# Abandoned her lambs!



## Southdown (Mar 29, 2012)

My ewe gave birth last night and abandoned her twins.  This is so odd to me.  I found them early this morning before sunrise.  One was almost frozen solid and near dead.  I brought them in the house and under heat lamps.  Then I force fed them with a small bottle and colostrum supplement.  It is a miracle, but the one girl actually survived.  I am so thankful.  We have one boy and one girl.  Now I am not sure what to do with the mother ewe.  I carried one of the babies out to her and she tried to ram it.  Then she was so frightened by it that she almost stampeded it on the way out.  She was trying to bust through the door to get out of the barn.  She will have nothing to do with them.   Like I said, first she wanted to ram it and then she was scared of it and wanted to flee.  So bizarre!  Now I have two lambs that will need to be bottle raised, which I have not yet experienced.  Also, the mother is full of milk that we are going to have to empty out of her so she doesn't get mastitis.  Any tips and help would be appreciated.  I have not had this experience yet.  The ewes have always accepted their babies for me in the past.  For this ewe, it was her first time giving birth.  I am excited about the twin though.


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## bonbean01 (Mar 29, 2012)

Wow...it seems she sees the lambs as threats?  This is very strange and I have no idea why the ewe would react like that.  And yes, you'll want to tie her up and perhaps try putting the baby on a teat...if that is a no go, then I'd milk her and put it in the bottle.  You can buy replacement milk, but I don't think any product will be as good as Mom's milk.  

Is this a ewe you are particularly fond of?  Just asking since she may be better the second time she lambs, but if not...I'd cull her.

In the meantime...enjoy being a Mom for bottle babies...had one this year we supplemented with bottles since the ewe's udder was not producing enough...well, now it is and he no longer needs a bottle at all...and I miss it!

Good luck and I hope people with way more experience than me will give you good advice.  Lots of super helpful people on this forum!!!


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 29, 2012)

Sorry you're having to deal with this...what a pain in the butt!  Tie the ewe up or have someone hold her, and you'll need to put the lambs on the teat.  It's easier for you if you can get them to nurse, but if not milk her out and like bonbean said, you'll have to bottle them.  There's a chance the ewe may settle down and take them, but also a chance she won't since she's so crazy.  If you can get some of her colostrum in them, they'll do better than with just the supplement. The sooner the better, for the colostrum.  And like Bonbean said, if she's super special I'd give her another chance...but if not I'd consider culling her.  Good luck!     And we love pictures, hint hint.


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## Southdown (Mar 29, 2012)

My husband came home at lunch and he restrained the ewe while I let the two lambs nurse on her.  At least they got to have some real colostrum.  But she tried ramming one again and then she ran out of the barn frightened again once he released her.  This is not going well.  I am just too afraid she will either ram them or trample them.  I can't risk leaving her with them.  It is quite sad to see this behavior.  They don't like the bottle much either, but they both urinated, so things are working.  We are going to have to milk her out once a day (I think) and bottle it up so that I can use it to feed.  Certainly, I have my work cut out for me this year.  Maybe my other ewe would accept them when she delivers her own?


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 29, 2012)

Well, you can try putting her in a small pen, and putting the lambs in an adjacept pen so she can see/smell them.  If you want her to accept them, don't leave her out in the main barn where she can get away.  Sounds to me like she may be a lost cause though.  Cute lambs though! If you can, I'd at least keep the lambs together.


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## bonbean01 (Mar 29, 2012)

Awwww...cute little babies))  The ewe sounds like she could hurt them or worse.  Good idea putting her with a barrier between her and the lambs where she can smell and hear them but not hurt them.  Sheep are usually very good mothers, but there will always be the odd one.  Too about that...makes more work for you, especially milking the ewe.  

Some people have had luck with putting lambs onto another ewe, but don't count on it...most won't take another ewe's lambs.  

Good luck with them and if you lived closer to me, I'd come help bottle feed them...so glad you were able to save them!


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## jhm47 (Mar 29, 2012)

Make yourself a small stanchion the right size for the ewe.  Make it so she cannot move back and forth much, and also make it so she can't move sideways too much (a little is fine).  Then, put her in it for about 48 hours.  When you bring the lambs to nurse, feed the ewe a small amount of grain or something that she likes.  Make sure she doesn't eat unless the lambs are nursing.  No water, hay, grain or anything unless the lambs are nursing.  She will quickly learn that the lambs nursing is a good time, and most ewes will gradually accept their lambs after several days of this.  Don't let her out of the stanchion till she begins to accept them.  This worked for me many times when we had sheep.  Good luck!


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## Hillsvale (Mar 29, 2012)

Well I have a 9 day old bottle lamb.. ewe took his sister and decided she didn't like him. We forced nurse the the first day (took the day off) and reality set in to "ummm, we work in the city and are gone 11 or so hours a day". We tried him on bottle that evening and he refused, next morning baby was hungry and I gave him a bottle... no problems... we put his milk in a teat bucket in the morning and he has 4 cups gone by the time we get home, same in the evening and is still starving so we upped him to 6 cups daytime... he has surpassed his sister.

cute babies... congratulations.


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## Southdown (Mar 29, 2012)

What is a teat bucket?  I will need to get some kind of bottle feeder to leave for them during the day when we are at work.  What can I get and from what store?  I'd like to put the ewe in a stachion, but I am worried about having her in it all day while we are at work.  Maybe just during feeding time after work.


