New lamb and yearling owners....

[msstacey92]

Hi!! Thank you to everyone who participates on these threads!!! I joined this amazing site because of the wonderful resource it has been already!!

We are a large-ish family with a very small "flock". We have two club lambs our daughters took to the county fair show last summer....one is a Hampshire and the other is a Hamp/Suffolk cross. These girls are just new yearlings and due to have their first lambs later this month and early March...twins no less for each. If I said I was nervous that would be an understatement. My breeder is amazing and we have known them for three years. I believe we have all our supplies and the girls are as ready as they can be!! So now we wait....in the meantime...

We are currently bottle feeding two of the breeder's lambs that he needed help with...one ewe lamb(born 1-27-17) and one ram lamb(born 1-28-17). The ewe lamb is a twin whose momma developed a one sided udder and the ram lamb is a single whose momma was "old" and had a severe uterine prolapse that they(vet and breeder) couldn't fix properly(they had to put her down...very sad!!!) The little ewe is thriving and is amazing!! She is eating well, jumping, playing...and just plain adorable!!! The little ram, well, just seems depressed. He just today is suckling the nipple and not really interested in more than the corner he sleeps in. I am beside myself with worrying about him!!! He just doesn't seem to be thriving...I even gave him a dose of baby lamb strength today(on the advice of the breeder). His temps have been normal, he urinates well, his poo seems normal...not a lot but normal, and he eats if I keep the nipple in his mouth(he never seeks it out). I have no idea what to do for this poor little guy!!

I will try to post a photo of them...and my beautiful yearlings(I adore them all!!!).

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH! I see you actually signed up almost 2 months ago. What took you so long to join the fray? No matter, glad you're here! Sorry the old ewe had to be put down. Do you know if the ram lamb got any colostrum from the mom before that happened? Sometimes animals just fail to thrive... Since the mom was an older ewe, that may have had something to do with it, I don't know... Congrats on your soon to be expanding flock! How exciting! Well, you've probably noticed from perusing the threads, we have a great group of Sheeple here and I'm sure if you have any issues, they'll do their best to help. So continue to browse and make yourself at home

Oh, and yes, pictures are always appreciated!

 

[micah wotring]

Woohoo! Welcome to BYH! I always thought sheep were cool...might get some soon! If you have any pictures of the it'd sure make everyone here happy!

Anyway, great to have you here and I hope that yer ram lamb perks up.



~MW

 

[CntryBoy777]

Welcome from NW Mississippi!
It sounds like ya are fairly busy with your present situation. So sorry to hear about the ewe and little ram. Unfortunately I am of no help to ya in that regard. We have goats, chickens, ducks, and cats. I certainly hope that it all comes around for ya tho. Again...

 

[norseofcourse]

Welcome from Ohio! Your little flock sounds nice. Sorry about the ram's mom, but it's good that you were able to help him and the other little one out. Since his vitals seem normal, the only thing I can think is maybe he was born a day or so early, so he just needs to catch up? Sounds like you're doing well with him and you have a good mentor there, too - hope he perks up soon.

What area of the country are you in?

 

[msstacey92]

Hi!! Thank you so much for the welcomes!!! Yes I signed up a while ago but have been reading everything I can get my hands on!!! I don't know why I didn't introduce us before...I guess I didn't think past gathering supplies and "getting" ready!!! I love this community and the willingness to help!!! So wonderful!!!

Well, our little guys are doing great today. The little ewe girl is so fun to watch and seems to be trying to eat "anything". She will drink as much as I put in the bottle which tonight was 13oz. I am little worried at only 7 days she might be trying to take too much. Can she take too much at this stage?? However, she doesn't look round just streamline. She is jumping and playing and trying to engage the little ram...he isn't there yet!!

The little ram is still not sucking and no he didn't get anything by way of colostrum from his momma. I believe the trauma of everything they couldn't get her colostrum. I gave him maybe a little more than the average I mean for length of time that is...then mixed it with replacer and now he is just getting replacer...but doesn't seem to be interested in the nipple at all. He did however come to greet me this feeding which he has never done before...I am hopeful!! I tubed him 3 times yesterday and have let him "suck" these last two feedings without tubing. He took 7 oz tonight but I had to hold him and keep "talking" him into it...I never kept the nipple in if he was fighting it...usually he just sits there and holds it in his mouth and swallows!! All advice welcome!!!

This has been such an amazing education. I am glad to see and handle these little guys just in case our young ewes don't do as well at first...and God forbid they don't make it after birth!! We will be crushed!!!

My yearlings are doing great and sooo looking pregnant...I thought chubby but the breeder says they are "showing"!! they also still have their full fleece on. They are still running and the youngest still "hops" once in a while...not nearly as much or as high as before but some!!!

We are in Central Ohio...about 40 min outside Columbus.

 

[Ponker]

The little fellow that didn't get colostrum will need to be watched carefully. Lambs that don't get the colostrum are sometimes touch and go. Do you know if mom was vaccinated with cdt about a month before they were born?

