[atallon]

Thank you to all who offered words of advice. I should explain that I was simply renting a cabin on a property where meat lambs were raised. I had never gone in the barn or had anything to do with the owner's flock. One night a worker was checking the frozen pipes in the barn and ran to my cabin. He asked me to help as the owner was away. I ran from farm to farm begging someone to help and nobody would help me. (This should tell you something about the owner)  The ewe had been down for days, there was a stillborn on the ground. I had dishwashing gloves on, and pulled a live sheep out and then another stillborn. Please understand that I had no knowledge whatsoever, and desperately tried to keep the newborn alive. I researched as much as I could while bottle feeding this lamb. I also relied heavily on my new veterinarian because I was so terribly inexperienced. I am not in the UK, and my veterinarian was my only support. This lamb lived to be seven months old, and was an incredible joy in my life. Sadly, I did not learn about the Red Maple Leaf until it was too late. Please know that I will not own any kind of livestock in the future. This was something that literally fell into my lap and I was out of my league. I was not raised around livestock and this was just an attempt to keep a tiny newborn alive. Thank you kindly, to all. 

[Roxy]

Well, you should be congratulated in doing a good job in saving that lambs life, as it would definitely have died without help, and for someone with no knowldedge of sheep, you did an amazing job!!

What makes you not want to keep any more livestock in the future?  Like anything, there is hearbreak, but also joy when a new life arrives in the world, so think again about keeping some livestock.  You sound like a caring person who did all they could.

I am afraid being in the UK we are not surrounded by maple leaves, so most of us would not know it was poisonous.

Just so sorry your little lamb died after you had done such a good job of rearing it.

If you keep reading this board, you will learn lots of things about livestock, and that may inspire you to keep some for yourself maybe?

[pegusus pig]

As said above, you did well in a difficult situation.   you did very well keeping the little lamb alive and growing it up to such an age, don't know much about sheep (only what I've read on here ) but I'm sure if all had gone well with the little lamb (born properly etc) it would be about the age it would have been going to the ends of its day, and that would have been with out the love and care you showed it. It had a happy life with you by the sounds of it. Keeping live stock of any sort is the most wonderful and heart breaking experience, but its what makes us human, being able to care.
Don't right off keeping live stock again, you did a wonderful job, and with more experience and advice I'm sure you would find it a very rewarding thing to do. I myself had no idea maple was poisons to sheep, and if had been in your situation would probably have done the same, glove and all!! Its easy to look back and think i should have thought, but learn by your mistakes and look to the future. 

[Rosemary]

You should be proud of your achievement - I'm sure if you were planning to have livestock, you would thoroughly research the topic and be a great owner.

[PuBS]

A hard fact of life is that wherever you have livestock you will from time to time get deadstock.
Irrespective of numbers losing one is never easier.It always seems to be the favourites too, never the miserable bad tempered old devils.

[Tullywood Farm]

To say you were only renting a cabin in the area, you should be proud that you helped with the delivery of these poor lambs, and that you had the joy of feeding a baby lamb for a few months, and gave it all the love that you did.

Just to let you know, we do live on a farm, and before we got our own sheep, I used to take orphan lambs from a neighbouring farm, as if a lamb had twins and one was really weak, the farmer would throw it live into the woods forthe fox, to guarantee that the other one would be strong and make him money (sad but true).

I used to take them, but most of them did not get their mothers colostrum (this is the first milk that the mother produces, and is full of antibodies and makes the babies resistant to illness).

Because we bottle fed them on powdered milk and powdered colostrum sometimes too, quite often they would die within a few months, just because they did not have the resistance - so it is quite possible that the lamb might not have made it into adulthood anyway.

What I am trying to say is, don't beat yourself up for not knowing - it could have died anyway from not having enough resistance to the germs in the land.

You should be proud, and happy, you had a wonderful experience that many people never have, you delivered and raised a lamb by bottle - you did a great job - well done you!

Julie