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## BrownSheep (Mar 29, 2012)

I knowofpeople that have had success in locking the ewes up like in a stanchion  for a day or two. It force the ewe to let the lambs nurse.


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## SheepGirl (Mar 29, 2012)

I would recommend putting her in a headgate. We have had success with this.

Here's what ours looks like:






The ewe's head goes in between the bars and feed and water is placed in the corner.


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## Cornish Heritage (Mar 31, 2012)

Is this ewe a first time mama? If so that maybe could explain her behavior. First timers can be clueless sometimes so I would give her a second chance next year or whenever she breeds back. If she does it a second time then cull her i.e. butcher her.

That is the rule we have here, first time is excusable, second time is not & the mama is out. We do not sell her as breeding stock as we do not want those genetics to continue on in the gene pool.

If she is so determined to ram those lambs I would not put the lambs in with her - she may well kill them. Keep persevering with the bottle. If necessary tube feed the weaker one to give it the nutrition it needs. They'll soon learn to drink. If you keep milking out the ewe you will encourage her milk flow which is a LOT more work for you. Let her dry up. Leave her for a day, milk her out, then leave her for  2 days, milk here out, three days, milk her out & then she should be OK. Take her off ALL grain if that is what you feed. Grain encourages milk production which is not what you want now. Put her out on pasture if you can so she is also getting a lot of exercise. 

Liz


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## Southdown (Mar 31, 2012)

We have the ewe penned next to the lambs, but with a divider so she can't hurt them.  She absolutely does not like them.  Husband holds her still with a halter and I let the lambs nurse on her for about 20 minutes.  Then they go back to their divided pens.  At least they are getting her milk, in addition to bottle feeding.  She still tried to ram them, even after nursing for a few times now.  This is just so weird to me.  The lambs are absolutely adorable though.


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## Southdown (Apr 2, 2012)

Update:
After four days of restraining the mother ewe and allowing the twins to nurse on her, all of a sudden, the ewe has accepted them.  It was so weird!  It was late at night and we were letting the lambs nurse before bed.  The ewe started to coo and gurgle to them (like they normally do right after birthing).  She was "talking" to them all night long and kept sniffing and licking them.  So we stayed up late in the barn and just watched them interact to make sure that momma wasn't going to ram them again.  It was like some one flipped a switch!  She literally went from practically wanting to kill them to completely taking them.  After work tonight, she was even protective of them.  She wants to have her eyes on both of them at all times; if one walks away she has to see where it went.  We are so happy and now they are getting a lot more food compared to us feeding them.  They are also nibbling on the hay after watching momma eat.  They look healthier now and their wrinkles are filling out.  Yay!!


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## Remuda1 (Apr 2, 2012)

AWESOME!!!!!


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## aggieterpkatie (Apr 3, 2012)

That's great news!


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## dwbonfire (Apr 3, 2012)

aww that is great news! good job for staying with it and trying like you did, of course they are better off with mom and they wouldnt be with her had you not kept trying!


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## Godsgrl (Apr 3, 2012)

Hello, I'm new here, and don't have any livestock, so I live vicariously through all of you. I love reading about your new births, new additions, and what you have learned as you go about your farming journey.

 I  just wanted to add my two cents here about your ewe that abandoned her lambs. When I was in high school, (so many years ago) I took a few agriculture classes. One thing I remember is if a ewe won't let her lambs nurse, you can put her in a very small pen with the lambs, then tie a border collie outside the fence. The border collie will stare at the ewe, and the sheep will focus all her attention on the dog, and the lambs can get in and nurse. Just a thought. My first dog was a border collie/aussie mix, and I know that stare well. For 12 years, she focused it on her tennis balls. Best dog I've ever known.


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## Cornish Heritage (Apr 3, 2012)

> She literally went from practically wanting to kill them to completely taking them.


Fantastic news!

Big welcome to Godsgrl too 

Liz


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## Hillsvale (Apr 4, 2012)

Southdown said:
			
		

> What is a teat bucket?  I will need to get some kind of bottle feeder to leave for them during the day when we are at work.  What can I get and from what store?  I'd like to put the ewe in a stachion, but I am worried about having her in it all day while we are at work.  Maybe just during feeding time after work.


Sorry for the delay, we have a bucket we purchased at the farm store... has backflow prevention and all that, stocked with 5 teast... Miller likes to try all of them in case one of them has something better.

I can't seem to find one on line... just the feeder protion which sits in the bucket.


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## Bridgemoof (Apr 5, 2012)

That is such happy news Southdown! It confirms that tying the mother up works. Next time I get a ewe that rejects her lamb, I'm definitely going to do that! Because I am having a very hard time weaning MYSELF from my bottle baby, who is still in the house at 6 weeks.  She's just not ready to be a "sheep" full-time yet, and I am not pushing her, lol.


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## Southdown (Apr 5, 2012)

Yeah, they run up to their sheep mom before coming to me now.    They definitely know where the food source is.


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## Godsgrl (Apr 6, 2012)

Cornish Heritage said:
			
		

> > She literally went from practically wanting to kill them to completely taking them.
> 
> 
> Fantastic news!
> ...


Thank you!


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