The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Yeoman on May 21, 2014, 11:45:57 am
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I've been feeding a cade lamb on Lamlac - following the instructions on the bag to the letter i.e. max 1 litre spread over 6 then 5 feeds per day.
She is 9 days old today and making good progress so last night I started her on adlib milk by rigging up a supremely impressive DIY gadget to hold a normal anti-vacuum bottle in place for her.
I started adlib feeding at 1615 yesterday when I put up 450mls of milk. Since then I've replaced the bottle with 500mls at 2140 last night then 0630 and 1030 this morning.
She finished the first three bottles but seems to be taking it more steadily with the current bottle (put up at 1030). Even if she doesn't finish the current bottle until 1630 this afternoon this would mean she had 2 litres in 24 hours which is double what she has been getting while on restricted feeding.
She has water and creep available but hasn't expressed much interest in either.
Am I risking overfeeding her to cause bloat or scouring or do I just persist and keep the ad-lib bottle topped up so that she feeds evenly rather than bingeing when I put a new one up?
Your thoughts would be appreciated...
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I'd stick to the instructions - Lamlac is a top quality milk replacer. Make sure she always has clean water and best quality hay available. I usually do a milk feed then offer a very small amount of creep (50g) in an old frying pan to get them started. Milk after a bellyfull of creep causes problems - the creep swells up. I don't leave creep down overnight - rats love it!
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Mine would drink 2 litres on ad lib, they do drink a lot more. She's older than I would put on an ad lib feeder so probably will take a day or 2 to realise there is always milk available hence at the moment she is gorging. Just watch her tummy doesn't look to round and make sure she doesn't get an upset stomach and she should start to feed little and often soon.
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At that age then the more milk the merrier! If you are worried about bloat put a bit of gripe water in the milk as you are mixing it. if you sprinkle a tea spoon of milk powder over the creep the lambs start on it a bit sharper since it smells like their normal diet. All the best with her, wee have 13 orphans just now, can't wait till they are all on creep and not needing milk!