Bottle babies can definitely be overfed. Follow the guidelines to the letter on the milk replacer you are using. It's best to use ewe milk, if possible.

 

[Latestarter]

I have heard nothing but "bad" about replacers... especially if they contain soy. The general consensus here is you just use just regular, full fat, whole milk from the grocery store. Of course you still need to warm it up, but it seems to be much easier for the babies to digest. If you can get ewe milk or even fresh goats milk, of course that would be best. As Ponker said, overfeeding is a big no-no and can cause major issues. You're better off to feed a smaller amount multiple times a day. I'll leave the details to one of the many Sheeple to answer/detail. Obviously the amounts would depend on breed as well due to size... These lambs are? Hampshire? Suffolk? crosses? something else? Sometimes animals are just really difficult to get to take a bottle as well... Hopefully he'll come around.

For the future, all baby animals really need to get colostrum as that's what protects them from diseases early in life until their immune system kicks in. The sooner the baby gets it, the better. Typically the baby will suckle within 20-30 minutes after birth and that helps kick start mom to pass the placenta and if she hasn't already bagged up, that goes into high gear then as well. Most say the critical time frame is the first 4 hours but it will still benefit the baby up to 12 hours and possibly even out to 24 hours. After that the critical time element is passed, and it's really too late. If you can't get colostrum from that mom, then getting it from another mom animal will also work. If that's not an option, then colostrum replacer can be used from the store. What many do is after the babies have gotten a couple of feedings of colostrum from mom, they'll "milk out" colostrum and freeze it in an ice tray for future use as it will keep in the freezer for a year. If you need it, you'll have it, just pop a cube (or 2), thaw, warm and use via a syringe. Microwaving is not recommended. So when your ewes have their lambs, maybe you can get some to store for emergency use later. Just don't mistakenly use the colostrum ice cubes in your next cold drink

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I do know quite a few folks that feed replacer to their lambs, I believe goats are more sensitive than sheep. One breeder has over 300 sheep and puts all bottle babies on a GOOD replacer with no issues. But, it very well could be an issue with the replacer, I was wondering the same thing. He, for some reason might not be doing as well as the other lamb. Some of my first bottle babies I tried to feed them GOOD quality replacer, but they just never thrived on it. They would eat it, but not the way a bottle baby should eat. I slowly transitioned them to whole cows milk and they got much better, once I had goats freshen I put them on goats milk and they flourished!

I truthfully don't know what would be best for the lambs, I raise goats- not sheep. I have very limited experience sheep and have never bottle fed a lamb (although I've been tempted!) I would wait until an experienced sheep person can give their .02 on it.

Have you been monitoring his temperature?

You might want to have a vet listen to his heart/lungs. Heart defects will cause them to be unthrifty. A young animal can have a murmur, but if it's severe you need to know.

I've noticed with my kids, if they aspirated a lot of fluid it had a rough birth, they aren't as thrifty and have a harder time eating.
I had a kid out of quads, very rough birth with tangled kids. He had a lot of fluid in his lungs, no matter how many times I "swung" him and suctioned. He had a harder time eating for a long while. At one point I had to treat him for mild pneumonia, but he outgrew it and has been fine since. I retained him for over a year to see how it all played out. Once I knew he was fine, I let him go live at a friend's herd with plans to bring him back in a few years to use him. Very nice buck, just had a hard start.

 

[msstacey92]

I have to ask....How does everyone do this?? It is terrible looking at a beautiful little thing and having no idea what to do!!!!

My little ram lamb made it through another day and night. Tummy is a little round(stream line when he walks around), poo is good, temp is good, but he refuses to eat/suckle with out putting the nipple in his mouth...I am going to give him a little more time between feedings to see if this makes a difference. He still "hunches" when he is in the warm corner....but still walks around and looks at stuff. I let him and the feisty ewe lamb out of the pen which is about 7'X7' just to see if he would perk up...he did walked around and even cried when he got too far away from me or the ewe lamb. I weighed him...if my scales are correct he is 15#...not sure what birth weight was.
I have the last 26hrs tubed him three times...about 4-5 oz each time(he "drank" about 15oz total in the last 24hrs only if we held the nipple in his mouth and gently rubbed his cheek and neck, we stop if he "fights"). For a total of 27oz. I have given him Baby Lamb Strength 1 pump everyday. I make him walk around after feeding even though he wants to go to the corner, just to make sure his tummy is working.

The little ewe girls is trying to eat the straw and guzzles the bottle like she is starving. She is getting 7-13oz and would like more. She is running jumping and talking all the time...even "plays" with my daughter by jumping at her and waiting for a response...totally adorable. She weighed 22#...but doesn't look chubby or round totally streamline.

My big girls are so doing great....udders are starting to fill. and after the experience with these little bottle guys...I am so nervous!!!

Thank you for letting me vent!!