The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Nelson International on April 27, 2018, 01:53:38 pm
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One of my new mothers had a freak accident a few days ago - she broke off half her tail (she’s wasn’t docked, so it is still more than legal length).
I got a very experienced friend in who helped me clean up the wound, put some antiseptic on it, we gave her some antibiotics, and so far she seems to be responding reasonably - she’s still behaving pretty much normally.
My only concern is that over the 3 days since, I’ve only seen her lamb taking milk from her once. She’s a month old ewe lamb, has been doing really well so far, and whilst I’ve not seen the mother butt her away or reject the lamb, my sense is that previously the lamb had been feeding much from the ewe more regularly.
Are there any signs I can look for to see if she’s missing out, and what would my response be if she is?
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If the lamb is going hungry, I would have thought you will know about it! :D. So either the lamb is getting enough from mum, or its appetite has waned for some reason. At four weeks it won't be needing or taking milk quite as frequently as it would a week or two ago, and it will be getting some sustenance from grass (and creep if you're giving it) - but the rumen isn't fully developed for another 2-4 weeks, so it will still be needing milk.
Can you catch the lamb and check its condition and whether it seems to have a nice full tummy or is a bit concave. Also keep an eye out to see if the lamb is taking water - mostly lambs get the liquid they need from mum at this age so don't need to drink water.
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Cheers - yes I'm giving the ewes a little feed daily, so I can take a closer look at the lamb. She's still up and lambing about, so I figure she's getting what she needs but I'm just not seeing it. My comparison is a 2 week old lamb, so I guess it's not surprising if the older one is drinking less from her mum than the younger one.
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Are they penned at all, so easy to monitor?
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No, but they’re quite tame and come to a bucket, so I can get a good look fairly easily.