Are my ewes close to lambing?

[Ridgetop]

Continue trying to put her on the ewe. It will be better for her and you. Is the teat very tiny? Or was the lamb just weak? Sometimes you have to strip the waxy plug out of the teat if the lamb is not strong enough to do it. Is there milk in the teat? Make sure that milk is coming out. Try putting a halter on the ewe and tying her to the side of the pen so you can hold the lamb on to the teat. Once the lamb gets the idea she will be able to find it herself. Often bottle lambs will not go back to the teat because the milk is easier to get from the bottle. They suck differently on the bottle nipple than they do on the ewe's teat to make the milk let down. If you can milk the ewe out a bit on that side, it will help elongate the teat and the milk will be good for the lamb when mixed with formula. How much is the lamb taking at a feeding?

Small birth weight does not mean anything as long as the lambs are active and healthy, Some ewes and rams produce small birth weight lambs that gain very fast. Others produce larger birth rate lambs that do not grow as fast. One of my rams is specifically bred to produce small birth weight lambs that grow very fast. I like using that ram on first fresheners since giving birth to the smaller lambs is easier on the smaller yearling moms. The lambs catch up in size very fast depending in the amount of mill the mama produces and the amount of feed available to the lambs and moms.

 

[Baymule]

Do keep in mind that ram lambs are fertile at a very young age, like as young as 2-3 months old, and will breed their mothers, sisters, any ewe. If you are going to keep the ram lamb, you might want to wether him soon.

 

[Ridgetop]

Definitely wether any ram lambs - banding is easy. You might consider keeping the ewe lambs as pets and sell the wethered lambs for meat (or if you can face it eat them yourselves). Your flock will grow too fast if you keep all the lambs. Especially since you have ewes and rams that breed out of season, you will be having lambs every 9 months. If they are all running together the ram will be breeding his daughters which is ok for terminal breedings (meat) but not good if you go more than 2 generations. Since you already have 3 ewe lambs you have already doubled your flock before your 3rd ewe even lambs. Congratulations on your successful season!

 

[TheSwindler]

Thank you all for the help. We are hoping the lamb won't have to be bottle fed forever and will eventually learn how to find the teat. She still looks for it and sometimes gets one nibble on it but she just cannot get it in her mouth and keep it there. Milk is coming out of both teats. I've gotten the teat in her mouth but she freezes up and won't suck, even with the tail tickle trick.

Interesting to learn about the birth weights - I was thinking Imelda would have big babies since she's our biggest ewe

I have a burdizzo that I plan to use on any ram lambs - any advice on this is appreciated

The plan was for this to be our only lambing, maybe one more. And keep the ram separate with any of his sons, maybe rotate them so Mamas can still see their boys once in a while 😁

 

[Ridgetop]

If you don't plan to breed anymore, I suggest you sell the ram. Keeping a ram is a hassle if you are not planning o using him for breeding. Particularly of you plan to keep him separated from the ewes. When they come into season he will be trying to get to them if kept next to them. If you plan to keep the ram lambs, turn them into wethers for safety sake.

Is there a reason you don't want to sell the ram lambs for meat or eat them yourselves? If you sell them or eat them you can continue breeding and lambing. That way the ram could run with the ewes all the time which would be easier and less work for you. That is assuming that your ram is docile. Some rams are pretty mean.

 

[TheSwindler]

I'm happy to report Hanako has learned how to latch on! I am so relieved and so happy that Imelda didn't reject her.

Selling or eating the ram lambs isn't totally out of the picture in the future, but for this lambing I'll keep them all. I guess I just don't want to deal with that extra work right now. Maybe in a few months things will cool down and I'll change my mind.

 

[Baymule]

In a few months your ram lambs will be breeding. That will bring on a lot of extra work. Best to address it now and make the decision to wether and keep as pets, sell, eat, whatever your plans may be. I have found it vastly much easier to wether at a young age than to try to separate out ram lambs and keep them in a pasture by themselves until slaughter or selling.

 

[Sheepshape]

It's not that unusual for a weak lamb to struggle to get the first few feeds from mum. The colostrum can be very thick initially. If a lamb fails to suck initially, try getting the lamb to suck on your finger which has a little of mum's colostrum on it, then stuff the teat into their mouth. Generally it's a two person job, but isn't as difficult as it sounds. The lamb often just stops with the teat in its mouth, not sucking for a moment or two, then most lambs will start to suck by instinct.
A bit of persistence at this stage, as you have found, often pays off. Lambs are much better fed by mum as Nature intended, no matter how endearing a bottle lamb can be!

 

[Ridgetop]

Excellent news on Hanako! In a few months, your lambs will be big. In 6 months they will be almost as big as mom. These lambs are your first lambs and you love them but eventually, you will see the reality of loving the ewe lambs in your barn or field, while loving the ram/wether lambs on your plate! There is nothing like eating your own home grown meat and knowing it was raised healthily and without chemicals.

Whatever you decide, make sure to vaccinate with CDT at least 2 weeks before castration to avoid infection. If you want to vaccinate and castrate immediately, use Tetanus antitoxin which will give immediate protection.

 

[TheSwindler]

Our final ewe, Jemima, lambed on Saturday.

Sapphire (all white!) and Juniper. Both girls. So in total, 5 ewe lambs and one ram lamb.
Very thankful for a pretty smooth first lambing season