[babysham]

Hello everyone 

I am in the middle of lambing and have a box of lamb jackets unopened. Bought them donkeys years ago on a whim. It states on the box that should preferably be put on within 12 hours. What if you lamb indoors and turn out at approx. a week on and the weather turns nasty - has anyone any experience of putting a jacket on a lamb older than newborn without it being rejected? Thanks. 

[fsmnutter]

I have only had personal experience putting on lambs of up to 2-3 days old when lambed outdoors "on the hill" of a farm in the Scottish Borders. Any older, they should have a reasonable fat covering, be able to go and hide out a rainfall and use the heat they gain from burning the good supply of mum's milk to stay warm. The main problems are more wind than rain, as this can chill where rain doesn't, so as long as there are plenty places they can hunker down behind walls or hedges or bales of hay/straw/manmade shelters they should be fine. In terms of rejection, after about 24-48 hours, the recognition between mum and lamb is more by voice than smell, it's usually if another ewe licks within the first couple of hours of birth that the mum will reject it.
Hope that helps
Suzanne

[Marches Farmer]

I've used them in the past when the weather has turned very nasty.  I found that experienced ewes coped perfectly well with the sight, sound and smell of their newly decorated lambs but some of the first-timers started butting theirs away.  I also found the macs start to disintegrate after a week or so and would be found caught in trees - I guess they'd done their job by then.  I now prefer to bring the ewes and lambs into a sheltered field if the weather looks bad.

[Crbecky10]

I think a newborn is more likely to be rejected than an older lamb. They'll be fine to put on to keep the weather off, probably fitting a bigger lamb better too cause they can be quite big, but that depends on your breed. 

[Me]

I like them and use them at turnout, ours work out at 15p each and I reason the lamb only has to grow an extra 15p worth over its lifetime as a result of the coat I have only had one ewe (old ewe) reject the coat so far

[Foobar]

I tried them once, on a wee lamb in bad weather ... the mother tore the jacket off - she was having non of it!  That box of macs will remain firmly at the back of the cupboard now I think .

[SallyintNorth]

We use the macs on bare lambs in wet cold weather and now rarely have problems with rejection.

I use only the clear ones, never the coloured ones.  I make sure the ewe is watching as I slowly dress the lamb in the mac, and I make sure she can get at its bottom to sniff and reassure herself that it's hers - trimming some length off the jacket if necessary.  If it's a very young lamb, I probably smear some poo over the end of the jacket, just to be certain (where's the 'Eeiuoooowww' emotiwotsit?!)

Last year, being overprotective grandma, I jacketed the Manx' lambs in horrid weather.  Pricket was fine with her two but DC was another story...

I did Pricket’s first. With each lamb, I put the jacket on slowly, one hole at a time (over the head, let her see it and sniff it, front right leg, ditto, rear right leg, ditto, then the left legs), and she seemed perfectly happy that they should be so dressed.

The same with Dot Cotton’s boy - and you would think he had turned into the Devil incarnate. I had to stay and watch for quite a while to be sure she would neither attack him nor abandon him. She still hadn’t let him suckle when I left, but I knew I would be back in an hour or two so could check his tummy then.

I wished I could have taken a video - it was so funny! Lambie would run to mum, she’d back away, practically running backwards, neck oustretched towards him, sniffing his head - yes, my lamb, won’t attack - but terrified of this rustling layer that covered him. Then lamb would turn and move away, and she’d sniff his bottom - yes, my lamb, love him - and follow him wherever he went.

He’d turn and want to get to the milk bar, and she’d back-pedal again. Poor DC. But this lamb had the softest coat of the three, and I really did want him to have his macintosh on if she would accept it.

When I returned an hour or so later, she seemed perfectly happy with him and his tummy was nice and full, so all was well.

[babysham]

Update to my question - I have a tiny set of twins and were too small to go out with the rest of the flock even though two weeks old. I took a risk and dressed them both in a clear jacket in the pen and the ewe never bothered and then put them out and it was as if she didn't know they were wearing them - maybe due to being clear? Great result