[kate. x]

  hi any chance someone out there could give me a few tips?? I find myself hand rearing 2 lambs. I have no experience at all!! 1 is doing fairly well, the other I am struggling to get milk down, ideas?? The other puzzling thing is they are both 'scratching 'them selves like dogs ,  I am thinking fleas?? I havent seen any though. HELP??!! any ideas would be appreciated. Kate

[Moleskins]

Firstly good luck, you're going to need it, bottle fed lambs love to die.
I don't normally say this but a trip to the vet might be in order to assess the itching.
Dependant on age tube feeding is sometimes the way to get milk into them,
otherwise put your finger in the lambs mouth and then swap it for the teat,
I've got one and you literally had to force feed it. Still not keen on a bottle.
Once they do get the hang of it they will be all over you.
Also inject for clostridial diseases at 3+ weeks

[Old Shep]

Moleskins would you inject with Heptevac_p or whatever earlier for a pet lamb than a lamb on a ewe?

[plumseverywhere]

How old are they? do you know anything of their start -ie. did they have colostrum?

our 3 this year have thrived, we've been lucky. we knew that they'd had 24 hours colostrum via the farmer and that their mums had been given heptavac P prior to lambing, this meant we could give them their first dose at 4 weeks.
Would get the itching checked though.

[Moleskins]

Moleskins would you inject with Heptevac_p or whatever earlier for a pet lamb than a lamb on a ewe?

I wouldn't give it earlier than 3 weeks, but I'd be hoping that the ewe had been injected prior to
the lamb being born and that the lamb had received colostrum at the outset.
The leaflet with Heptavac  does say not suitable for lambs younger than 3 weeks.

[Remy]

Orphan lambs can be a challenge to get to accept the bottle, it's usually a case of perseverance, and can take a week or more!  I have three this year, and initially had to force them to take the teat - even then they would suck feebly or not at all and it would take ages to get 100ml into them.  If they are reluctant then put a finger into the side of the mouth to open it, slide the teat in and hold it there but not so you are putting too much pressure on the nose. 

With mine I was worried about them dropping off weight so put out some creep feed for them.  One of the orphans was my own bred lamb who nearly died with hypothermia and by the time he'd recovered his mum wouldn't take him back, so he was the quickest to get the hang of suckling.  Then another one suddenly developed a taste for it, but the third didn't seem interested - however, I kept offering it to her.

Now the three of them are like milking machines, they can't get enough or get it down fast enough!!  They also eat grass and creep and I've had to stop the creep as two of them are beginning to look like blimps.

Re. the itching, do you mean just scratching themselves occasionally with their hind legs - most lambs do this.  If it's all the time then I'd suspect some skin problem and probably best to get vet advice.

[kate. x]

Oh thank you everyone. It is such a relief to speak to people who know what they are doing!!
 It is just the occasional itch not all the time, no sign of skin problems. If gets worse or continues I will take a vets advice.
The one that wasn't feeding just took 9oz straight off this morning,  :thumbs up:but when just tried to re feed would only take an onze!!! Blimey! My chickens are so much easier!!! I haven't a clue why he wont take it now???
 
They have both had the squits and both had a shot of antibiotics, 3 days ago. Their poos now are much more formed.
They both had manufactured colostrum, the one I am struggling with nearly died of hypothermia,

I have put water down for them.
Thanks everyone please keep those suggestions coming, really appreciated

[kate. x]

PS

have read something about a recipe for home made colostrum?? with raw eggs and milk and olive oil, the advice was to give when born but then also repeat with more of the home  made stuff after a week to boost the gut bacteria? 

[plumseverywhere]

What is 9oz in Mls?  They only have tiny tummies when they are very little lambs so it might be too much?  If I recall correctly, we were giving a maximum of 1400mls of Lamlac (or whatever the bag said!) split over however many feeds they were on. Started on 4 feeds (crack of dawn and last one nearly midnight) then 3 feeds etc.

You might be just as well using one of those probiotic yogurts in the milk replacer rather than trying to make up colostrum at this stage. A lot of this just depends on how old the lambs are?

[kate. x]

Hi> 9oz is 300ml (ish)  1 is 8 days, one is 10days.  the older of the 2 is taking it just fine. but the younger one is taking about half what I think he probably should.

if i put in some probiotic would i put a whole pot in the bottle or ? I am just trying everything to help the little one that I can try.

should say both look well, alert playing in garden.

ta for help





I had been told to give bout

[Moleskins]

According to my bag of milk powder they should be having about 250ml 4 times a day.
This will depend on breed though, one of my primitive breeds is taking nowhere near that,
but I do think she's sneaking in for a bit off a ewe if she can get away with it.

[SallyintNorth]

According to my bag of milk powder they should be having about 250ml 4 times a day.

Different products have different guidelines - the one I use is 'up to 1L per day per lamb' but some others (and I think Lamlac is one such) are 'up to 1.5L'.