Ewe rejecting one of her lambs

[blessedfarmgirl]

I had a ewe give birth to ewe/ram twins sometime last night, but when I got out there this morning I found the ewe lamb in one shelter by herself and the mom and ram lamb in the other shelter. I put the ewe lamb back with her mom, but she butted her and would not let her nurse. I tried holding her down and she kicked and struggled. I was out there for awhile trying to get the ewe lamb to nurse and finally succeeded in pinning the ewe so the lamb could nurse. She had a warm mouth and was clean, so I'm guessing that sometime during the night she got separated and now the mom does not want her. I left them together but the ewe is slamming the lamb pretty hard and biting her. I don't want her to get hurt but if I bring her in I'm guessing the odds of the lamb being accepted back are even more slim.

Any advice or tips? I've never dealt with this before. Should I keep trying or just bring her in as a bottle baby?

 

[Baymule]

Put a collar on her and snub her up. Give a little slack to reach a water bucket, provide hay. Tie her in a corner in a SMALL pen, so she doesn’t have a 180 radius to sidestep the lamb. Go out often to put the lamb she likes up to nurse, she will see that lamb. Then sneak unwanted lamb in from behind. Untie ewe at night.

It took me 2 weeks to teach unwanted lamb how to sneak a suck from behind while preferred lamb got all the attention. Then another week with her untied so I could make sure the unwanted sneaky lamb was getting enough to eat, the 4th week I let them out.

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

Put a collar on her and snub her up. Give a little slack to reach a water bucket, provide hay. Tie her in a corner in a SMALL pen, so she doesn’t have a 180 radius to sidestep the lamb. Go out often to put the lamb she likes up to nurse, she will see that lamb. Then sneak unwanted lamb in from behind. Untie ewe at night.

It took me 2 weeks to teach unwanted lamb how to sneak a suck from behind while preferred lamb got all the attention. Then another week with her untied so I could make sure the unwanted sneaky lamb was getting enough to eat, the 4th week I let them out.

Wow, that is a lot of patience and hard work! That's amazing you were able to do that. Thank you for sharing. It's amazing how stubborn sheep can be. I do have a small pen. We'll see what happens.

 

[Baymule]

You have milk goats, so the expense of bottle feeding a lamb is not quite the hit in the pocket. I mix whole milk, a can of evaporated milk and a cup of buttermilk to make my lamb formula. At 3 weeks I mix it half and half with milk replacer. I get more money in a lamb than what it’s worth. I have a tremendously ugly wether, named Spot for his one small brown spot on his hind leg. His mother absolutely refused to get with the program, finally wouldn’t even let her milk down. I kept her penned with her twins, feeding Spot his bottle. That way, he had “family” and he was a sheep. I let them out after 3 weeks and would go out 3 times a day to give Spot his bottle. Spot has a pot belly, skinny neck and big head. He looks like he’s made up of leftover parts.

What to do with Spot? I made him a weaned lamb ambassador. I weaned ram lambs and they were terrified, bouncing off the wire to get away from me. I got Spot and since I’m his mommy, he loves me. He got treats, I hand fed him, I crooned to him and he got lots of scratches. Soon the ram lambs thought I was pretty wonderful and calmed down. Spot has a job now.

 

[Ridgetop]

Great job for a bottle pet wether. I am going to do that with bottle lamb "Brownie". Brown ear makes her ineligible for registration but bloodlines are excelent so will keep her for commercial lambs and to tame down al ther lambs from this year. Calm sheep are easier to work.

 

[Baymule]

My weaned ram lambs now think SPOT! means food and they come running.

 

[Chicory]

I have had a few lambs rejected over the years but finally realized that one reason may be that the rejected lamb has some sharp teeth. You can get a special file from a livestock supply like Jeffers, or use an emory board, just CAREFULLY drag it across the teeth, once or twice, and ONLY ONE DIRECTION.

However, If the lamb has already been thoroughly rejected it may be easier to just bottlefeed, rather than fight a ewe for several days. Your call.

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

You have milk goats, so the expense of bottle feeding a lamb is not quite the hit in the pocket. I mix whole milk, a can of evaporated milk and a cup of buttermilk to make my lamb formula. At 3 weeks I mix it half and half with milk replacer. I get more money in a lamb than what it’s worth. I have a tremendously ugly wether, named Spot for his one small brown spot on his hind leg. His mother absolutely refused to get with the program, finally wouldn’t even let her milk down. I kept her penned with her twins, feeding Spot his bottle. That way, he had “family” and he was a sheep. I let them out after 3 weeks and would go out 3 times a day to give Spot his bottle. Spot has a pot belly, skinny neck and big head. He looks like he’s made up of leftover parts.

What to do with Spot? I made him a weaned lamb ambassador. I weaned ram lambs and they were terrified, bouncing off the wire to get away from me. I got Spot and since I’m his mommy, he loves me. He got treats, I hand fed him, I crooned to him and he got lots of scratches. Soon the ram lambs thought I was pretty wonderful and calmed down. Spot has a job now.

Good for Spot! He found a job and he's beautiful in his own way.
Also, I wish it was cheaper to feed goat milk, it is not. Not only are they getting the best alfalfa and grass hay, but I'm feeding organic oats, barley and dairy pellets on the stand. Since the milk is for our consumption we want only the best. So it costs me about $5-6 a gallon right now.

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

So I talked it over with my family and nobody has the time or energy to fight a ewe several times a day for several weeks. I didn't realize it might take longer than a few days, and every time we put the lamb in there the mom was slamming her across the pen. Plus with our grazing system we're moving them to fresh grass every two days right now which makes keeping the mom penned up very difficult. It would be stressful for me, stressful for the ewe and both lambs and stressful for my family.


All that to say, we have a bottle baby lamb now. Her name is Hope, and she will probably stay. I love her mom (though I love her a bit less now for putting me through this....) so she will hopefully be a breeding ewe for me and I think she will also have a job like Spot in a couple months come weaning time! We already have so many bottle baby goats that one more doesn't make that big of a difference. I already got almost a quart of colostrum from her mom to feed her.
Hope is already incredibly spoiled and taking naps in everyone's laps. She's living in the bottle baby pen, I bet she'll think she's a goat before long.

 

[Baymule]

By the time I add in a $1.45 can of evaporated milk and a cup of buttermilk, the price tag goes up. I feel your pain. BUT how can you turn away from that precious little baby? You just have to bottle feed her. You’ll be glad you did.