The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: DenisCooper on May 15, 2018, 07:54:33 pm

Title: Do I need to milk?
Post by: DenisCooper on May 15, 2018, 07:54:33 pm

I feel like such a bad owner...

One of our 5 ewes must have had her lamb last night. We leave them in the paddocks and never had any problem and they've all lambed without problems before. But I woke up this morning to find the remains of a lamb so I can only assume a fox somehow managed to get in and get the poor little thing.

Ewe is fine, but do I need to milk her now, or what?

I've brought all of the sheep in now into the barns (which is where I should have put them before)..

thanks
Denis

Title: Re: Do I need to milk?
Post by: harmony on May 15, 2018, 08:36:17 pm

Try and get a lamb to put on her.

Title: Re: Do I need to milk?
Post by: shep53 on May 15, 2018, 09:14:44 pm

Either get a lamb to put on her or leave her be and the milk will dry up fairly quickly ,if you milk her it will just make her produce even more

Title: Re: Do I need to milk?
Post by: DenisCooper on May 15, 2018, 09:16:58 pm

Ok thanks.

I wasn’t sure if it would cause problems for her if it was there and not used.

Title: Re: Do I need to milk?
Post by: SallyintNorth on May 16, 2018, 08:10:48 am

As shep53 says, either keep her in the barn on hay (not out on grass) and it will dry up, or get her a lamb.  She'll need company though, so do you have another sheep you can keep in with her?  Or maybe a patch of very poor grass you can put her on, where you could feed her companion but not her?

It's much better for her to get her a lamb if you can.  It sounds like she's not a first timer, so she will be grieving and will love to have a replacement lamb.  You may need to hold her to let it feed for a few feeds, but IME bereaved experienced mums take a foster very readily.

Do check she has got milk first, though! 

And don't beat yourself up.  :hug: Lots of people lamb outside and for the most part the foxes would only get lambs that were dead or dying anyway.  Lambing indoors brings its own risks and losses.

Title: Re: Do I need to milk?
Post by: nimbusllama on May 16, 2018, 08:18:22 am

Don't beat yourself up about the loss of the lamb, unless you are watching them 24/7 these things happen.  You are not a bad owner!
Hope the ewe dries up OK, but I agree let her dry up naturally. Perhaps keep her inside on hay and water, and off the rich grass for a while (but preferably with a companion)  :thumbsup: 
I just cross posted with Sally, by the time I had finished typing this Sally had said everything I was thinking, but put it better than I did! :thumbsup: