[greedyasapig]

Hi All,
As title suggests..bottle fed a lamb as mum had triplets, after 5 weeks down to to 3 bottles 250ml milk then week 6 2 bottles week 7 1 bottle milk then nothing but a small bottle of water as she would wake us up a 3am at the bedroom door .. anyway she had been eating well from week 3/4 hay grass and access to mineral lick and drinking on her own but is not herself loosing weight, mucky backside ... was wondering if grass too rich or ??
Was considering buying more milk to push her on a few weeks more she is 9 weeks old now  smaller than her sisters whom are doing well... Mum was wormed prior to giving birth and ALL other lambs look well and not wormy Question is.. Can i restart her on Milk.? 

Thanks Wayne 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

I think she would take milk so yes you can restart the milk but I wouldnt. Weight loss and a runny bottom could both be a sign of worms. Straining and bleating when trying to poo could be coccidiosis.


If she got mums colostrum at the start then her digestion should be fine. If she diddnt she may always be prone to a delicate tummy. Wet , lush grass will also make her runny so hay would dry this up and slow things down.


Keep giving her the water for the time being as this will help with dehydration as a result of the runny poos. l would probably give the vet a call or pop her into the surgery for a once over regarding the weight loss.

[SallyintNorth]

Could be lush fresh grass - have you had a recent sunny spell?  Could be wet grass - have you had a recent wet spell?  Could be cold weather - guess my next question.

Could also be worms; being a pet she'll always be more susceptible to infections and so on.  I'd probably just worm her, or you could get her poo checked.

[greedyasapig]

Hi there..
Thanks for suggestions . Yes we have had it hot 25 odd(were in France) i was going to worm her just in case and she was the weak one at birth so had powdered colostrum so may be a combo of lots of things ... she is perky just down a kg or so since off the milk. .
I will keep the thread alive with progress and what works.
Wayne

[Buffy the eggs layer]

if she is small and had a poor start you can continue the milk until you feel that she is ready to give move to solids. Stopping milk before she has adapted to solids would result in a loss of weight but not a runny bottom. So I dont think the weaning is the cause of her weight loss.