[andywalt]

Hi

Please can you all give some advise..... one of my ewes lambed last night, quads !!  3 dead one alive but weak, I have given mothers collostrum in a stomach tube but I dont hold out much luck that the poor thing will survive!! if it doesnt what will I do with the ewe..full in milk no other lambs to put on her?  will she dry up on her own?

all responces very much appreciated !!

andy

[khajou]

Have you a neighbour with sheep lambing at the moment? If you have they could adopt a couple onto her.

[andywalt]

no neibours lambing at the moment, not that she would take any other lambs?? if I have any multiples in a day or so there could be a possablity but how would you get her to adopt? whats your method?

[doganjo]

I have no experience of sheep whatsoever, but I watched a programme once where they skinned the dead lamb and put it on an orphaned one to make the ewe think it was hers.  The legs went through the leg holes in the skin.  I suppose it could sound a bit gruesome to non on animal folk but I believe its the best way.

[andywalt]

the only trouble with that is that is one left from quads and if you can imagine a tiny tiny lamb, so the skin will be too small I would think, also I have a decition that I may take it away to try and save it, bring it into the house!! but my question is about the ewe and her udder, I have milked her and frozen some colostrum which I will try feed the lamb, if it picks up I suppose I can try and re introduce it to her?

[kanisha]

Hi sorry can't offer much advise except that I think the idea is to dry them up light rations ( hay) etc but I don't have any experience with large ewes. just wanted to say sorry you do seem to be having some bad luck hope the lamb picks up

[andywalt]

Well I wouldnt say it was bad luck, I think it would be a miricle that all 23 ewes will lamb perfectly, I was prepared for some deaths altho terrable it is, I think overall its been good so far.

my experiance with dairy cows if this happen would be easy because you then put them in the herd and milk them, just be nice to know what others would do?

[Fleecewife]

I have no experience of drying off a ewe straight after delivery as I have only once been in your position and then I adopted on a Texel lamb to the Hebridean ewe concerned.  Hopefully someone else will have some ideas but I am thinking along the lines of restricted dry feed ie hay, plus an antibiotic if there is any redness or heat in the udder at all - ie watch out for mastitis.  This is likely to be a problem so a different solution might be better, so......
.. your best option is to foster on a lamb so you would need to find one quick.
 In the meantime you could milk the ewe by hand. This will get her used to having her teats touched and may help with the adoption once you get a lamb. It's easiest to milk a sheep with her sitting on her bottom and aim the milk into a bowl, but if you want to adopt onto her it's best to milk her standing up so she gets used to being touched whilst in the correct position (agony on your knees and back though).

If you decide you don't want to adopt onto her but want to reduce the risk of mastitis, you could milk her to make cheese, or just for drinking milk, and gradually reduce the amount you milk her to reduce the amount she produces, so she can dry up naturally with far less of a risk of mastitis.

Adopting on a lamb is possible using the skinned method, but only soon after lambing (we have done it - it's quite funny once you get over the gruesome aspect).  Another way is to shoogle the lamb to be adopted around in a bucket with the afterbirth, but again only when it's fresh and warm.  What the ewe wants is to smell that the lamb is hers, from both ends.  Rubbing her milk all over the lamb, especially over it's head works well but needs to be repeated - it leaves a horrible mess on the head but that doesn't matter. The other end has a delay to it, as the lamb will only smell of the ewe once her milk has passed through it. If she still has a residue of placenta/birthing fluid around her back end you could rub the lamb against that.
Some ewes accept adopted lambs quickly, others resist for a couple of days and need to be tied up so they can't kill the lamb - you would need to be there to supervise.
I have heard of people spraying perfume or something else which smells strongly around the ewe's nose so she can't really smell anything.

My goodness Andy - you need some nice easy-to-care-for ewes like Hebrideans  

[Rosemary]

If you do try to adopt lambs on, let a dog in (under control) - this can trigger the mothering instinct in ewes.

Good luck!

[woollyval]

Right...have you the facilities to set up a box with a lamp in same pen as ewe? If so you could leave the lamb you have with her but tube/bottle it until strong enough to suck...you will need to milk her but she can still see it and lick it etc....that way it is possible to keep the bond...but not guarenteed.
If it dies you have 2 choices, if you just turn her out with no lambs she will dry up quite quickly, just keep an eye and do not feed her a lot for a few days etc. You could if you can get hold of one or make one try a lamb adopter crate(picture of one here)  http://www.shearwell.co.uk/catalogue/shepherding.aspx where she is given a couple of orphan lambs and is held by her head so she cannot see them but they can suck....eventually...hopefully...she will love em....

[andywalt]

thanks for that woolyshepard and rosemary, took the colostrum and colostrum tube there this evening to make sure the little thing gets something in its stomach and saw it having a little suck, then a bit later it had a small skip in the air, so I think it will make it and while I was away its found the teat its self, so fingers crossed will keep you posted.

[faith0504]

i hope it pulls through for you 

[Anke]

If the ewe lets the lamb suckle for now leave them to it, and if at all in doubt, milk the ewe a bit and tube the lamb. You probably will have to get up during the night and check. If the lamb is sleeping, prod it with a shepherds crook so it wakes up and watch as it gets up - if it stretches its back (a bit like a cat) and looks comfortable (difficult to describe here I think, but once you see it you'll know what I mean), then it is getting enough to drink. Also watch for backend, whats coming out.

best of luck!

[kanisha]

My goodness Andy - you need some nice easy-to-care-for ewes like Hebrideans  

absolutely. mind you I think ouessants with their single lambs makes for less liklihood of complications with twins. maybe thats why I don't have so many difficulties with lambings and I don't have to worry about quads either 

[shep53]

Glad that the lamb is getting stonger. You can still foster a lamb on to a ewe 2/3days after lambing , earlier is easier. I use a halter made of thick string or light rope some use big dog collars and rope to fasten the ewe in a lambing pen so she cant get at the new lamb. May i point out to everyone that orphan lambs can bring in to your flock any diseases on the birth farm so take care.