[countrygirlatheart]

Background  - first time lambing for us ..... have a weakly lamb (now 2 days old)    it was given colostrum first 12 hours and has been getting tube fed since then with ewe milk replacer          up until tonight the lamb was with the ewe and we just popped her out for a few minutes to tube feed    unfortunately the ewe was a bit off colour/agitated this evening (has been given antibiotics) and was pushing this weaker lamb away (she has two other stronger lambs)    lamb now in a pen in the corner within the pen that holds her mum and her siblings overnight in case the ewe decides to do the weaker lamb serious damage through the night

how long can you tube feed for?
if you tube feed for a while can you always then get them to bottle feed?
any tips on how to get them to accept the bottle (not been successful so far) ?
if hand reared this lamb will be on its own which I know isn't ideal but is it do-able?
if a ewe shows signs of rejecting a lamb is there no going back i.e. can it be a temporary situation or are you destined to hand rear?
chances of lamb making it?

any advice welcome!     THANKS

[ScotsGirl]

Hi, doesn't look like anyone is offering help.  I would try bottle feeding now with lamlac unless you can pen the ewe and encourage the lamb to feed without her objecting.  If this is one of triplets I would be inclined to cut my losses and just bottle feed but leave with mother unless she looks like hurting it.  Once it accepts the bottle lamb will spot you in the field and run for a feed.  I had a weak lamb last year and the mother tried to reject but after 2 weeks she took him back.  Difference was there were only two and he managed to feed when she was distracted with stronger lamb.

You might be able to foster him off if you have another ewe lambing. Good luck

[countrygirlatheart]

thanks Scotsgirl

reply much appreciated           

lamb is being fed Lamlac so its good to know that's recommended

will 'test the water' tomorrow morning when, hopefully, the antibiotics have had some effect on the ewe and she may be more settled   

I presume if the lamb is hungry enough it will take to the bottle so that we can stop the tube feeding?

is it possible that the lamb smells different to the ewe because it is being fed the ewe milk replacer?

thanks again

[ukag0972]

I'm try in read your post and answer.
You can tube feed for weeks!, my husband prefers to tube feed the wee lambs in the hope of twinning it on to something. He says it's easier to twin if tube fed. Me, I percevere to put them on the bottle. It can take a few turns and patience but they will take a bottle. I try  putting the teatin the mouth and squeezing it so they get a taste of the milk, so the hungry lambs take onto it quicker.
If you bottle feed, the lamb will associate you with food, you're the mummy! Tube feeding is quick and less personal!

[doganjo]

Couldn't you milk a ewe to give to a lamb so that there is no difference in what it and it's siblings are drinking, and therefore the ewe would not perceive a smell difference?

[Anke]

You don't say how many ewes you are lambing - if not many it is unlikely that you can foster on successfully to another ewe. I would start bottle feeding, as the ewe has two already to feed and is unlikely to accept third one, especially if weaker than the other two.

[ballingall]

I would be inclined to bottle feed too. If you continue tube feeding, the urge to suck is lost. I would only tube feed a lamb or a kid in an absolute emergency.

It depends what kind of bottle and teat you are using, but generally nip a bigger hole in the teat, and even if the suck urge isn't very strong, you can shouggle the bottle until it has to suck.

Beth

[doganjo]

and do we all understand the meaning of the word 'shougle'

Great word that! 

[shrekfeet]

shougal?

[morri2]

A hybrid of shake and struggle?  Or perhaps shovel and snuggle?  Definitely needs an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary - wonderful!

[countrygirlatheart]

thanks for replies folks      lamb has stayed in with ewe and her two siblings and has been able to snuggle with them - the ewe is now not actively showing aggression towards her but she isn't standing to let her suck       as soon as she knows its not one of the tup lambs that's latching on to a teat she moves off        As much as I can I've been holding the ewe while the lamb sucks so she is still able to suck, thankfully, and has therefore been getting some ewe milk   In between she has still been getting tube fed to make sure she gets enough     however will be attempting to milk the ewe next and put it in a bottle to try to get her to bottle feed which will be better all round

so she's still with us but is small and weak compared to her big brothers       she's now 4 days old

any other advice most welcome,  thanks again all

[ScotsGirl]

If I were you I would bottle feed this lamb but leave with the mother so that it gets stronger.  As long as mum is accepting lamb it will come to you for food but be happy with its sibblings and mum.  Lamb will do perfectly well on milk substitute and will probably manage to get the odd drink once stronger. They are persistent little things and my lambs last year would take a chance and drink from other ewes if allowed.

Good luck

[countrygirlatheart]

thanks again for the reply Scotsgirl

a good friend came over at the weekend and got her bottle feeding                she's now a week old and getting bottle fed 4x a day with a bit from her mum (when I get a chance to hold on to her !)

she's not taking much at each bottle feed though?    what kind of volume is usual?

the lamb is a bit stronger but her mum still knows immediately when she's trying to suck and takes off!

we'll keep going and hope it works out ok

[Anke]

You could try and feed more often and if you manage to hold the ewe - can you strip some milk out of her? But this might all be quite difficult, if lamb takes the bottle little and often should see it through. But she might end up being quite small.... One pair of my Shetlands were not fed very well by the (fairly old) ewe and didnt like the bottle much either. Both of them are still very small compared to the rest.

[sabrina]

I had a Ewe reject her first lamb which was a breech birth, I penned her so that she could not turn and hurt the lamb but after 24 hours decided it was safer to just bottle feed the poor thing. I left him with the Ewe in the field and even though he was being bottle fed i often saw him race under another Ewe when her own lamb went to the milk bar. Strange thing was although his mum would not feed him she did look after him in the field. He grew much the same as the others