Hi Michael, The lamb may be doomed but I have saved some in the past like this. I believe you are working on the wrong end of the lamb. Take a syringe (no needle) with warm water and insert it in the anus and fill the lamb up until water starts coming out when you pull the syringe out (enema). After the water has cleared out do it again. The lamb will likely pass some very hard feces that has him plugged up. Just keep doing the warm water treatment until you feel you are not getting any more results. Remember you are dealing with a baby so be easy with the syringe water pressure! Once the very hard feces is out you are back to trying/hoping the lamb will eat. If he starts eating well you will probably save him.
Good Luck, Mark Wintermute Had a ewe with one of her twins half the weight of the other. At 2 weeks, he's 4.5lbs and she is 8lbs. His name is Bam Bam. here he is on his birthday, you can see the size difference: http://picasaweb.google.com/mwsmotorsports/February_LambS213091011AM#5302876 349358364882 Noticed after a few days, he was always listless, hunched, not frolicking, and I started to bottle-feed him some pasteurized goat's milk from the store, to supplement what he was getting from his mom. His mom would feed both sibs, but Bam Bam seemed never to be getting more energy. After supplementing her feeding, he seemed to rally a bit, At this point, it was time for us to separate the lambs, since we were planning to bottle-feed them from here on out, anyway. He again became more listless and no prancing around. He has never been a bottle-puncher and always acts like he is full. trying to be patient with him, you're lucky to get 1oz in in 10 minutes. The other 8-10 lb lambs, of course, can kill 10oz in a feeding. His temp was about 100.3 in the middle of the day. Being new to sheep, I took him in to the local livestock vet who is also a sheep breeder. He suggested tubing him, and taught me how, and we got 4oz in him the first time. I was very encouraged. But, each time thereafter, I'd get a bit in, and then when adjusting the tube a bit, the syringe/funnel (no plunger in syringe) would fill back up with 20cc of milk or so, with a rancid smell. In the mornings, even in an enclosure with a heat lamp, his temp could be as low as 95.5. Usually 97.5 or so. Two days of trying to tube always resulted in the rancid milk and in one case, vomiting. Took him in this morning and the doc tried to tube him himself. Same result, he said the reticulum was holding the milk till it was going bad, which is why he gets no nutrients. He credited the smell with the milk being spoiled and mixed with mucous. I thought it was bile but he said sheep don't have bile in their reticulum. His diagnosis: the little ram is not fully passing the milk on thru his digestive tract. He has "some" feces and urine, but not enough. His prescription: Today has been sub-Q dextrose only 4x a day, and one vit-B shot (1/2 cc) per day. Try to get any remaining milk thru his system. Tomorrow will be: electrolytes via tube, and vit-B. Towards the end of the day, if I can mix in a bit of milk, to add to the tube, I will try. The point is to try to get his temp up and get him digesting. My question: is he just mal-formed and doomed, or has anyone seen a case where he could be less developed than his sister and be nursed along until his digestive tract catches on? Michael. Perino Ranch Blackbellies. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
