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