Lamb might be too small for her age??? But am afraid of overfeeding her.

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Just as a little update, these are pictures from today. I also snapped one from the top, just to show how she is not in any way sunken in.

 

[SteepedInSheep]

Just as a little update, these are pictures from today. I also snapped one from the top, just to show how she is not in any way sunken in.

What a cutie. She looks good. Filled out, but not in a bloated kind of way. You don't know her breed but she is a twin. My hair sheep twins run smaller than singles but still look solid.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Okay, got one more question, should I wait to wean her because she's so small, or can I go ahead and start the process like normal in the next couple weeks?

 

[Mini Horses]

She needs a friend. Can you bring another from this herd to be with her so she isn't a loner when returned to that farm? Another lamb will help to transition from bottle babe to being a sheep. I raise goats and occasionally have to bottle one but, try to leave with herd to keep them a member of their world. Then I'd switch to fewer bottles, then less per bottle to 1x a day, so her system converts as it would when the natural weaning would happen.

Same when I buy new ones -- I try to get 2, for comfort of a known friend when integrating to herd.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

She needs a friend. Can you bring another from this herd to be with her so she isn't a loner when returned to that farm? Another lamb will help to transition from bottle babe to being a sheep. I raise goats and occasionally have to bottle one but, try to leave with herd to keep them a member of their world. Then I'd switch to fewer bottles, then less per bottle to 1x a day, so her system converts as it would when the natural weaning would happen.

Same when I buy new ones -- I try to get 2, for comfort of a known friend when integrating to herd.

I'll ask if they have any other lambs at the moment, but I dunno if they do. Another thing is that I am currently keeping her in my house because I do not have an enclosed area to keep her in, so, honestly, I'm sadly not sure a friend would be feasible. I'd get her one 100%, but I might not have the room.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Also, my plan for weaning her was to cut her down to one bottle of a morning and leave out the evening one for about a week and then drop the other one.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Okay, couple updates. Firstly, I found out that Specks and her sister might have been the only lambs born to this herd this season so they do not have any other lambs at this time.

Second, Specks has started to refuse her bottle. She acts like she wants it, and will try to suckle but after a second or two stops and turns away. Still eating hay and grain just fine, is playing and acting like her normal self, just doesn't want the bottle. Should I be concerned?

 

[Mini Horses]

No concern...stop the bottle

 

[SageHill]

If she's eating the hay I wouldn't be too concerned. If she doesn't want the bottle stop. Weaning is around 8 weeks, so it would be normal for her to be less interested. I've not had a total bottle baby, just going by what the lambs in my flock do.

 

[Mike'sgotalittlelamb]

Okay, just wanted to make sure. Like I said, she's acting exactly the same as always, just for some reason seems to be refusing her bottle on the occasion now.

One last thing, she is currently eating two half(½) cups of grain in the morning and two in the evening. Should I up this now that I'm taking her off the bottle or is this still a good amount for her?

Oh! And another thing, I weighed her the other day and she's just about 25lbs now. Again, I know this is small for her age, but without knowing her breed I really dunno what to do about it. XP