[piggy]

I went out to feed the sheep this morning to find 1 of my hebs dead it was such a shock,she was fine last night when i fed them,no sign of anything wrong eating and nearly knocking me over to get to the feed bucket,she has left behind a ewe lamb,the lamb is just 4 weeks old,she doesnt seem to be to stressed as she has gone off with the other lambs and is not calling.What do i do about milk?

Thanks

Karen

[shearling]

Sorry to hear of your loss Karen, must have been a nasty shock.

[woollyval]

just leave it with the rest of the flock, it will be eating quite a lot of grass by now. It will not be keen on a bottle and the effort will stress you and it! She will be ok, may snatch a meal from an unsuspecting ewe from time to time and grow slower than the others....but should be ok.....this could be a situation where a creep feeder could be used...ok the other lambs will use it too but it will help her.

[shep53]

If it were mine i would catch it put it in a pen give it water  pellets   hay and teach it to drink milk, i know it may take along time lambs of this age can take the bottle quickly or be a pain in the backside but all drink eventually. WHY do i recomend this , at 4wks of age it is not yet a ruminant , on mothers  milk nibbling grass about 2 months is the age when the rumen is developed  . When you rear pet lambs from birth you give hay and pellets to develop the rumen so you can wean from 6wks of age if eating enough 

[humphreymctush]

would a lamb this age drink milk from a bowl?

[shep53]

yes or bucket but can be stubborn

[Fleecewife]

Hi Piggy    How's your orphaned lamb doing? 

[piggy]

Thanks for all your replys.

The morning i found the ewe dead i managed to catch her and give her a bottle which she took no problem,caught her again in the evening but she only took half the bottle and 1 of the other ewes was going crazy calling none stop and running around like a mental thing,the minute i let the lamb go off she went and ran to the mental ewe!
Now this might sound crazy but this ewe had twins and 1 died shortly after birth she would have nothing to do with it despite my best efforts to keep it alive(fleecewife it was the one i called you about)she has taken the lamb letting it feed and all is well,i sat and watched them for hours just so i could be sure that is was feeding as i couldnt belive it.
I am still feeding the ewes as although they are on really good grass they are very thin,they are older ewes around 8 maybe older so i am feeding them twice a day and the lambs are helping themsleves to as well,but i think that will be it for these ewes as i think it will be too much for them next year.

Karen

[Fleecewife]

Hi Karen - how amazing    Who would have thought a ewe would adopt a lamb of that age.  You see - Hebs are wonderful things  .  A little miracle to cheer you up after all your lambing problems 
We are still feeding our ewes concentrates (some still to lamb) - seems mad as there is plenty of grass, although it's been frosted the last few nights, but they got very upset when we stopped.  Once they don't need it any more in a week or two they will just not eat it one day and that will be that.  Some of our ewes are very old, one is 15 and has twins, but they are all in very good condition.  Some of the old ones were not bred last year so have had a year off to build themselves up, althought the 15 yo did lamb last year. For some of ours this is their last lambing and they will be making some excellent mutton sausages and burgers once they have filled out again after weaning.
 It sounds like a good idea to continue to feed yours if they are thin, or they won't manage to feed their lambs.  If their teeth are poor they will not be able to eat enough grass to produce milk.

[Madcow]

what a lovely story, perhaps the other ewe was letting her feed a bit before the mum died. So glad all has ended well, sheep sure do surprise us all the time, thats whats so good about them, you learn new things all the time