Bottle Feeding Lambs

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Bottle feeding lambs.

As a result these lambs will consume larger meals and will typically gorge themselves. Sometimes you might need to bottle feed a baby lamb. Lisbeth is going to miss her bottle. While feeding do not cuddle or hold the lamb because this could result in a clot in it s lung.

You need to begin bottle feeding as soon as possible to make sure the lamb survives. Also provide warm and clean bedding for the lambs. This allows the shepherd to get a good night of sleep between the 10 p m. Generally the lamb will suckle instinctively.

However during these 2 days while you are trying to get your lamb to be accepted you must feed your lamb some colostrum as soon as after birth as possible. Milk replacer can be fed with a bottle or tube feeder. In lambs over 24 hours of age hypothermia is usually a result of starvation. Lambs born in the winter are often creep fed and finished on high concentrate diets whereas lambs born later in the season spring are often placed on pasture or range with their dams.

To bottle feed a lamb hold it s head up allowing it to stand and let it feed. There is certain protocol you need to follow while feeding a lamb. In newborn lambs hypothermia usually results from exposure. I have a special place in our barn but in extreme cold conditions it s not the best locations.

Older lambs should be handled in a similar manner except they do not need colostrum. Bottle feeding is labor demanding especially for those that have multiple lambs to feed. The lambs should be feed standing up. The 8 hour schedule is used only to start lambs on bottles using about 12 oz.

Lisbeth was an unthrifty lamb from one of our triplet groups and is nearing weaning age. I never encourage bottle feeding in my flock as i feel that mum s milk provides the best nutrition for the lambs. This works well if only one person is involved with both lambing and orphan raising. Bottle lambs are typically fed in intervals with intervals being convenient for the producer rather than for the lamb as we discussed above.

Lambs may be orphaned if the mother dies in birth or on occasion if a mother simply rejects a baby for no discernible reason. It is weaning time and this little one is going to miss getting her bottle each day. Lambs are then shifted to 12 hour feedings using 16 oz. Many feeding programs utilize both pasture and grain.