Triplet newborn lamb scours

[Sheepbaroness]

Hello! I have just had my first set of triplets, dorper sheep, the ewe is experienced, healthy, two of the lambs are fine, but one has scours, she is somewhat lethargic. She is now not following mom and siblings. Not sure what I can do about it besides take her to the vet

 

[Baymule]

How old are they? If you don’t have them in a small pen, do so as soon as you can. Stick your finger in the weak ones mouth for a quick temperature check. If cold or cool, take quick action. First comes warmth. A box or laundry basket will do. Put a towel over it to make a tent. Put a hair dryer blowing in the tent. Make sure to keep the baby’s head OUT or you will cook its little kinds. Once warm, tie mom up and help the baby nurse. This means sitting and helping guide the lamb to the test.

Or you can bottle feed.
1 gallon whole cow milk
1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 can evaporated milk

pour out 2 1/2 cups milk out, pour in buttermilk and evaporated milk. Shake to mix. Warm a couple of ounces up and bottle feed. I used 97 cent baby bottles from Walmart, they worked just fine.

But WARM the lamb first!

 

[Baymule]

If the lamb didn’t get colostrum, it is imperative to milk out the ewe for the lamb. Or call feed store to see if they have sheep and goat colostrum mix.

 

[Sheepbaroness]

If the lamb didn’t get colostrum, it is imperative to milk out the ewe for the lamb. Or call feed store to see if they have sheep and goat colostrum mix.

Thank you for the detailed and quick response! They are not penned up, they’re on a 9 acre pasture, it’s currently mid 70°s with a high of 90 today, yesterday when they were born it was about 100°, I didn’t think she was cold but I didn’t feel her mouth either, could she possibly still be cold from the overnight temps?
I pushed the mom back to where the lamb was and by then it had stood up and was bleating loudly and rejoined mom and I saw it nurse a little and then follow mom and siblings down the field to another shady spot. At this point I don’t know how serious it is, I’m planning to check on them again in two hours.

 

[Sheepbaroness]

Thank you for the detailed and quick response! They are not penned up, they’re on a 9 acre pasture, it’s currently mid 70°s with a high of 90 today, yesterday when they were born it was about 100°, I didn’t think she was cold but I didn’t feel her mouth either, could she possibly still be cold from the overnight temps?
I pushed the mom back to where the lamb was and by then it had stood up and was bleating loudly and rejoined mom and I saw it nurse a little and then follow mom and siblings down the field to another shady spot. At this point I don’t know how serious it is, I’m planning to check on them again in two hours.

I’ll probably pen them too, would eliminate chasing them across the big field, the ewe is a good mom except she’s always been exceptionally nervous and never wants anything to do with me

 

[farmerjan]

You probably need to keep them penned together for a couple days to allow the littler one to get some good feeds and get a little more strength. At least in a smaller lot where she can't go off too far from the lambs. Make sure she is not rejecting the triplet... sometimes they "know" they cannot take care of 3 and will reject one... sometimes they just aren't attentive enough. Some sheep can count to 3 and some can only count to 2..... the best of ewes will sometimes only want 2.... if you can get it past a couple weeks and then she does not have enough milk, you can supplement the third with a bottle and a couple ounces a couple times a day... it will learn to come to you for the bottle even while staying with the others, or take it away and bottle raise it. But the longer on the ewe, the better start for the lamb.

 

[Sheepbaroness]

You probably need to keep them penned together for a couple days to allow the littler one to get some good feeds and get a little more strength. At least in a smaller lot where she can't go off too far from the lambs. Make sure she is not rejecting the triplet... sometimes they "know" they cannot take care of 3 and will reject one... sometimes they just aren't attentive enough. Some sheep can count to 3 and some can only count to 2..... the best of ewes will sometimes only want 2.... if you can get it past a couple weeks and then she does not have enough milk, you can supplement the third with a bottle and a couple ounces a couple times a day... it will learn to come to you for the bottle even while staying with the others, or take it away and bottle raise it. But the longer on the ewe, the better start for the lamb.

Ok I just loved them back to my house in a smaller pen, thank you so much!

 

[Baymule]

So glad the little one is sucking. Penning them up is the best thing to do , to let the little one have more of a chance to eat. And you can keep a close eye on them easier.

Ewe doesn’t want any thing to do with you? Nooooo!!!!! Mine mob me for treats. I have a Katahdin ram over Katahdin/Dorper ewes. I recommend sitting on something low, like a milk crate, in the pen. That way you aren’t towering over her, big scary monster! Put some treats, I use whole corn or animal crackers, in a pan. Put it close, but not too close to you and don’t look at her. It may take awhile, but she’ll come around. Mine are all spoiled brats.

Anyway, good luck with the triplets and let us know how they are doing! Congratulations on the triplets!

 

[misfitmorgan]

You can try electrolytes for the one scouring if it continues, they sell it in packets at any store like tractor supply.

Also yeah you are going to need to start supplementing with a bottle. The ewe will not have enough milk for 3 lambs for long and if you dont start early the lambs will refuse the bottle later most likely. Two years ago we had to fight for 2 days to get a ewe raised lamb to take a bottle, she also never became friendly with people despite being bottle fed for 5 weeks. She was actually a single but we lost mom when she got in a fight with our herd queen(goat) in a confined space. Make sure she gets as much colostrum as possible from mom, you can offer a bottle to all the lambs and one will drink more...thats the one that will need bottled later. Even if mom tries to keep feeding all three it is going to take a huge toll on her, twins are toll enough let alone more.

 

[Sheepbaroness]

So glad the little one is sucking. Penning them up is the best thing to do , to let the little one have more of a chance to eat. And you can keep a close eye on them easier.

Ewe doesn’t want any thing to do with you? Nooooo!!!!! Mine mob me for treats. I have a Katahdin ram over Katahdin/Dorper ewes. I recommend sitting on something low, like a milk crate, in the pen. That way you aren’t towering over her, big scary monster! Put some treats, I use whole corn or animal crackers, in a pan. Put it close, but not too close to you and don’t look at her. It may take awhile, but she’ll come around. Mine are all spoiled brats.

Anyway, good luck with the triplets and let us know how they are doing! Congratulations on the triplets!

Thank you! Yes most of my other sheep are very friendly, several let me scratch them all over, this one has always been a little wary, not sure why, assumed it was genetic.
But good news with the lambs this morning they all still look well, a vet friend gave me some resorb to feed to the scouring lamb, but if the lamb’s belly is full of milk I’m not sure if I should still try to bottle feed it. Also this ewe is producing way more milk than I’ve ever seen on her before, not sure if this means she might be able to keep up with their demands?