[Tina Turkey]

Evening all, I havent posted on this forum for yonks and I just dont know why - its got everything you need!

Anyway our eldest ewe gave birth to quads on Friday - she is the last of a small flock we inherited when we bought our house and she must be at least 12.  They all seem to be doing ok and I today gave a couple of them a few ounzes of milk but am not sure whether I should do this to each of them as a matter of course or should I wait and observe and only do it if any of them look like they are not getting enough?  They are pretty small but all are alert and perky and certainly have strength as its hard to hold them still!

The mum looks pretty knackered I have to say!
Thanks
Tina Turkeyx

[Blinkers]

HI TT - Yes I would most definately top them all up, she's not gonna have enough to cope with 4 growing lambs on her......unless she's a Friesland!!!  Lots of luck with them and Mum.

[Freddiesfarm]

I would leave all of them with mum for a few days with top up if they will take it and then take two away and rear them on the bottle since you have no other ewes to adopt them onto.  It can be difficult for old ewes to rear twins let alone any more!

[OhLaLa]

I'm new to shepherding but would give them extra milk.

[shep53]

With a ewe of that age i would think one lamb might be her limit. by knackered do you mean lean , prepare to hand rear two or three.

[Anke]

I have found that my old Shetland ewe managed very well to raise twins at age 11, but last years  (12) was just too much for her. Yes the lambs survived, but didn't grow as well as hoped. Although I tried to top them up, she would not let me near her lambs, very protective and quick....

So I would only leave one of them on her (to prevent mastitis), and bottle raise the others. You don't say what breed, but I guess it's a native/primitive with 12 year old girls still chasing the tup?

[Tina Turkey]

We are not sure of the breed because we inherited them when we bought our house in france 10 years ago!  They are however typical of our region and are working on the assumption that they are a mix of Rouge de l'Ouest and possibly Bleu Maine with something else thrown in - the ram is a Cotentin.  They are pretty big.

Last year I bottle fed one whose mother rejected her - she therefore did not integrate into the flock and used to hang around waiting for me all the time.  In Jan, 2 dogs strayed onto our land from a new neighbour and killed her.  I was  heartbroken.  If I bottle feed more I will have to take measures to get them to stay with the flock if poss because I dread that happening again.

Oooh its a learning curve!

Thanks
TT

[kanisha]

leave them with the ewe and bottle feed them

[Tina Turkey]

Thanks Kanisha.   They are looking ok this morning which is a relief.

If I leave them with the ewe but bottle feed them, how many times a day should I feed them and how much?  Presumably a bit less than you would for an orphan?

I am a bit worried about mum as well, she is not very interested in pellet food but she is grazing so I reckon thats probably the best for her.  I have put some ketolane in the water which is a glycol tonic I had when we had twin lamb disease in a ewe last year.

Keeping a close watch on them but as I have learnt from past experience - things can change in the blink of an eye!
TT

[Madcow]

think Kanisa is right, I'm not experinced but would agree to keep them all together, when you buy either sacks or tubs of powdered lamb milk it gives you a chart to follow with the amount of milk for the age in weeks, we brought ours from Agril ( we live in France too ! Calvados ) I would just make sure they have enough, not worry too much about how much the ewe is giving them, she may not make much at all from the trauma of giving birth to quads 
When lambs are still with mum I feed mine 4 times a day to start with but when they are about 3 weeks old I drop it down to 3 times leaving out the late night 1, see how it goes, they start nibbling grass and creep pellets at about 2 weeks anyway.
Good luck and keep reading from the internet and forums like these, wonderful sources of help 

[Tina Turkey]

Thanks all.  Yes you are right - wonderful source of info.  I had forgotten all about this site but will not leave it now I have refound it!

I am panicking because I am going away at easter for a week and dont want to start something I cant finish!  I am wondering if I should try and get them onto a cold milk bucket ad-lib?  Anyone got any hot tips on those?  Is it dangerous to start them on warm milk bottles inthat it will make them not want the cold bucket milk?

TT

[doganjo]

I take it you have a 'sitter' coming in?  Can't you give them specific instructions on how you want your animals looked after?  I do that with my dog sitter.  She is left a typed list and she follows it to the letter - well almost - I always find there are less dog treats and chicken and dog food than I expect when I return    But they love her to bits.

[OhLaLa]

If you are going away for a week you will need someone to keep an eye on them, but re milk buckets: Agrial have some with teats at the bottom (on sides) so several lambs can feed at once. As I recall, they are the slot over the gate types. Agrial also has the little sachets of ewe milk for lambs, about 12e I think.

 

[Madcow]

we paid 35e for a 10kg sack ! I just bottle feed but with four a bucket would probably be best. If you start of warm then you can gradually as they take to it make it cooler each time and I'm sure they will still gobble it up once they get used to feeding this way.
Hope you do have a sitter as they will all still need care just yet .

[Tina Turkey]

Hi folks, little update:

Of course we have a sitter!  Wouldnt leave any animals alone for more than a day, let alone a week!

Luckily I had some milk powder left over from some suprise lambs from September.  Pretty sure all the lambs will have had colostrum so have concentrated on just getting some bottles down them.  

There are 2 who are much smaller than the other 2, really tiny, just skin and bone.   They seem to not go up for as much milk from mum and stray away from her a bit more.  These 2 little girls have taken to the bottle really well.  The other, bigger, 2 are not interested in the bottle at all.  They must be getting a decent amount of milk from mum because they are quite often contentedly asleep (ie not screaming for food all the time) and they are putting a bit of weight on.

The last 2 feeds I have only given the little 2 a bottle each and not bothered with the other ones - do you think its ok to continue to do this - ie just concentrate on 2 and let mum deal with the other two?  I have got some lamb pellets and also bought a milk bucket with 6 teets.

I feel I am on the brink of being at risk of taking the little 2 away completely and bottle feeding them all the time which I would rather avoid if I can so how can I best try and get them all onto the bucket feeder?  The bottles I have been given are warm milk, when should I try the cold bucket milk - they are 4 days old) ?  should I reduce the temperature a bit on the milk now each bottle before I try the bucket?  Can I use warm millk in the bucket?  How often do you need to wash the bucket out?

Sorry so many questions!
TT