[jemma.gibson]

Hello,

My Sheep have lambed for the first time this year and my first time too!! 1 had triplets the next had 4 but 1 died and the other 1 had a single!!! Still got 1 more to definately lamb but not sure abt my other 2 yet! And only 2 ram lambs so far!!😁🥳

The 1 that had 4 were born on the 9th April so they r nearly a week old but she seems to be head butting them tonight and don't know why?? Its just random times sometimes when they try feed or or they paw at her or even when they r near her. But she dosnt always do it??  She has plenty of milk? I did see if any of the lambs wanted milk from the bottle but they hardly had any at all. Anyone got any ideas??

Thxs

[SallyintNorth]

She may have mastitis, so it's painful for her when they approach the udder.  Check how the udder feels, is it soft and pliable, or hard?  Warm, or hot?  Healthy pale pink or red? 

It may be that the udder *looks* full but is in fact empty, so she's just telling them to leave her alone, there's nothing there for the moment.

If neither of those things, she may also be managing the lambs to make sure they all get a fair share.  Or, she knows she doesn't have enough for all 3 going forwards and she has selected the one she is going to sacrifice. 

Put different marks on all 3 lambs and see if it's always the same one she butts, and whether she ever lets it feed.  If she never butts the other two and lets them feed, always butts the one and never lets it feed, then it's likely she knows she can't keep all 3 going.  Remove the one she's decided to sacrifice and rear it on the bottle.  And watch out for the same thing happening again if she gets to a point where she can't manage 2. 

Personally, any ewe which has grown and birthed 4, even if one was dead, I would not leave 3 on her, it's too much.  Unless she is in cracking condition, I might even only leave her with one, so she can make a good job of rearing that without too much further drain on her system.  I have lost lambs, udders and even ewes by leaving 3 (or even 2) on a ewe that wasn't up to it, even with additional feeding and the best grass. 

At the very least, I would be topping up the lambs from a bottle to ease the load on the ewe.  If you can get at least a litre a day into them between them, that reduces the load on the ewe to more like twins.  I see you have tried to top them up but they weren't interested.  Either take one off or keep trying with the bottle once or twice a day; if she is starting to not have enough milk, they will eventually get hungry enough to want the bottle.  Hopefully before they damage her udder.

Maybe consider not flushing your ewes next year to try to reduce the incidence of quads and triplets. 

[harmony]

Ditto Sally who has saved me the typing.  I would try to get one of your multiples onto something with a single if it had enough milk. Triplets are hard on a ewe and so you will most certainly have to take a lamb off and leave with twins or even a single.

[Anke]

Ditto Sally who has saved me the typing.  I would try to get one of your multiples onto something with a single if it had enough milk. Triplets are hard on a ewe and so you will most certainly have to take a lamb off and leave with twins or even a single.

I would not attempt to foster a lamb onto a different ewe if it was my first time lambing. Just put them on the bottle - which may be a fight already.

[jemma.gibson]

Thanks for all the replies.

Her udders don't exactly look red but I did feel them and they do seem a bit hard almost lumpy but that's when I sorta push on them! I don't rly know what I am looking for so....also when I felt them she didn't show any sign of pain.

Some of the other lambs try to feed of her and so we thought she might be getting a bit tiered out so we have separated her from the others.

We have also marked the lambs but she dosnt seem to be headbutting them now!! Typical!!

I can still get milk out and the lambs seem to too because they get frothy mouths!!

Sorry feel like I don't know anything!!

[Backinwellies]

Each of your sheep should be penned with their lambs for 48 hours at least (higher multiples longer) so mother and lambs bond properly ..... you said other lambs trying to suck her ... which sounds a bit odd.

Your ewe's udder needs inspecting by someone who knows what they are looking for (local shepherd or vet) .   Two sets of triplets is rather unfortunate for a newby .... I think I would follow advice below and take one off of each leaving the ewes just 2 to rear and bottle rear the spare 2. 

do you have a neighbour who can help?

[shep53]

Keep an eye on her teats  3 lambs short of milk ( in the picture they don't look full ) can damage them with sores /scabs /cracks  which causes her to not let them feed

[jemma.gibson]

They were penned up for more that 48 hours. I will take 1 off each of the triplets and see how she is and will ask someone to come hav a look at her. Thanks you.

[Penninehillbilly]

Shep53 beat me to it, I'm always wary of triplets after having a goat with cut teats where the kids had been fighting over the teat.

[harmony]

Ditto Sally who has saved me the typing.  I would try to get one of your multiples onto something with a single if it had enough milk. Triplets are hard on a ewe and so you will most certainly have to take a lamb off and leave with twins or even a single.

I would not attempt to foster a lamb onto a different ewe if it was my first time lambing. Just put them on the bottle - which may be a fight already.

Once you have animals there will be plenty of things you have to do first time and lambing is one of those things that can throw several first time experiences at you and sometimes more than one in the same day.

[Penninehillbilly]

How are they doing Jemma?
Hopefully it was the stress of other lambs around that was upsetting her?

[jemma.gibson]

She seems to be doing okay I have put the other ewes and lambs in the feild and kept her back so the other lambs aren't around. Hopefully when we put her out there they won't try get milk off her again   thanks for all the help and will try keep you updated.