Timonlionking

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I am in need of some advice!

I am totally new to sheep, I have three bottle babies. They are currently in the house. I originally planned on getting just one, but then I learned they’re herd animals, so in comes ewe #2, then before I picked them up, a ram lamb was born, that I just couldn’t pass up, SO 3 lambs. In the house.

I do have a barn, with electric and a heat lamp, but I have a few concerns I’m hoping you guys can help me out with.

1.) Our temps aren’t supposed to get above 20° for a week or two, and the lows are into the negative, lowest being -4°. Will they be okay with a heat lamp in our barn?
2.) A heat lamp in the barn concerns me. I don’t want to burn my barn down, is this safe? What’s the best options for placement, or even other options for keeping them warm.

The younger two are 1 week, the older one is 2 weeks. The attached picture is the temps for this coming week.
 

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SA Farm

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I would imagine as long as they’re out of the wind and have nice deep bedding, they’ll snuggle up together and be just fine in the barn.
I’ve heard of lambs in much colder temps born outside thriving...but I probably wouldn’t be comfortable with that for my own spoiled babies lol especially bottle babies.
I used a heat lamp for my bottle babies. I had it high up with a few different things holding it so it could not touch anything even if the clamp and tie gave out.
If you’re really uncomfortable with a heat lamp, you could put little sweaters or dog coats on them for the cold nights.

I’m fairly new to sheep myself, but that’s what I’ve done/would do/or have heard of others doing 😊
 

Alaskan

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2.) A heat lamp in the barn concerns me. I don’t want to burn my barn down, is this safe? What’s the best options for placement, or even other options for keeping them warm.



I preferred a heating pad (one WITHOUT an auto shut off). I put the heatpad in a freezer zip lock, duct taped it shut.. Put the heating pad in a big cardboard box (sized for your babies) with a small easy to wash fleece blanket wrapped over the heating pad. I got the heating pad to be up against the back wall of the box. Then finish off with a nest of hay. Duct tape the heating pad cord tightly to the extension cord.. and tuck them all away.

With negatives though... I would also put little coats on them...

and what kind of ears do they have? If the ears are too long they can get frostbite at those temps. I have seen people use a combination of vet wrap, socks, and ducttape to help keep the ears warm.

You can vet wrap the ears flat against the head, and use the duct tape to hold the vet wrap together and make it water proof. You want minimal duct tape on the animal since it can gum up the hair or even rip out hair when you want to remove it. If you need grip directly on the animal I like blue painter's tape. It has good stick,but not strong enough to hurt skin or hair if removed carefully.


I should note though... that I haven't had bottle anything... but I did have a goat kid in my huge (so not warm) barn in winter, and the above worked great.
 

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