Small sheep

[Junior]

I have a 2 month old ram lamb named Kenny who is going to be traded so we'll have some new blood lines. The only problem is he looks about half the size of another ram lamb in the paddock who was born 3 days after my bottle baby. Kenny didn't have any colostrum and for a week or so at the start I was actually feeding him every 2 hours even at night.

Anyway, point of this thread, is there a way I can get him to grow a little bit? He's eating grass now and drinking about 2 litres of milk a day. Is there some sort of supplement I can feed him? Or some type of milk mix? Or do I just have to wait and see if he will grow more?

This is only my second bottle lamb. Last year I had him but he didn't make it to a month.
Also, here's a picture of him and my bottle kid just because they are too cute.

 

[Alaskan]

He looks nicely filled out.

Might just be him, or might be because of the start with no colostrum.

@Baymule thoughts?

 

[Junior]

He looks nicely filled out.

Might just be him, or might be because of the start with no colostrum.

@Baymule thoughts?

With how small he is we thought he could've been a twin and a fox or something took the other lamb but at this age I would've thought that he would be a bit taller.

 

[Mike CHS]

What kind of sheep do you have? We have Katahdins and singles are usually pushing 60 lbs at two months and twins are closer to 45 pounds at two months. Not getting colostrum can cause some problems with their immune system development but he may be slow growing. Most of our sheep put on weight fast but every once in awhile we get one that is a lot slower growing than the average. Giving some feed could speed up growth but ours often just get fat.

 

[Baymule]

Some small lambs have growth spurts and catch up to the other lambs. When you say trade him, is that so he can be a breeding ram?

 

[Junior]

What kind of sheep do you have? We have Katahdins and singles are usually pushing 60 lbs at two months and twins are closer to 45 pounds at two months. Not getting colostrum can cause some problems with their immune system development but he may be slow growing. Most of our sheep put on weight fast but every once in awhile we get one that is a lot slower growing than the average. Giving some feed could speed up growth but ours often just get fat.

We have whiltipoles.

Some small lambs have growth spurts and catch up to the other lambs. When you say trade him, is that so he can be a breeding ram?

Yes, we're trading him for another ram.

 

[Mike CHS]

We have whiltipoles.

Yes, we're trading him for another ram.

They are usually larger than our breed. You can watch his growth rate but to be honest I wouldn't use him as a herd sire.

 

[Baymule]

I'm going to have to agree with @Mike CHS on that. If he is small now, and he doesn't grow off, then you don't want to send him out to be somebody else's herd sire. You want a reputation for having good animals. An undersized ram is one that you send to auction or slaughter.

I have a ewe and her two 7 month old twin ewes. I will be taking them to auction. The twin ewes are undersized and the first set of twins this ewe had were small too. I would not sell the ewe or the twins to an individual, they are poor quality.

I am selling a 8 month old ram that is calm, gentle, big, correct confirmation, a ram I am proud of. I'm also selling a bred ewe that will go with him, she will be having her second lambing. She was an excellent mother the first time and had a nice ewe lamb.

I understand your concern about your ram lamb. But if you have another ram lamb that is twice the size of Kenny, why not trade him?

Kenny is a bottle ram. Normally ram bottle babies are not kept, they can be more dangerous because they have no fear of humans.

 

[Junior]

They are usually larger than our breed. You can watch his growth rate but to be honest I wouldn't use him as a herd sire.

I'm going to have to agree with @Mike CHS on that. If he is small now, and he doesn't grow off, then you don't want to send him out to be somebody else's herd sire. You want a reputation for having good animals. An undersized ram is one that you send to auction or slaughter.

I have a ewe and her two 7 month old twin ewes. I will be taking them to auction. The twin ewes are undersized and the first set of twins this ewe had were small too. I would not sell the ewe or the twins to an individual, they are poor quality.

I am selling a 8 month old ram that is calm, gentle, big, correct confirmation, a ram I am proud of. I'm also selling a bred ewe that will go with him, she will be having her second lambing. She was an excellent mother the first time and had a nice ewe lamb.

I understand your concern about your ram lamb. But if you have another ram lamb that is twice the size of Kenny, why not trade him?

Kenny is a bottle ram. Normally ram bottle babies are not kept, they can be more dangerous because they have no fear of humans.

We will be asking the lady if she still wants him. We put the ring on the other lamb a couple of weeks ago so he no good. The lady specifically asked for a bottle ram. I think she likes to be out there with them. She's giving us a bottle ram too.

 

[Baymule]

Watch your back with a bottle ram. When the testicles kick in, they can be more dangerous than a ram that was dam raised. Kenny is still young and may get a growth spurt that catches him up to the others.

One of my ewes had triplets in February, one was tiny, weak, cold and couldn't suck. I warmed her up by putting her in a laundry basket, with towels over it to make a tent to hold in warmth, and a hair dryer blowing on her. I made sure her head was poked out so the hot air didn't cook her little lungs. When she was warm, I tied up the ewe and put the lamb up to the teat. She was so small, the teat was engorges with milk (this ewe has an udder like a cow) that she couldn't get the teat in her mouth. So I milked the uncooperative ewe, poured the colostrum into a baby bottle and dribbled it, drop by drop into the lambs mouth. I spent hours doing this. The ewe wanted her baby, but baby was just too small and weak. I took her in the house and bottle fed her.

I transitioned her, plus a rejected ram lamb that was born on the same day, had to milk his momma too, back to the barn after about a month. I bottle fed them out there, they got to play with other lambs, go in the creep feeder and learn to be sheep. My little ewe lamb was named Tiny, little bitty thing. My point to all this is, that now size wise, you can't tell her from her 2 sisters. They are 8 months old now and with the ram.

Kenny being so young yet, he may grow off and be just fine. If he doesn't, the lady knows what she is getting and his genetics may trump his small size. I wish only the best for you and Kenny.