[BigdreamsSmallfunds]

Hi
never posted before but learned much from this great site!
for several reasons i was not able to move my sheep on to better grazing when they were due to lamb.. i have noticed a ewe with twins, one looks big, one looks drawn in and hungry! i turned the ewe over and there is nothing wrong with her udder, i just think she has no milk left. i have luckily been offered some temporay lush grazing and my question is, if i turn her out, will she make milk again or is that it, will i have to bottle feed the lambs? i'm pretty certain it is due to lack of grass as i had another do the same and i am having to bottle feed hers now,i would rather not have anymore, and also they are over two weeks now, so i know it will be hard to get them onto a bottle. they are having haylage, ewe nuts and sugar beet..many thanks! 

[twizzel]

Possibly, it’s worth a try but don’t expect miracles. I had a ewe lacking in milk this year and no amount of grass helped her produce more, one of her lambs I caught sucking another ewe from behind, she had quads which sapped everything out of her. So she’s off to market at weaning. Her lambs are looking better now they are 8 weeks old, they found the creep feeder which has helped them grow on. Rather than bottle feed, can you leave them with her but introduce a creep area? It really helps lambs that are struggling to get enough from mum.

[shep53]

You need to take off the hungry lamb , the big lamb is getting stronger and taking all the milk , yes the lush grass will improve milk yield but the the big lamb will demand more  and the hungry lamb will give up

[Penninehillbilly]

I would take little lamb off, get it on the bottle, if it's hungry I've had them get the idea fairly quick, when it comes for the bottle, then turn out with the mum again, with a bit of luck it will still come to you for a top up.
Added, with goats I put honey in the milk and on the teat, usually gets them sucking

[bj_cardiff]

I had this a few times this year. My ewes were older and the grass quality here hasn't been great. I would take the lamb thats not drinking enough away from her and hand rear it. They give up trying to drink if you let them go to far. I wouldn't think moving her to better grazing would help in the timescale needed I'm afraid.

[BigdreamsSmallfunds]

thankyou for your replies, i do have a creep feeder in yes and they have always had a mineral bucket too. i guess inevitably i have myself another bottle baby then..lol    p.s the bit of honey in milk is a good idea, thanks.. i have struggled to get older lambs on the bottle, especially if still on the mother as well, but they get it eventually! found they prefer the taste of goats milk too, at least initially..well fingers crossed, thankyou