[beagh-suffolks]

a ewe freshly lambed last night, we milked the ewe out and gave both lambs the beastly milk, when i came back to check on the ewe and her lambs , one lamb had managed to get out of the pen and was running round after another ewe, the same lamb had to be bottle fed this morning as she wouldnt sook from the ewe at all, we held the lamb on and still nothing, the lamb keeps walking up and down the ewe looking for the teat, but wont hold on to it when its in her mouth(last night we manged to get the lamb to sook off the ewe)...her other lamb is having no problems at all and the ewe has plenty of milk..anyone any ideas what to do?

[Old Shep]

Sometimes they can be a bit dopey. if you have time just keep trying to latch the lamb onto the teat. But if you think it is starving milk the ewe and bottle feed the lamb with its mothers Milk. Make sure it has a tummy full at night and then maybe in the morning try getting it latched on again.  It could be feeding when you are not looking though. Hold it up by the front legs and run your hand down each side of its ribs. If it goes in after the ribs it is empty and needs feeding.

[Crbecky10]

Some can be very sulky if you try to help them to suck, if its trying itself thats a good sign and it'll probably manage it itself, but making sure it's full with the bottle is a good idea 

[harmony]

Do you normally milk the ewe for the first feed? How did you give the lambs the milk? Is it not better they are encouraged to suck the ewe from the start?


Just asking as we have suffolks for the first time and I know they can be dopey.


Our first ewe had triplets and very quickly so no chance to dry one off before the next. We gave them all colostrum by tube to give them a start. Then later when they were drier and looking for up we suckled them all and they were away.

[Ladygrey]

Same as the question above I suppose, why do you milk the ewe out and give it to the lambs? Cant the lambs drink themselves after they are born?

Best thing is to leave the lambs be and let them learn to suck the ewe from the beginning? if the lamb isnt sucking then bottling it is not going to be a good thing for it, let it go hungry and then it will learn to suck

[beagh-suffolks]

when i started in to sheep 8/9 years ago, i had my neighbor helped me with the first lambing and he always took the first 100ml of beastly milk straight from the ewe and tubed into the lambs if they looked slightly weak so we have just always done it, especially with the pedigrees we do it...its better than the powdered stuff..

[Ladygrey]

I suggest you stop doing it then if you dont have a reason to do it

You will be breeding lambs that need help as soon as they are born, how will you be able to select for lamb vigour and breed for lambs that are up and sucking straight away after birth?

I would be doing it the other way around, I treat the pedigree sheep more harsh and tough than the non pedigree sheep as when selling tups for commercial ewes people want lambs that jump up and suck straight after hitting the floor

[beagh-suffolks]

i have no problem what so ever when it comes to lamb vigor, there always straight up, there is a reason to do so if you have a weak lamb that needs a bit to get it up and going, never does any harm and has always worked for me, and nothing is better than the ewes first colostrum, why stop something when its helping?
for the pedigrees i bought most of my ewes in lamb bar this year where i bred my own an so far no problems, opposite of last year..pedigree suffolk lambs can be dopey at times, i no a breeder who colostrum's every single lamb with 120ml an he is considered one of the best breeders in the society, his lambs are all over the world an have no problem what so ever vigour or sooking wise.

[Ladygrey]

I do understand the tubing of a weak lamb, this lamb would then get a notch and wouldn't be kept in my flock

I however still don't understand the tubing of every lamb and I don't understand how if the lambs are up and suckling straight away then why would they still need tubing

If it works for you then great, but maybe it's good to question why we do things sometimes and question wether it's best for the breed in the long term 

[Fleecewife]

What is beastly milk?

[Tim W]

What is beastly milk?

Beasty milk....beastings---colostrum , depending on where you come from

[Old Shep]

I suggest you stop doing it then if you dont have a reason to do it/

The post said they would do that if the lamb was weakly, not all lambs. Lambing is a stressful time and a time of self blame - please give some support, there are times when we all need it!

[ScotsGirl]

I am with everyone who has commented. I cannot see why you would interfere this much with nature. I always clear. Both teats to make sure colostrum isn't too thick and bunging them up. If lambs are struggling to find teats or get up I will help them latch on and maybe hold them until they have a feed. Only time I bottle them is if very weak or triplets then I may give some additional artificial colostrum to get them up and running.


Never had a problem giving a bit of bottle before they suck from mum and for me I am happier than tubing in case I get it down wrong way. The colostrum is critical but 99% of the time they lambs are more than capable of helping themselves.

[Ladygrey]

Yes I agree lambing can be a stressful time, so therefore I tried to suggest a way to make the workload easier thus less stressful 

If lambs are full of vigour and up and sucking then thats fantastic  and no reason to tube, the op made no mention of the lambs being weak but they were tubed, perhaps they were both weak and hadn't drunk on their own within a few hours, now one is struggling to get the concept of sucking, perhaps this could have something to do with it as it wasnt left to suck in the first place?

So I suggested that the lamb be left to be hungry for a bit and if she is still looking and full of energy then she may find the teat and suck on her own

I dont see how these suggestions are not supporting, sorry if they didnt seem that way!

[Old Shep]

when i started in to sheep 8/9 years ago, i had my neighbor helped me with the first lambing and he always took the first 100ml of beastly milk straight from the ewe and tubed into the lambs if they looked slightly weak .

Maybe my interpretation is different to others. What's wrong with tubing a lamb if it looks weak?  If you've another 40 or 400 lambs to keep an eye on you need to do the best you can. You wouldn't not breed from that line surely, its just one of those things?