[Alicenz]

Hi, in NZ most people rear any orphan lambs in sheds with free access to the outdoors once they are strong enough. Sheep are not normally kept inside at all here, as most farmers have thousands and huge properties. My property is very high and gets extreme coastal weather - rain, very cold winds etc and the shelter is not great yet.  I have a five month old lamb that is blind, who i have had for a month.  I have her mother here with her, but she is weaned.  She is on the lighter side, and i am trying to fatten her up. ( all my sheep are pets).  The blindness is not a problem, but we are going into winter and for the last week the weather has been terrible.  She has a felted wool cover (she was shorn just before i got her) and is outside whenever possible on average quality grass as we have had drought until now. 

It is not the norm to keep animals indoors here, but when the weather is really bad I have been keeping her in the shed where she and her mum and my other blind sheep are at night.  I understand that it is normal in Europe to have sheep etc indoors for days at a time, and hope you can advise me.  Because she is thin  when I have to keep her in (she would likely get pneumonia if out, the weather is so rough) I am giving her lamb pellets, hay, a big pile of grass and lucerne haylage.  Does anyone have ideas about this, whether it is enough for her, she doesnt always seem that interested in the cut grass, but does nibble at the haylage a little and i can only give her a cup or so of pellets as they can bloat and kill them if given too much.  She is wormed, vacc etc. I keep her separate from the mum by a mesh gate when in the shed as the mother eats all the food otherwise.  If anyone has weaned and grass eating lambs that they have to keep indoors for any reason, can you tell me please how you would go about it.  I think im doing it right, but you know the worry...

[Pedwardine]

Really don't know if any help but my lambs have creep feed ad-lib as well as the grass/hay and don't get bloat. Access to a lick block or lick bucket is sensible so she has all the trace elements, vitamins and minerals she needs if she isn't getting them from what she's already eating ie if grass is not the best quality. Also fresh water available at all times though you likely haven't mentioned this as it's just obvious.

[Alicenz]

Hi Thanks yes I have a vit min block and water available. The lamb pellets are higher protein than the sheep pellets available here. So you would have pellets available ad lib?  I might try upping them a bit.

[SallyintNorth]

Our lamb grower and finisher rations are typically 16-18% protein and can be fed ad lib, yes, where there is good forage to balance the overall intake.  My rule of thumb is 1/2lb per day is good for tickover for any healthy ovine; 1lb/day is a good ration for a store lamb; up to 2lbs per day to put flesh on a thin (or pregnant) sheep.  More than 2lbs per day for a lamb and they tend not to eat enough forage to make for a balanced diet. 

In evil weather you can pretty much double the cake rations - although I think I may even then not give a lamb more than 3lbs per day.

Generally the guidance on the cake says it should not account for more than 70% of the dry matter.  If hay is generally 85% dry matter, then by my calculations, a lamb eating 2lbs of cake should also be eating at least 1lb of hay. 

[Alicenz]

Hi Thanks Sally in the North, I was hoping you would reply, so I could also thank you for your reply on Grahams thread.  Cake - hmmm different words in different countries, is that the same as pellets???! which are compressed meal which goes to sog if it gets wet.  You are both making me feel like im probably doing the right thing, but possibly could up the nuts even more. Its only an issue because I dont ussually have thinner lambs, they are normally plump and strong orphans.  I upped the pellets tonight , she (Lily) has been on grass all day as we have had some sun and no wind from Antarctica thank goodness.  Tomorrow  I will check a new bag that i will be getting for the quantities they suggest, silly me i listened to the person that sold it to me but didnt read it.  But your calculations are interesting, Ill have a proper work out with your calc tomor.  Lily liked having more pellets!   I get the feeling that you dont panic if they are not eating grass but have other supplementary food. Thank you both!

[sabrina]

I rear orphan lambs and take them in when young if the weather is bad but I have a large airy barn. Mine also get add lib creep feed. Have you wormed her ?

[Alicenz]

Thanks Sabrina. Yes she is regularly drenched, and the first two have been a drench that also does tapeworm, so no problems there although I am not sure if she was drenched prior to me getting her.  I have a spacious indoor area for her, dry and sheltered and airy.  Its really I am not used to having a thin weaker animal at this time of year, when the weather is so bad, normally a lamb this size is in mid summer when i can put her on the grass every day.  Really Im wondering what people feed weaned lambs that should be on grass when they keep them in barns in bad weather.

[Alicenz]

Thanks everyone for your replies, Ive upped the pellets (there were no instructions on the bag!)  but kept in mind the % of pellets to grass, hay and haylage.  So all looking good.  The weather has cleared at the mo and the grass grown a bit, so she has been out on that.  Also now tucking into the haylage. 

[Pedwardine]

You sound a good 'mum' doing the best for your babies. Would you post up some pics sometime. I'd love to see a pic of Lily  . How many blind sheep do you have and how have you come by them all? Do you have to make sure your layout remains the same for them so they don't stumble into things. I've only experience of a blind hen (went blind gradually) and a deaf cat!

[Marches Farmer]

We have one old ewe that's become a pet and she's outside most of the time but her fleece isn't too good so we got a large size (bull mastiff probably) waterproof dog coat and it works brilliantly.  We only get her in when the weather is really vicious.

[Alicenz]

Thanks for your posts, they made me smile.  Yes i will try to put some pics on, she is not the prettyist lamb, but so sweet, and i think she is lovely!  She has a woolover felted wool tiny calf cover on at the mo, and that has helped alot, Marches farmer i might try that on my old wether whose wool is not so brilliant this year either.

My story... those sad little waifs that get left behind, that no one believes will survive get obsessive loving care and ussually make it through to become giants!  Kind hearted farming friends, kind hearted strangers... word gets around! and the vet i go to is so kind and helpful.

But at the moment Lily is the last I can take, as i need to keep the number manageable!  I find it very hard to say no, but apart from lily and her mum have had to say no this year.  I find that quite hard, as animals at my place have their whole lives to enjoy, but i cant give that to the millions of sheep in nz, so do what i can! 

Seems blind lambs happen on most farms now and then, mainly from pink eye, which can be treated and eyesight saved if caught early enough which is fabulous to see a bind lamb get its eyesight back.  Just with orbenin cream.

Im looking forward to the day when i can make a nice warm small barn for them for bad weather of which i get alot.  But starting out here (7 years) and as everyone knows it is a slow process.  So making do with a big shipping container with bedding.  It works well.  Farming is quiet different here in Nz to in europe, mass scale so much less of the individual care, and bringing in of animals in bad weather.

Sheep are fabulous though and incredily smart.  Sometimes too smart when it comes to trees!  Alice and Lily do have a special paddock -new fencing,  no sharp bits of wire sticking out of fences, no holes, or water they can get into, and good shelter. The water bucket stays in the same place, but if it is moved Alice can quickly find it.  I lead them by shaking sheep pellets in a plastic container ( sharp sound upsets them), Alice (now 7 was left by her mum on my friends farm) knows her way around her area, and also across my drive to another paddock, but i always talk constantly to her when i move her so she can follow.  Plays like a lamb when she is with two of her mates.  But always very careful.  Lily is still at the carrying stage as i have to take her a wee way to the little paddock with decent grass.  and she is too slow to walk... eating all the way.  Im getting strong!

[Alicenz]

pics of lily and her mum, and Alice my other blind ewe...a bit overweight but winter is coming 

[Pedwardine]

Thanks so much for the pics. I think she is pretty and her coat is so sweet. They all look very serene and happy. Just so nice to see who you write about.