Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

[Sheepshape]

the constant suckling of 4 lambs on one teat should keep up the 'demand' part of the supply-demand equation!

Try to discourage this or she is likely to get mastitis.

 

[shepherdO]

Hmm... good point. I had wondered about this.

I'm in the process of figuring out the best route to take. Nibbles (mum) is now back eating hay and grain after a very long 6 days 'on the edge', so that's great. She's only producing milk on the left side - the right is a hard mass. Thinking back to last year, her one living lamb (his 3 siblings perished) only ever seemed to drink on one side, so I'm wondering if she had mastitis in the past...

Anyhoo, I think she could probably raise the littlest 2 of the quads with her one working side - they were only 2 and 3.5 lbs when born. At this point I've been leaving all the lambs with her, but putting the two males on other ewes 2-3 times per day, so they haven't really been getting anything from their real mum.

Should I just remove the two big guys, seeing that they're very healthy, and raise them on a combo of mooching off my two lambless ewes as well as bottlefeeding to top them off?

This would leave Nibbles to concentrate on her two littlest lambs, and I'll be at the ready with a bottle if necessary to keep them going?

I think this is what I might do...

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Mike CHS]

I won't be critical since I haven't read the whole thread but you are asking an awful lot from a ewe that is past her capacity to do even more.

 

[shepherdO]

Mike CHS - hence my asking for advice

I'm trying to make it easier on her - she loves her babies and I'd like to give her a chance to raise the little two - they were only 2 and 3.5 lbs at birth, so they're not a significant drain on her. I'll bottlefeed them to top them up, so she's not doing that much work, and still enjoying her lambs.

I'm leaning towards removing the two big guys completely and having them raised by surrogates who've lost their lambs, so that should save $$ on milk replacer as well ensure they're getting milk designed for sheep by sheep.

Hopefully a happie(est possible) ending for the quad drama. After this Nibbles will be retired from breeding.

ShepherdO

 

[Mike CHS]

Mike CHS - hence my asking for advice

I'm trying to make it easier on her - she loves her babies and I'd like to give her a chance to raise the little two - they were only 2 and 3.5 lbs at birth, so they're not a significant drain on her. I'll bottlefeed them to top them up, so she's not doing that much work, and still enjoying her lambs.

I'm leaning towards removing the two big guys completely and having them raised by surrogates who've lost their lambs, so that should save $$ on milk replacer as well ensure they're getting milk designed for sheep by sheep.

Hopefully a happie(est possible) ending for the quad drama. After this Nibbles will be retired from breeding.

ShepherdO

That is a hard one to respond too since you are doing good with a whole lot of negatives.

 

[shepherdO]

Right - it's definitely not an ideal situation, but the lambs need to live, and the ewes have to do their part as well. So finding a way for the sheep to do as much feeding as possible is ideal, to save on replacer.

Trust me, it's not fun, and takes a long time to hold the surrogate ewes and make sure all the lambs have had their fill, but I'm on spring break, so what better way to spend a vacation than catching and holding ewes and lambs 3-4 times a day, right?

 

[Sheepshape]

Make it easier on yourself and her....take the two big guys off her and bottle feed them exclusively. The little two could stay with mum, but be largely bottle fed. It will cost more in milk replacer, but save you lots of backache and fighting getting reluctant ewes to allow another ewe's babies to feed.

She's probably already had an anti-inflammatory, but this may help her udder......an udder which has been the site of previous mastitis will swell and become hot, but little or no milk may come out.

I had an old girl who had had mastitis who was impregnated by the neighbour's ram paying a night visit to her (unintentional). She had triplets which I largely bottle fed....they all did fine.