[PetiteGalette]

Background.
We had 3 ewes, all believed to be pregnant. Ram was starting to butt them and me for the food in the bucket, so he went to Iceland, via local hitman last Monday.
On Tuesday  number 1 ewe produced a single ewe lamb in the field, on time and overnight and all is well with bonding, feeding etc.
On Friday afternoon our 2nd ewe (and the twin sister of the first ewe and very nervy) started to attack the ewe lamb as the mother had re-joined 'the gang'.  We manhandled the 1st ewe and lamb to the orchard where they have settled in.
Sunday morning in the field 2nd ewe gave birth to a male and an hour and a half later, to another (slightly smaller) male. I watched her clean up both males and didn't interfere until an hour later when she was not letting the firstborn suckle and was butting the secondborn. We rubbed both the twins with everything we could find in the field (fairly fresh) but she was absolutely petrified of the lambs and pushed both of them away. We made up two pens in the protected corner of the field (one with a shelter in for the lambs), put the ewe in a harness and MoH acted as the 'adopter' restraining the ewe as we tried to get the lambs to suckle. Bucking bronco doesn't come near to describing her reaction! Neither of the lambs had anything in their belly, so I set to massaging the teats while MoH plied the front end with his (gulp!) best curly Kale. Of course. the lambs didn't have a clue but 2 hours later they had a little milk in their tummies. She had not let down a lot of milk and one teat was not very firm.
To cut a long saga short.............. we have been restraining the ewe and feeding the lambs every 3 hours (day & night) since and they are doing well., and the ewe is producing enough milk for them to be satisfied and not crying.  Now, the ewe is able to be held by the halter while being plied with best purple sprouting broccoli leaves (gulp! MoH's pride and joy) and lets the lambs suckle. BUT, if we let her into their enclosure (or them out into the intermediate enclosure) she just turns round and round sniffing them and gets very wound up and doesn't like the lambs near her. So we go through the process of holding her head and me putting the lambs (who now know where to go) to her and she stays there for several minutes until the lambs break off and I remove them to their enclosure.
The ewe is free to wander the field but she doesn't go far to graze and always lies next to the barrier between her and the lambs; responds to their calls and licks them through the barrier. It seems she likes them, but not around her rear end. It's only 2 days and she has improved greatly. We intend keeping up the feeding 7 times a day until Saturday and then missing the 3am feed ('cos we're shattered) and, perhaps, reducing the number of feeds.
What I want to know is, how do we get round the problem of re-uniting the twins with this ewe?  Will we have to wait until the lambs are weaned? If number 3 lambs down (scheduled, if she is in lamb, on Wednesday) we'll move her and lamb  into the orchard with number 1, to avoid any hassle.
Sorry for the long epistle! But any advice on any of this would be appreciated as we've never had rejected lambs before.

[Bramblecot]

Sorry I can't offer any advice but give you full marks for perseverence and patience.  No kale or broccoli for my ewes - the chickens ate it all 

[feldar]

I am guessing this is her first lambing? if so it is common for this to happen. On our farm this ewe would be given another chance next year if
a, we persevered and she finally accepted the lambs or
b, she had had a bad lambing and it was a bit traumatic for her
If she was a ewe and had lambed before she would go to market as soon as she weaned her lambs and was up in good order to sell.
I know this sounds harsh but this type of ewe is a pain and can be draining to yourselves. you just don't need the hassle.
If she's a first timer,  keep persevering and she may in time accept the lambs, when they are old enough get the lambs to start taking creep feed then when they are eating enough of that, wean them.
You could always substitute one feed with a bottle if it's easier maybe the night feed? i would Spectam them though to guard against watery mouth

[PetiteGalette]

Hi Feldar,
Sorry, forgot to say, it's first-time lambing for them all.

[SteveHants]

I am guessing this is her first lambing? if so it is common for this to happen. On our farm this ewe would be given another chance next year if
a, we persevered and she finally accepted the lambs or
b, she had had a bad lambing and it was a bit traumatic for her
If she was a ewe and had lambed before she would go to market as soon as she weaned her lambs and was up in good order to sell.
I know this sounds harsh but this type of ewe is a pain and can be draining to yourselves. you just don't need the hassle.
If she's a first timer,  keep persevering and she may in time accept the lambs, when they are old enough get the lambs to start taking creep feed then when they are eating enough of that, wean them.
You could always substitute one feed with a bottle if it's easier maybe the night feed? i would Spectam them though to guard against watery mouth

Good post.

I might let them have another go if they were a ewe that went to the ram in her first year, but to be honest, culling would not be very far from my mind.

[SallyintNorth]

As others have said, this is not uncommon in first timers.  You are doing great; she will accept them in time.

If she lambed Sunday, I would now be feeding 4 times a day.  6 is better for them but here it's too busy to manage after the first couple of days and they seem to do ok on 4.  Last one before I go to bed and first one when I get up - if I was up to a lambing ewe or calving cow in the night I might give them another one, but I wouldn't get up especially; I'd be dead before the whole flock had finished! 

