The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Frolesworth Flock on March 23, 2020, 07:57:45 pm

Title: Lamb supplement
Post by: Frolesworth Flock on March 23, 2020, 07:57:45 pm

Hi, we are currently supplementing twin Suffolk lambs with milk after their colostrum intake. However they are now less interested in the bottle does that mean they are feeding from the ewe?.
They are 4 days old.

Title: Re: Lamb supplement
Post by: SallyintNorth on March 24, 2020, 09:47:43 pm

Possibly.  How much are you offering, how often, and how much are they taking?

Title: Re: Lamb supplement
Post by: shep53 on March 24, 2020, 10:12:58 pm

Why were you supplementing did she have no milk ? catch the ewe and check her udder for milk , if the lambs are lively and stretch when standing and have round stomachs not concave then probably yes . Have you not seen them suckling ?

Title: Re: Lamb supplement
Post by: bj_cardiff on March 25, 2020, 06:07:14 am

I've had several ewes this year with little milk.

What is her bag like and how are the lambs behaving? If they are hunched up then they aren't getting much from the ewe. Sometimes they will drink from a teat, and then swap sides if the ewe is low on milk. If they are sleeping a lot, but when distrubed get up stretch and drink from the ewe, they are probably getting their milk from her.

I took one lamb off the my ewes with little milk as after a week or trying their production didn't improve.