets too- the two goats and male lamb all seem to be doing well, growing like crazy and eating and drinking water on their own in addition to their bottles. Our small female lamb is so much smaller than the male- I hope she is growing ok. She is half his size! They said she was a runt quad and still isn't eating or drinking anything but the bottle, but she seems strong and healthy, just small and she cries for me a lot and wants me to hold her. (Which of course, I LOVE to do)

I've read several different opinions on this, but I'm just not sure when or how to wean her. The others can probably be weaned, but they go crazy and start crying like an hour before feeding time so I haven't started them weaning just yet. They act like they are starving when they get their bottles!

Right now I feed them at 7 am, 3 pm and 9 pm, they each get a 500 ml bottle. Is this enough, too much, not enough, not frequent enough... should I wean the others and continue to feed the little one the bottle until she starts eating the hay and grain, how do I wean the others, I mean do I taper off slowly over a month or what...

Is there anything I can give them to keep them occupied in their pen, as the weather here is still too cold and windy for them to play outside very often and they seem to be going stir crazy, and they seem lonely so when I go out to see them they are jumping all over me and chewing on my clothes and so forth, I am just wondering if there is something safe I can put in with them to occupy them.  I have them in an 8x8 pen, and am hoping to move them to the bigger barn in a month. Any advice would be so appreciated!!

Thanks

Robin


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