Lamb care, worming and such?

[RamblingCowgirl]

Long story short we have a pair of bottle lambs from a friend of the family who didn't have time for them.

We raise dairy goats, but I don't know too much about sheep. We start worming our goats pretty young, and use coccidiosis prevention... What do lambs get? And when? At what age/size do you wether a ram lamb?

They are 5 weeks old. They are getting 3 bottles a day (averages 12oz a feeding) when would it be okay to feed them twice a day?

I guess that is all for now... And good sheep care books out there?

Thanks

 

[promiseacres]

Wether asap, I believe they can have dewormer any time. I put mine on a nipple bucket at 2 weeks but know others only feed 2x at a young age. Keep hay and water available. Most are weaned around 8 weeks.

 

[Sheepshape]

Hi, I do much the same as Promiseacres. Over here we have 'lamb creep' an 18% protein pellet supplement for lambs designed to get them to grow fast. This type of thing, or grain, can also be left with the lambs who will quickly learn to eat them and reduce milk requirements for weaning.

Young lambs,like kids, get coccidiosis and it kills, so a feed with coccidostatics added or prompt treatment if they develop black diarrhoea is needed if you have a coccidia problem.

I vaccinate my lambs at about 6 weeks and 12 weeks, flukicide (if you have a liver fluke problem) at 7 weeks and wormer at 8 weeks.

Good luck.

 

[SheepGirl]

Long story short we have a pair of bottle lambs from a friend of the family who didn't have time for them.

We raise dairy goats, but I don't know too much about sheep. We start worming our goats pretty young, and use coccidiosis prevention... What do lambs get? And when? At what age/size do you wether a ram lamb?

They are 5 weeks old. They are getting 3 bottles a day (averages 12oz a feeding) when would it be okay to feed them twice a day?

I guess that is all for now... And good sheep care books out there?

Thanks

Deworming: I don't usually have an issue with lambs that young... normally it's 4-6 month old lambs. However if they need it, you can deworm with what you would deworm adults with.

Coccidiosis: (Knock on wood) I don't have an issue with coccidiosis, and sheep don't normally have issues either. My vet said for some reason goats are really susceptible to coccidiosis and he doesn't usually see any issues with sheep.

Castrration: I do is ASAP after birth or if the ram is a candidate for a breeder, I decide at 30 or 60 days to wether him.

Feeding: I feed 2x a day starting from birth.

Books:
* Managing Your Ewe
* Newborn Lamb Problems
* Management Guidelines for Efficient Sheep Production
* Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep
* A Veterinarian Guide for Sheep Farmers
* ASI: Sheep Production Handbook

 

[RamblingCowgirl]

Okay. Thank you all.

So dewormers labeled for sheep work well? In our area with goats the only wormers that work are off label wormers for cattle.

The lambs look really good, but I'd like to have the right stuff on hand if we need it.
Internal parasites are horrible here. We live in a wooded area, near a lake, in humid Oklahoma. During spring and into the summer we treat them ever 4 weeks.

I don't know if they eat any grain yet. They are being kept with a young goat we just bought. He takes all day to eat what feed is put out. They do nibble on the grass tho. I'll be going on a trip in a couple of weeks, and DH would not be here in the afternoons to feed them, so we will probably drop them down to 2 feedings then.

I have asked a local sheep herder for advise, but she is pretty busy and hasn't got back with me yet.

 

[Blue Sky]

nobody has mentioned copper yet. Sheep cannot tolerate the same levels of copper that goats can so your feed(s) need to be an all stock or sheep specific product. Same with minerals and salt blocks. Good luck let us know how they do. Bottle lambs can be fun.

 

[RamblingCowgirl]

nobody has mentioned copper yet. Sheep cannot tolerate the same levels of copper that goats can so your feed(s) need to be an all stock or sheep specific product. Same with minerals and salt blocks. Good luck let us know how they do. Bottle lambs can be fun.

That is actually one of the few things I already know about sheep. We will be changing to a sheep safe mineral block (our goats get copper 3-4 times a year) and the base of our grain mix is 14% creep feed.
They seem to be thriving. They are playful and growing like weeds. My husband is already excited about learning how to shear them when the time comes.