Bottle Baby Shivering

[equinecpa]

I'm raising my first bottle baby. She's a week old barbados and seems to be doing well.

I'm keeping her in a pen in my yard. The temperatures have gone from high 70's to mid 40's overnight. I just fed her and noticed she was shivering. I have her pen bedded with dry hay (I don't have straw). Should I bring her inside or will she be fine in these temps?

Thanks for helping a newbie.

Carolyn

 

[freemotion]

Get her warmed up quickly. One alone is more difficult to raise, and this is one reason. No one to snuggle up to. Bring her in, set up a heatlamp or warming box, or make a little coat/sweater for her for the cold nights.

It is supposed to be spring, isn't it? It is more like Nov/Dec here!

 

[Our7Wonders]

If you're not already doing it, be sure her bottle is warm when you're feeding it, that will help. I'm bottle raising a single lamb until she's big enough to go in with my bottle fed goats. (Can't happen soon enough!!!) When she's not out in my back yard running with one of my children she's in a dog kennel on my porch with a heat lamp on her to keep her warm. We're seeing 40s or 50s during the day but dipping pretty low yet over night. I tuck a blanket around the kennel to keep out any drafts and to help hold the heat from the lamp a little better.

 

[equinecpa]

I got her warmed up. I do warm the bottle. Tonight she'll be coming inside as the temps are supposed to dip below 40 and it is raining- that will make the air damp and cold -not good. I don't want to over coddle her but I'd sure hate to have her get sick from not coddling LOL!

 

[freemotion]

You are her mommy now.....you need to coddle when they are basically infants, so don't feel like you are overdoing it. Enjoy her while she is little. You can even put a diaper on her and enjoy playing with her in the house.

 

[nsanywhere]

I agree with freemotion - coddle away!

My bottle baby last year was indoors, all the time for the first few days, then only overnight.

I put a diaper on her (be careful cutting the tail hole or they will just pee right through it...learned that one that hard way)

I slept on the couch for the week and gave her a big pillow bed on the floor. Every few hours she would nudge me for a bottle. So stinkin' cute, even though I was exhausted.

It was a week of "all lamb, all the time," but I took her out for supervised time during the day with the other sheep and babies. At first they keep beating her up, but very quickly she learned that I was mom and stopped trying to nurse off the others (which kept her from getting pummeled).

By the end of the first week, she was fine with everyone else outside. She was born late April in the northeast, so evenings were still chilly and a few other nights I brought her in to keep warm and safe.

Also remember, your little lamb doesn't have a mama to look after it out there, so he/she fends for herself as well as getting cold and lonely.

Here's my little one at 2 days old:

Nap time - I MISS THIS