Rejected lamb tries to access udder from the back, instead of the side

[FunInTheSun]

We warm our bottles too. It just seems like the right thing to do.

You will retire and sell your sheep to travel. We retired and bought sheep. LOL LOL

We put our bottle babies in a dog crate in the house. We diapered them to let them scamper around the house. Since it’s a BIG dog crate, we bought XXL puppy pads to put in the crate. We transitioned them to a small pen in the barn and finally let them loose in the barn and lot. I go out there to give them their bottles. I creep feed the lambs, so they are doing great.

Haha! Maybe we'll figure out a way to keep the sheep and travel - hire someone to look after them while we're gone...? I'm really going to miss them! Oh well, we have a couple of years to figure things out!

I bet you're smiling all day - watching those babies playing in the house! How fun!

 

[mysunwolf]

Hey, I would highly recommend NOT turning the lamb into a bottle lamb, as long as mom is not being violent towards it. Instead, offer all 3 lambs a bottle of their own mom's milk and get them used to the synthetic nipple. Then you can offer a bottle to the triplets at any time, and if one is hungry enough (not getting enough from mom) it will take it. Then you also have no true bottle lambs and minimal extra work.

Just some advice from a shepherd who is sick of bottle lambs! The only time we pull anymore is when the mom is actively trying to kill the lamb, even when it doesn't try to nurse.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Hey, I would highly recommend NOT turning the lamb into a bottle lamb, as long as mom is not being violent towards it. Instead, offer all 3 lambs a bottle of their own mom's milk and get them used to the synthetic nipple. Then you can offer a bottle to the triplets at any time, and if one is hungry enough (not getting enough from mom) it will take it. Then you also have no true bottle lambs and minimal extra work.

Just some advice from a shepherd who is sick of bottle lambs! The only time we pull anymore is when the mom is actively trying to kill the lamb, even when it doesn't try to nurse.

In theory an excellent idea. The problem we have is if the mom doesnt have enough milk you have to feed formula, most all of our sheep will reject a lamb who is on formula because the poo doesnt smell right. Bottle lambs are fun, they get to be a pain after the first 4 weeks but really they are not that bad. I will admit this year we have zero bottle lambs and it is nice. The most we have had on bottles at once is 3 lambs and 4 goat kids, that was hectic. I know commercial breeders use milk bars but we have luckily not needed to get to that yet and have been working on breeding better stock with better mothering so the issue is working itself out.

 

[Isaac]

She knows she can't take care of 3 lambs. If we have triplets we always pull one. we have tried leaving them on the ewe but either they turn out not as large and kind of weak or one dies. It's always better to pull the one she doesn't want. If you feed it a full 25lb bag of milk replacer it will get to be the size of the other lambs. And the thing about getting up in the middle of the night, I only do that for the first week then they are fine to make it through the night. I usually feed mine at around 10:00P.M. then at around 7:00A.M., then throughout the day, but any time would work. Hope this helps!

 

[FunInTheSun]

She knows she can't take care of 3 lambs. If we have triplets we always pull one. we have tried leaving them on the ewe but either they turn out not as large and kind of weak or one dies. It's always better to pull the one she doesn't want. If you feed it a full 25lb bag of milk replacer it will get to be the size of the other lambs. And the thing about getting up in the middle of the night, I only do that for the first week then they are fine to make it through the night. I usually feed mine at around 10:00P.M. then at around 7:00A.M., then throughout the day, but any time would work. Hope this helps!

Actually, this ewe had triplets last year and, although I would classify her as a so-so momma, she took care of all three last year. This year was certainly a learning experience for us - never have had a bottle baby before! Just an update: we found a wonderful couple who has experience in taking care of bottle babies and they picked up the little guy Sunday morning. It was so hard to see him go, but knowing he will have a home with caring people made it a little easier.

