I have a ram lamb that was born last Saturday (Sept 14). From the beginning he wasn't right. He was born in the barn sometime between 2 AM and 7AM. When I found him he was dried off, but had managed to get in behind the lambing jug, and was stuck back there, inaccessible to Mom. I got him out and put him and the ewe in the jug. Within the hour he had gotten hung up between the bottom two boards of the jug, and in the bail of the water bucket. He had a good suckle reflex, but lacked the reflex to try and find the teat. I milked ewe and got some colostrum into him.
I have continued to bottle feed him small quantities of colostrum, and now goat's milk, while leaving him with his mother. She has been wonderful and attentive, and very cooperative, letting me milk her and also hold him on her teats. I have squirted milk in his mouth from her teat. Still can't get him to nurse. Up until today he was only taking one or two ounces of milk from the bottle two or three times daily. I still have to pry his mouth open to get the nipple in. I was hoping that he would get hungry enough to figure out the real milk source. About an hour ago I went into the barn and Mom leaped out to the jug. I tried letting him outside with her under supervision, but he just wandered off, and didn't respond to her calls. He did urinate, which surprised me - didn't think he was getting enough, although he doesn't seem dehydrated. He's in the house now , and taking the bottle somewhat better - just drank 4 ounces. I know that is nowhere near enough, and he has lost significant weight from his birth weight. Has anyone else dealt with this sort of situation? Is there any point in putting him back with Mom? I am surprised he is still alive, and wonder if he is or was actually getting some small amount of milk from Mom. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Sandy Hession _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
