[tommytink]

Two completely different questions.

1) Is it okay for rams to eat lamb creep?

2) Battles do a twin lamb drench and something called twin lamb care. Is the twin lamb care just to help prevent the issue, and the drench you can use to cure it? This is the way I read it but just checking!

Thank you!

[SallyintNorth]

To answer your first question, only if it's safe for tups and wethers, plus an overfed tup is usually not a good thing to have around, esp with higher protein intake....  So if you can make a creep area that only the lambs can get into, or put the tup and a few pals somewhere else, that would be preferable, I would say.

As to your second I don't know, sorry, and no time to look it up right now.  Hopefully someone else will have answered before I get back!

[twizzel]

To try and answer your second question    for my sheep I would try to prevent twin lamb with nutrition- correct feed and energy buckets should keep it at bay. I would only use a drench if I had a ewe presenting with symptoms. There’s so many twin lamb drenches on the market, but good old propylene glycol is cheap and very effective.

[shep53]

Many lamb creep's are sold as a feed from birth to finishing ( but not all ) so safe for males (should say on the label or phone the company ) but they are very expensive so people tend to switch to finisher pellets if producing easter lamb , as Sally says why would you want rams eating expensive feed when they probably don't need any hard feed . I looked at both the products and they both seem to say the same things , as twizzel says there are many on the market and simple propylene glycol is the best , if you think a ewe has TLD then phone your vet QUICKLY  so he can give injections into the vein , yes you can give her PG by mouth to keep her going  but you really need to act QUICKLY  while she is still standing to hope for a good outcome .  Good food & water to keep her fit is the best preventative , treacle or glucose buckets  can help and some buckets /blocks had added PG

[ZacB]

2) Battles do a twin lamb drench and something called twin lamb care. Is the twin lamb care just to help prevent the issue, and the drench you can use to cure it? This is the way I read it but just checking!

Are these the products for giving to lambs immediately after birth? (As opposed to treating ewes with twin lambing disease)
If so both a high energy hit I think but the Lamb Care also has egg protein/colostrum........do check though or someone here may have a better answer. Both products are at our local Mole Store but can’t see both online....
All very confusing, we have had a ewe go down with suspect TLD, got some Caliject from the vets to inject which is meant to be good & will definitely have prior to lambing next time around.
Haven’t ever used the lamb drenches before but we have lost quite a few thirds of triplets in the past so now a squirt of lamb care & heat lamps used to ensure lambs are fully dry - we lamb in December.

[twizzel]

2) Battles do a twin lamb drench and something called twin lamb care. Is the twin lamb care just to help prevent the issue, and the drench you can use to cure it? This is the way I read it but just checking!

Are these the products for giving to lambs immediately after birth? (As opposed to treating ewes with twin lambing disease)
If so both a high energy hit I think but the Lamb Care also has egg protein/colostrum........do check though or someone here may have a better answer. Both products are at our local Mole Store but can’t see both online....
All very confusing, we have had a ewe go down with suspect TLD, got some Caliject from the vets to inject which is meant to be good & will definitely have prior to lambing next time around.
Haven’t ever used the lamb drenches before but we have lost quite a few thirds of triplets in the past so now a squirt of lamb care & heat lamps used to ensure lambs are fully dry - we lamb in December.

I think the products OP mentioned are for twin lamb disease which affects the ewe. You’re thinking of lamb kick start products which are given to the lamb as an energy boost at birth.


If you’re losing the third lamb from a set of triplets check colostrum management- as standard we would tube all triplet lambs once they’ve sucked the ewe, so they all have a good dose of colostrum, and if the ewe is not milky, tube them again later on.

[shep53]

Calciject or similar calcium borogluconate are use full to have but won't cure TLD  ,your ewe maybe had hypocalcemia which affects mature ewes in the run up to lambing and a large injection of calcium effects a quick response , TLD won't respond to a single calcium injection .  As twizzel says all triplet lambs are best given colostrum in some form just after birth as often the third lamb may struggle to get enough from mother ,and again 2-3 times in the first 24hrs even if only topping up

[tommytink]

Thanks all. Obvs will try and not have any incidence of TLD but was thinking of being prepared just in case. We don’t scan and although we seemed to get it right last year I was thinking I should have something to hand just in case.
Regards the lamb creep it’s only four tup lambs and the ram and only like a handful so not going to get fat on it. We’re soft so when it’s miserable weather we like to give them a bit to cheer them up. It’s not breaking the bank or anything, or making the ram fat!!

[twizzel]

Thanks all. Obvs will try and not have any incidence of TLD but was thinking of being prepared just in case. We don’t scan and although we seemed to get it right last year I was thinking I should have something to hand just in case.
Regards the lamb creep it’s only four tup lambs and the ram and only like a handful so not going to get fat on it. We’re soft so when it’s miserable weather we like to give them a bit to cheer them up. It’s not breaking the bank or anything, or making the ram fat!!

Just watch their behaviour, my tups do not get regular feed in fact they get very little at all. My last tup was too friendly, lacked respect for me and that ended with a one way trip off the farm.


Energy buckets should keep twin lamb at bay. I have had 2 ewes get twin lamb in the last 4 years- the first was when the lifeline bucket had run out and I was laid up in bed with proper flu- the ewe had triplets 24 hours after. The second was last year a ewe carrying quads, she drifted in and out of twin lamb for about a week as the lambs drained more energy than she could eat 

[Nelson International]

I think that the drench is for ewes at risk of tld. If it's what I'm thinking of, it's like super thick lucozade.

We had a we go a bit spacey on us a few weeks before due to lamb a couple of years ago: on advice we brought her in and gave her a couple of drenches, kept a close eye on her until her appetite came back.

[tommytink]

Thanks all