In terms of reuniting - if she isn't actually really beating them up then I would be starting now to leave them with her after feeding.  If you think she might harm them, stay nearby and reprimand her if she does do more than butt at them to push them away.  Gradually increase the amount of time you leave them with her; if you are sure she won't harm them, leave them with her (in a small pen) all the time.  Yes, she'll circle and back away, but they will be very persistent and it will all help to get her used to what she has to do.

At feeding time, start to drop the halter and also the food bribes.  Sheep do respond to tone of voice, so praise her when she is letting them feed and tell her off if she fidgets or butts them.  She needs to start to know what it feels like to be standing quietly letting her lambs feed, I would only be haltering her if she won't stop ramming them against a solid surface, and even then, by now I would have her trained that if I am in the pen or nearby, then she cannot get away with that sort of behaviour.

Good luck!  They nearly always do come round, and usually it takes less than a week.  As everyone else has said, first-timers are allowed to find it all strange and hard to get used to - but any ewe who behaves like this the second time is for culling.  And, once you know she will be like this again, don't keep her ewe lambs on as breeders - they may be brilliant mothers, but there is a lot of inheritance in mothering ability, so it's best to keep ewe lambs on from good mothers.

[tizaala]

They will often regect lambs if they are not producing enough milk to feed twins, try upping her feed a bit , get some 18%  sheep nuts and give her a mugfull twice a day this should get her going.

[PetiteGalette]

Thanks for all the input everyone.

We were thinking about cutting out the night-time feed after having to wake everyone up at 3am and the lambs only feeding for around 3 mins........., before snuggling back into their shelter.
We started letting the lambs run up to her and around her at this morning's feed so that she gets used to them 'bombing' about when she's in the pen with them.

Any tips on getting the ewe to actually eat the sheep pellets (all I can get around here) that she has in her feeder?

[PetiteGalette]

Just a couple of pictures of the lambs taken Monday afternoon.

[kanisha]

awwww broody

[SallyintNorth]

Any tips on getting the ewe to actually eat the sheep pellets (all I can get around here) that she has in her feeder?

Not a problem we come across here - Texels and Mules don't seem to suffer with poor appetite!   

You could try sprinkling some molasses on them, they usually like that.  You could maybe also reduce or stop the top-quality vegetation... perhaps sheep pellets simply don't compare with Curly Kale or Sprouting Broccoli! 

[feldar]

Any tips on getting the ewe to actually eat the sheep pellets (all I can get around here) that she has in her feeder?

Not a problem we come across here - Texels and Mules don't seem to suffer with poor appetite!   

You could try sprinkling some molasses on them, they usually like that.  You could maybe also reduce or stop the top-quality vegetation... perhaps sheep pellets simply don't compare with Curly Kale or Sprouting Broccoli! 

i know what i would prefer!!

[hexhammeasure]

we would put the ewe in a hurdle adopter for 3 days much easier for catching although you do have to watch out for squashed lambs if the lambs aren't too strong however we bring the ewes and lambs inside for a day or so while they 'foot' which means its easier to keep them topped up. We also put a heat lamp up in a corner of the pen 6'X6' so the lamb wont try to cuddle up to the ewe and get squashed. results vary but more often than not the ewe is happier with the lambs after 3 days, one exception was a gimmer that refused to have her lamb in the shed but as soon as she was back in the field (after a week) I wasn't allowed to even go near the lamb... Sheep eh!!

[Haylo-peapod]

Do you have a dog PetiteGalette?
If so, it may be worth bringing it to the other side of the pen for a little while when 'mum' is with her lambs to see whether it makes her more protective.  It 'may' just help with the bonding

[PetiteGalette]

(i know what i would prefer!!)
Us also! MoH is making a great sacrifice............However, she's only getting the old leaves and not the new sprouts of the white & purple sprouting broccoli. (There are limits to a man's sacrifices!)
The ewes are a Texel/Rouge cross and No 1 ewe  in the orchard is knocking the pellets back like there's no tomorrow (wouldn't eat them when carrying the lamb!). Will try the molasses on the pellets.............

hexhammeasure
Unfortunately we don't have room to bring them in but are thinking about a movable field shelter for next year..........

Do you have a dog PetiteGalette?
If so, it may be worth bringing it to the other side of the pen for a little while when 'mum' is with her lambs to see whether it makes her more protective.  It 'may' just help with the bonding

Yeay! Managed a quote, at last!

We tried everything suggested on the Rejected Lamb thread......................................., including our (very) excitable Springer Spaniel pup, but it made no difference. BUT, a big THANKYOU to all posters on that thread; it helped us no end!

One last question.........
Can I mix in some Lucerne pellets with the pencils for the mums? A neighbour has given me half a bag as her rabbits won't eat them. It does say on the bag for sheep/rabbits/horses etc.