Author Topic: How do you organise bottle feeding lambs? (Read 7406 times)

benkt · « **on:** March 30, 2014, 10:15:18 pm »

Well, I had another successful trip out to a local farm on Saturday and we now have six cade lambs in a shed and on the bottle

Yesterday I got too confused trying to make sure everyone was getting the right amount as some seem to guzzle one feed and then not want a lot next time. So this morning I took a white board out to the shed and have spray marked them all so I can keep a tally of how many 100mls they each took at each feed. On the downside, they all have names now e.g. 'spot', 'stripe', 'cross' etc which is against our rules of 'not naming what you're going to eat'!

Any one else have helpful ideas for keeping track of feeds?

shygirl · « **Reply #1 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:35:24 pm »

we just made up a bottle for each lamb and they all got the same, at the same time. mind you we didn't have 9. that is tricky. have you helpers? if not just feed 2 at a time. if they are the same age they should need similar amounts.

benkt · « **Reply #2 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:39:11 pm »

I do have helpers - aged 3, 5 and 6. I think that might be where my problems began!

sokel · « **Reply #3 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:45:36 pm »

We have 3 of the racks that hold 4 bottles and hook over the hurdle. Fill bottles put in racks hook racks on hurdle make sure every lamb is on a bottle

that way we get 12 fed at a time
Any slow feeders we hand feed to make sure they get the right amount.

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #4 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:48:58 pm »

It's more important to be sure that every lamb has a nice round - but not too round - belly after each feed than to add up how many millilitres each has drunk. Some will be good do-ers and some greedy guzzlers

Irrespective of how much they've had, if I see a lamb getting pot-bellied while it's sucking, I take it off.

mowhaugh · « **Reply #5 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:52:08 pm »

Quote from: benkt on March 30, 2014, 10:39:11 pm

I do have helpers - aged 3, 5 and 6. I think that might be where my problems began!

The biggest problem is when the lambs are full before all the helpers feel they've had a fair turn! I had to intervene in a "MY lamb!", "No, MY lamb!" situation earlier in the week. My helpers are 3 and 2.

I quite often move them when I am feeding them (talking about the lambs again now!), so once one is fed, it gets popped out, and it isn't back in with its friends until they are all fed. They are given the amount I want them to have, no greedy guzzling allowed, and then I only need to take note of anyone who's taken less than I would have wanted.

mowhaugh · « **Reply #6 on:** March 30, 2014, 10:53:27 pm »

That's funny, I went to post, got the 'warning - new reply' thing, but just posted it anyway without reading Sally's reply, I love that someone else uses the highly technical term 'greedy guzzler'!

Hellybee · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2014, 04:04:10 am »

two at a time mostly

x

Anke · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2014, 07:12:45 am »

Well yes we had a "Spot" and a "22" one year, they still tasted good and the mark had faded by the time they went...

I had 11 goat kids last year on the bottle... (but normally three of us would feed)

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2014, 08:26:08 am »

Don't worry about names, by the time they are big enough to send away they will be complete pests and nuisances, will have knocked all the little helpers over - hard - several times, and everyone will be glad to see the back of them.

(Not really - you do need to try to distance yourselves from them once they're off the bottle. It's impossible when they're little.

)

twizzel · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2014, 03:46:24 pm »

I've had 18 on a bottle this year. Am I mad? Probably. But we do like lamb

Mine are on a Shepherdess feeder from day 1 until about 5 weeks old, then 1 bottle a day from 5-6 weeks then weaned at 6 weeks. I don't know how much they each get exactly but they all have full bellies and grow like buggery so we must be doing something right!
This year I had 5 that were on the shepherdess until 3 weeks then on bottles from 3-6wks as they had to go in with an older group of lambs that were nearly weaned so the feeder had to come out, but they were slightly different looking so I could tell them all apart and used a bottle rack to feed. They were all feeding at the same speed which was useful.

Hellybee · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2014, 10:34:23 pm »

we dont eat ours, in fact i very rarely eat lamb at all, we seel them as decent store lambs, i name all the molly girls, this year we have a Dinky, Posy and Possum lol but very very rarely name boys, and yeah i agree theyre like a totally differnt animal in six months time, big brutes lol, i do prefer to work with the ram lambs as a rule, i find them far braver than the ewe lambs and also a little less flighty:)

thestephens · « **Reply #12 on:** April 01, 2014, 08:22:45 pm »

we have 4 lambs needing fed, most have been named after the winter Olympic winners although one is called dumbledor or dumbo for short?

? my helpers are 9 and 11 so quite capable of 2 at a time, I just seem to be doing all the prepping and washing up, they get all the glory of feeding!