Lamb might be too small for her age??? But am afraid of overfeeding her.

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Hallo! Mike here again, with a new question regarding my little lamb, Speckles. She is 7 weeks old now and doing fantastic as far as attitude and behavior seems to be. She still grinds her teeth on occasion, but at this point I think that's just a quirk she has and isn't an indication of anything serious. She is ravenous as ever and eats a fair bit of hay, I'd say least two and a half handfuls a day(not sure how to measure it otherwise) and is drinking roughly 18-20 oz of milk replaced twice daily. I give her grain, at about half a cup(or 4 ounces) twice as well(the grain I'm feeding her is lamb grower by Purina. My concern is that she's only just 20lbs, and when I look up what she should weigh it says she should be closer to 50. So... Should I be concerned, or is she just going to be small. Mind you, she's been a bottle baby since birth and was a twin but her sister sadly didn't make it past a week. So, yeah. Any and all advice or tips, or whatever would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[secuono]

Breed is needed. 20 is great for my breed, but small or awful for other breeds.
Free feed hay. 2nd cut, leafy, higher protein hay. Or is she on pasture? Can't tell from your post.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

No idea on the kind of hay, just know that it is orcherd grass. She gets limited time of my yard because it's not exactly pasture ready and I might be a bit over paranoid on what kinds of weeds she can eat. But I do know that she loves to nibble/eat on red clover, poison ivy, and chicory. I've not really seen her eat any of the regular grass tho, it just doesn't seem to interest her.

Also, no idea on breed, like, literally none. I can give a picture tho, if that might help. XP

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Oh, and I give her constant access to her hay, I was just guessing on what I assume she eats in a day from what is left over afterward.

 

[secuono]

Pics help. Do you know what parents looked like?

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

These are some recent ones. And unfortunately no, I just know her mother was killed by dogs and that is the extent of my knowledge of her.

 

[farmerjan]

Don't get hung up on her weight. If she is eating good, filled out and not looking sunken in around the ribs or anything, she is doing manure regularly and it looks good.. not all loose and runny like wormy or scours... then she is fine. She might be from smaller framed animals, or a smaller breed.... often times bottle lambs take 6 months to a year to catch up with others of the same age that were raised on their dams...
She looks rounded out and healthy...

 

[SageHill]

She looks like she's happily fed. Not boney or shallow. She just may be small to start and take time to get up to size. Guessing she's a meat breed or cross. St Croix would be smaller-ish than say a Dorper or Katahdin. Being a twin and bottle baby could also effect her current size.

 

[secuono]

Doesn't look like a mini breed.
I agree with the others, looks well fed, not skinny. No pot belly.
As long as she keeps eating, she'll be fine.
Does she have a friend? They can encourage each other to eat.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Unfortunately, no. She is currently by herself, but the plan is that once she is weaned, she is going to rejoin her mother's herd. She was owned by my sister's father-in-law and I was given the task of bottle feeding this little girl until she was old enough to be on her own, so I've been having to keep her at my house.

But, yeah, currently my only concern is her seemingly small size. She eats like there's no tomorrow and plays and romps and frolics just as any happy healthy lamb would!