As long as I'm posting, I have a an un-related question, out of curiousity. We rubberbanded two of the boys the other night and one of them went completely limp - dishrag limp. Almost like he passed out?! I picked him up so we could dock his tail and he "came to" again. We've never had this happen before, so I'm just curious!

 

[mysunwolf]

In theory an excellent idea. The problem we have is if the mom doesnt have enough milk you have to feed formula, most all of our sheep will reject a lamb who is on formula because the poo doesnt smell right. Bottle lambs are fun, they get to be a pain after the first 4 weeks but really they are not that bad. I will admit this year we have zero bottle lambs and it is nice. The most we have had on bottles at once is 3 lambs and 4 goat kids, that was hectic. I know commercial breeders use milk bars but we have luckily not needed to get to that yet and have been working on breeding better stock with better mothering so the issue is working itself out.

I have never had a ewe reject lambs that were getting formula! It's interesting that this is the first year I've heard from multiple sources of this happening. I find that if a ewe wants to reject a lamb, she'll find any old reason to do so...

 

[mysunwolf]

Actually, this ewe had triplets last year and, although I would classify her as a so-so momma, she took care of all three last year. This year was certainly a learning experience for us - never have had a bottle baby before! Just an update: we found a wonderful couple who has experience in taking care of bottle babies and they picked up the little guy Sunday morning. It was so hard to see him go, but knowing he will have a home with caring people made it a little easier.

As long as I'm posting, I have a an un-related question, out of curiousity. We rubberbanded two of the boys the other night and one of them went completely limp - dishrag limp. Almost like he passed out?! I picked him up so we could dock his tail and he "came to" again. We've never had this happen before, so I'm just curious!

He's fine, just in a lot of pain! Some have a lower pain tolerance than others and will be more dramatic acting because they just hurt that much more. You have to make sure they don't get too cold or overheated while they're experiencing this stressful time, which may mean keeping him and mom close (I either pen them all again, or go out to the field a few times a day to reunite mom and lamb).

 

[FunInTheSun]

He's fine, just in a lot of pain! Some have a lower pain tolerance than others and will be more dramatic acting because they just hurt that much more. You have to make sure they don't get too cold or overheated while they're experiencing this stressful time, which may mean keeping him and mom close (I either pen them all again, or go out to the field a few times a day to reunite mom and lamb).

Drama King! Poor little guy! Thankfully his momma is a great mom - always attentive and protective and she never gets too far away from him. The little guy was up and running around a couple hours later, although his exuberance was a bit suppressed. Now, a day and a half after the banding, he's back to normal - bucking and jumping, etc.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I have never had a ewe reject lambs that were getting formula! It's interesting that this is the first year I've heard from multiple sources of this happening. I find that if a ewe wants to reject a lamb, she'll find any old reason to do so...

We have found the same to be true in goats as well for the most part. It is not a this year thing either, first we heard of it was about 9yrs ago and first we saw it personally was about 6yrs ago. It did not matter if we used store bought formula, mixed formula with mothers milk, or used home-made formula as soon as around 24hrs passed from the first bottle they would reject and no longer let them nurse at all. As I said we have exceptions to this and have obviously not tested all of our sheep/goats.

Year before last I believe it was we co-parented with one of our goats and she was perfectly fine with it. Our sheep tend to seem more picky about making sure a lamb is their lamb before letting it nurse.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Actually, this ewe had triplets last year and, although I would classify her as a so-so momma, she took care of all three last year. This year was certainly a learning experience for us - never have had a bottle baby before! Just an update: we found a wonderful couple who has experience in taking care of bottle babies and they picked up the little guy Sunday morning. It was so hard to see him go, but knowing he will have a home with caring people made it a little easier.

As long as I'm posting, I have a an un-related question, out of curiousity. We rubberbanded two of the boys the other night and one of them went completely limp - dishrag limp. Almost like he passed out?! I picked him up so we could dock his tail and he "came to" again. We've never had this happen before, so I'm just curious!

Glad you found him a good home!