[JMB]

Hi. A bit of advice please. We recently adopted a ewe with only one teat. She'd been scanned by the farmer and was not pregnant, but it tùrns out she is. And she usually has twins. I haven't raised a lamb before (apart from tube feeding colostrum). My question is - if she has twins do I :
Wait and see if she copes?
Remove one lamb, keep it stabled and raise it myself? (Easier to do, but might be lonely)
Leave the lamb with the ewe outdoors with the other pet sheep and bring the lamb in just to feed? ( which sounds lovely but may be hard work catching the lamb every few hours)
Separate the ewe and both lambs to a smaller pen?


None of the other sheep have lambs so no option of adopting one on. We both work full time so looking for practical option for us and best option for lamb.
Thank you
Joanne xxxx

[farmers wife]

Depending on the quality of her bag she may be able to rear both.  I would suck it and see by whether they have full bellies.  I would also get a come artificial colostrum down them both (you can buy sachets)I would take the stronger lamb off and hand rear.  If look ok then keep an eye but if struggling youll have to take the stronger off and bottle feed.  Best adlib on bucket.  If not find another small holder to take it on.

[bazzais]

agree - the second birth will need colustrum from a packet or it will die.  ewe maybe able to cope with one sack, I presume they are close to hand in lambing? so keep it that way - its always nice for them to have company - but you may have 2 months of feeding every 3 hours or 6 later or - relax every 12

[JMB]

Thank you. I didn't know you could buy small amounts of colostrum. Is this a daft question - if I can borrow a bucket with teats ( can't remember proper name) and leave it out on the field, will they take milk themselves? I've only seen them used indoors xxx

[Womble]

We recently adopted a ewe with only one teat.

I would suck it and see

 

I'm sorry. It's been a very long day 

We have a ewe with only one working teat, who is rearing twins no problem this year, so it's not necessarily a catastrophe. We did top up their colostrum just to make sure though.

I could be wrong of course, but I don't think you'll manage to get them to top themselves up from a bucket in the field if Mum is still with them. (The word you're looking for is 'Shepherdess' feeder BTW). If you need / want to top them up, just catch them and offer them a bottle. They won't take very much to begin with, but ought to get the idea quickly enough.

[SallyintNorth]

We're topping up triplets in the field.  They get the idea very quickly. Pen the family until the lambs know you're a source of food and come running (it'll take two or three feeds - not long!)  then let them all out and feed in the field.  It's much better all round if they stay together with mum, unless they keep pestering her for milk she doesn't have, which could lead to mastitis.  So watch out for that.  But if you top up often enough - we did a nighttime feed the first three nights, then 4 feeds a day for three weeks, then 3 feeds a day - they shouldn't keep pestering her.

If you do end up taking one off, it'll need a companion.  It won't be hard to find a spare lamb to put with it

[Jukes Mum]

Depending on the quality of her bag she may be able to rear both.  I would suck it and see

[bj_cardiff]

I'd take the second lamb and put it in a dog crate under a heat lamp for 2 or 3 days, feed it colostrum and then bottle feed it. I assume that this is your only sheep? I'd put the lamb back in with the ewe after 3 days (in quite a large space), the ewe will attack the lamb and the lamb needs to have enough space to be able to get away from her. I'd keep them like that, the bottle fed lamb will come to you for food and hopefully stay near the ewe for protection. After a week or so I'd let them into a small paddock, back in at night for a month or so as the ewe won't protect the bottle fed lamb from preditors

[Sbom]

Depending on the quality of her bag she may be able to rear both.  I would suck it and see

We'd obviously need pictures of this......

[harmony]

None of the other sheep have lambs so no option of adopting one on. We both work full time so looking for practical option for us and best option for lamb.
Thank you
Joanne xxxx

Taking a lamb off and feeding it whilst working full time isn't practical if you are going to be missing all day. You don't say what sort of sheep or whether she raised twins with only one teat before. Taking a lamb off for days then putting it back with its dam will be possibly stressful for all concerned and not necessary if you follow Sally's advice. However, you haven't got your lambs yet and you may only have one anyway.


When is she due? And what is her condition score?

[Marches Farmer]

Are you feeding her for twins - this will help with milk yield  How old is she - she may switch to a single lamb if older.  What is her condition score and are her teeth good?  Have you checked her udder recently - what had one teat the year before may not have any if the mastitis flares up and spread again this year.  She will need a booster dose of Heptavac four weeks before lambing, to pass on immunity to the clostridial diseases to the lamb(s).  If she does have twins and one teat is OK and her condition is too then I'd be inclined to give both two doses of colostrum in the first six hours, get both trained to the bottle as well as their dam and give them a feed first thing in the morning, just before you leave for work, first thing when you get home and at least last thing at night.  You could space the feeds better over the weekend.  Pen them together for five days so they get properly bonded.  Whoever supplied a supposedly barren ewe should surely be very helpful with things like vaccine and small amounts of colostrum in this case.

[bj_cardiff]

I hadn't seen that the OP was working full time, in that case I'd still take a lamb off and sell it or give it away to someone who can hand rear it.

Harmony - I always keep my cade lambs with the other lambs and ewes - as long as their not trying to suckle their fine.