you can worm him with safeguard as early as two weeks or pyrantel pamoate. both have a wide margin of safety. thats why its called safeguard. ivermection does not have a wide margin of safety. I would take him to a vet and have him fixed properly since you have children. I just had a 4 month ram lamb castrated by the vet. with gas it was only 75.00 It took him 17 days to forgive me. treats helped. I do not band tails on hair sheep but I do band tails on wool sheep it is a good thing for them. If they are a cross of both I band the tail since winter will be lambing and it will not be as sanitary as if I do band the tail.
I prefer when they are 3 days old. however after shearing I have banded two year olds and older ewes for a friend on his farm. That is what he did. A qualified person with experience can do that for you. but if your going to the vet any way they probably wouldn't charge you. a tetanus shot is a good idea. their are tetanus antitoxin and tetanus toxoid. you can study those to see which you will need. depending on what shots he has had or has not and when.
If you want to keep him as a pet what ever you do get him fixed. they younger the better don't wait until he is 5 months old and mounting the dog. let me put it this way. the younger you have it done the less you will have to explain to your children. most intact pet rams become dangerous at some point. usually between year 2 and 4. With kids its better to be safe than sorry. I have two fixed rams. Iram is 4 1/2 and Malachi is 5 months. He was suposta be sold with all the other ram lambs but he was so calm and gentle and was not mounting ewes though he was the largest of the lambs. he was just different he is an exception to the rule.
start taking him out now in with the goats but don't take your eyes off him, and stay on top of him. a collar and lead will help him not get away from you where you can't protect him. be watchful, their goal will be to see who can tag him the hardest and most regardless of how nice they act. go in with him and stay. when they come to sniff him let them know he is off limits and they are not allowed to touch him.a rolled up newspaper doesn't hurt but will get your point across. As soon as they realize they can eat your weapon you have lost the war.LOL Oh experience, ......hindsight is 20/20. put your hand up and back them away. if you insist they will listen. you will also be establishing his hierarchy in the herd as you are alfa. eventually they will acept him after a few head buts and they roll him down the hill once or twice. he is way to young for that roughhousing right now. but he needs to learn that they will hurt him if they can. but he cant stay in the house forever. its just a goat thing. but i got a feeling he will be at the top of the herd soon as they try to but heads with him when he older.
it looks like he will wear size 3 or 4 diper. the belly part on a human child goes up on the back of the lamb.
fold the diaper in thirds no matter the size. cut an 1/2 inch slit on the fold. when opened it will be 1 inch. cut a hole for the tail. stand lamb between legs with head facing behind you. put tail through hole and put diaper on the lamb. belly band of diaper should face up toward ceiling. pull diaper back away from anus about 1 inch to allow room for manure to fall away from body. stick a thin maxi pad to the diaper under the belly for a ram or wrap another diaper around belly. average is one diaper every 4 hours.
A used playpen usually can be picked up at around 25.00 in almost perfect condition. old towels put in the bottom can be changed out. a day pen outside next to the goats but with fencing holes to small to put his head through is a good thing weather permitting. lambs start tasting feed, water, salt, minerals, grass and hay at around day 3 or 4. you will have to teach him this. he will copy the goats if you put water containers back to back on the shared wall of their pens.
it is not the nature for herd animals to be alone. anything with eyes and a face will do. hear size 13 husky slippers baby set. the other one is out in the lamb pen in the barn. prevents having to bring it back and forth. The lambs have the run of the house but are put in the play pen to train to a milk bucket. usually by day 3 they will get up during the night and drink milk. the play pen is in the bedroom so I will know when they have learned to feed themselves. this way they will have milk all day while I am gone to work and don't have to stay in a cage.
hear you can see I have labeled the diaper size. they are twins. the ram wore a size 5 at birth but the ewe wore a size 3. most of the diapers are not labeled and it is hard to tell what size they are when out of the package. these lambs are probably 7-8 lbs each. I had 6 orphans one time the triplet barbado wore preemie the 11 day old dorper squeezed into size 6 with help from some duct tape. LOL
lambs exit the creep area. when they get to big to get out with a full belly they quit coming in.
this trough comes un just below my kneecap. still young lambs have a hard time reaching it. I often put cement pads under it for them to stand on. but Iva solved her own problem.
play time for the orphans. no lamb is taken from its mother unless it will die if I leave it. no lamb is sold as an orphan before three days old unless the person is experienced.
this is 12 year old Ree Ree. with her twin ewe lambs. she only has one side of her bag that is good. I raise her other lamb every year. however this year I did not separate the twins or break their bond. she would not nurse her but allowed her to lay with her and her sister and ultimately raised her for me just as if she had nursed her. Kia though not nursed by her mother was the good lamb that always came when mom called. They still hang out together and sleep beside each other. she was born in june in south mississippi. cold weather would not have permitted me to leave her outside as I did. by day three she was trained to the bucket and had all the milk she wanted.
Kia and Kay Kay learn how to get milk. Hear you can see the diaper falling off. it dose this when it needs changing. The diaper should not be so tight to cause sores on the inside of the thigh. the average diaper stays on about 4 hours. I get up during the night and change their diaper and encourage them to drink milk from the bucket. I show it to them every 4 hours or when they ask for something to eat. I prime the nipple for them with warm milk to make learning easy and fast rewarding. I rub their sides or lift their tail. sometimes I make a 'V' with my fingers and put it across their nose causing them to shut their eyes. it usually makes a lamb excited and want to nurse. small breeds like the barbados are usually a week old before their jaw muscles are capable of drinking from the bucket.
their is a one way valve that helps. it keeps the line primed. I forgot what it is called. I think caprine supply sold them. I would think by now most livestock companies will carry them.
