[feldar]

Wellies i know how you feel i will never forget years ago holding my first two orphan ewe lambs through the night as they died from watery mouth, it was a very steep learning curve. I really feel for you, it does get better and you will learn more and more to prevent these things from happening.
We dose our lambs with a product called Spectam and this works a treat though I don't think it's cheap.
But i think there are other products on the market that are just as good. In this sort of thing prevention is the key, just like keeping up with all their vaccinations all very important.
Dont give up you will soon have healthy lambs to look at

[wellies]

thank you again for all your replies.The ewe lamb was taken to the vets this morning as I felt she was suffering too much to continue. I think possibly in hindsight she probably didn't get enough colostrum as she could have; she was weak and obviously required splints when born unfortuantely my attention was taken by the dead lamb born at the same time and trying to skin and foster another lamb on to the grieving mum. Oh in hindsight I should have paid more attention to the little ewe as well but once I had latched her on she was suckling fine and seemed to be at regular intervals throughout the afternoon and the proceeding days. More vigilence required by me  . I have picked up some Spectam from the vets as I am now absolutely paranoid about the next ones. I do have a question though (perhaps fsmnutter could help here) we normally give 0.5ml of terramycin by intramuscular injection at birth, will the dose of Spectam replace this or do I give them both? Thank you all again for your help 

[fsmnutter]

The injection of terramycin and the spectam both are an antibiotic to help prevent these diseases.
You should really do one or the other, because if they got both, and then had disease later on in life, anything in their system has been exposed to two different drugs, and may be harder to treat.
As such, I would go with giving the Spectam and see how it pans out, that way you have the Terramycin if any turn ill later.
Sorry to hear about the little one, but it sounds like it was for the best, she tried, but with more than one thing to fight (legs and watery mouth disease), it must have just been too much for her, and you gave her peace.
Sometimes these problems come along to give you something to learn from, and I think you're absolutely right, making sure that they have something preventative like spectam and plenty colostrum will help the others yet to come into the world.
Hope the rest don't give you as much trouble
Suzanne

[Remy]

So sorry to hear of the little lamb  .  I can sympathise so much with you, sometimes no matter what you do you will lose them and it's not for your lack of trying.  Hoping the rest of your lambing is stress free! 

[Marches Farmer]

If the lamb is a little 'un, and doesn't suckle within half an hour (fussy or first-time ewe, for instance) especially if it has a much larger twin, I generally give good quality powdered colostrum or gently warmed frozen colostrum (I milk from a good ewe with a single, on her second to fifth lambing, that will have good quality colostrum).  This seems to see them through for a couple of hours to the point where they can suckle for themselves and saves them getting too cold and weak because the energy from their brown fat is running out.

[SallyintNorth]

Tim Tyne recommends Thermovite, Dot says she gives a squirt to anything she's dubious has had enough colostrum and it keeps them going until Tim can get on and tube them if they need it.

Never assume that because you see a newborn lamb under its mum, even if its tail is waggling, that it's suckling proficiently.  Nor that, even if it is definitely suckling, it is getting enough colostrum.

Checking for a plump belly is the only sure-fire indicator.  An apparently happily sleeping lambie isn't a sure indicator, either - get it on its feet, it should stretch and not look hollow.

The first bellyful of colostrum is the most important, but they need to be checked a minimum of twice, preferably three or four times a day to check that they are still getting what they need. 

Grizzling lambs, hollow-looking lambs, lambs with cold ears and/or droopy ears - all warrant investigation.  And if you ever see a very young lamb drinking water, be very alarmed.  (Ask me how I know...)

[sabrina]

Life is a learning curve and you will not make the same mistake again. We all start off much the same, looking forward to breeding our own livestock but nature is not always easy and no matter how many books you read or how much advice you get nothing works better than hands on with the job.

[wellies]

I will definately be more vigilant in the future but I must say when the vet came out to check and splint her legs the day after she was born he too thought she was suckling and had a full tummy, he wasn't concerned at all about her. She never looked depressed or hollow, just very small and obviously had a few wobbles with her splints    I always look for a good stretch on waking and this is something she didn't do very often; I put this down to the splints and having to control those out stretched legs when she got up. Again in hindsight she probably should have stretched even with the splints on. I have frozen colostrum and synthetic for such eventualities but really didn't think she needed them. It was only on day 5 that she very rapidly went from suckling to being lethargic and from that point despite the efforts of the vet went down hill rapidly. when I spoke to the vet this morning he was quite saddened she had continued to get worse as he really thought we had caught it in the very early stages and she had shown some improvement after the initial treatment. I really appreciate all your comments and suggestions and will be following them all up. Hopefully the rest will be a bit more successful. Off to check on everyone now. Thank you again everyone

[MrsJ]

Wellies - I break my heart over any lamb we lose, but when I see the others skipping round the field in the sunshine (?!) I remember why I keep on coming back for more.  You did everything you could and far more than most commercial farmers would do.  Have a hug.

[kanisha]

Wellies it is always hard losing a lamb but knowing when to make that decision I feel is perhaps even harder. thank you for being brave enough to call it quits