[Dans]

Hi all,

We've finished our first lambing  6 lambs, comprising 2 sets of twins, 3 boys  and 3 girls with no losses so far. I say so far as I'm worried about one lamb.

Short story, 2 day old tiny ram lamb not following mum. Longer story below.

Our 4th ewe to lamb had scanned as a single.  She had a small ewe lamb  on Thursday who took 20 mins to get up but then fed like a trooper. Her surprise second lamb had a harder time.  She wasn't pushing at all and her kind of wriggled his way out. When he hit the ground she liked him a bit but then went back to the ewe lamb. I made sure his airway was clear and he was breathing but then left them as she kept going back to lick him.

After an hour he was still on the ground but pretty much linked clean. We wait until about an hour and 40 then went in to help. We penned them up in the shade of a tree and tried holding mum to stand up lamb and latch him on. At this point he would stand on his own but quickly go back down.

Holding her didn't work well so we tipped her and latched him on. It worked a bit but he kept coming off. I then reached for the bottle and he had a few sucks but it had cooled so I went to reheat it. Came back and he was suckling nicely from her  (his sister was sleeping off her food so he had no competition).

We brought them in for the night but although he stretched nicely when stood up we noticed he would bleeting and bleeting for mum but then not do much when she was near. He seems to have times of really good feeding but also being times of being in a daze.

I was going to bottle him yesterday but he was up and running around much more confidently and feeding well again. This morning I let them out of the polytunnel into an outdoor pen but didn't physically move the lambs. I wanted to see if he would follow mum.

I left them for 50 mins and Mum kept going back and nudging him but he seemed deeply asleep and uninterested in following her. I went back out and as I approached he stood up. Mum came running over and called to him but he just stood there bleeting. Took another 30 minutes of mum running back and forwards before he finally looked for some food.  Once he fed he literally jumped and skipped out after mum with his sister.

Why doesn't he follow her immediately? Is there anything I can do to help (other than not interferring), and when would you let them out?

I should add that he is tiny. He weighed 1.3kg and our biggest lamb was 3.2kg. His sister was only 1.6kg though. Any advice very welcome. They are currently kept penned in a 4x 6ft hurdle pen to hopefully help.

Dans

[Fieldfare]

Hi Dans- if he has jumped and skipped I would say let nature take it's course. It sounds sort of normal and perhaps has taken a bit of time to gain strength due to his size (they sometimes are that size so no real worry). They sometimes do bleat a bit. I would defo. keep penned up for a couple of days more just to be sure that he is strong enough to follow her (but as you say in the shade). But again jumping and skipping proves he is prob. OK! Maybe make pen bit bigger if necessary? If he has suckled and knows where the teat is then I would leave alone- he and mum knows best now!


Well done on 6 lambs!!!! That is a good haul!

[Marches Farmer]

I would be inclined to make a big pen with some shelter, in the shade, or pen in a barn if you have one.  Make good quality  hay and water available to ewe and lambs and feed the ewe concentrate level for twins, to maintain her milk output.  Tiny lambs often take a while to get going, but you don't want them using energy to find their dam - they need it to catch up.  On the other hand if something seems not quite right on the outside there's often something wrong on the inside, so I wouldn't get your hopes this one will survive up too high just yet.

[Dans]

Thanks. He followed her back into the polytunnel nicely last night and they both followed mum out this morning so we set up a trailer top as shelter and used 6 hurdles to make a large pen on the grass.

They seem to be doing well today, will keep they penned tonight as there is heavy rain forecast and I want to make sure they are close to shelter. Will have a see at letting them mingle with our other new mum and her ram lamb (a day younger than them but twice the size). And they can meet the other lambs and ewes through the fence. Just hope they don't go through the stock fence as they are small enough to!

Dans