Close to Lambing????

[KWhitted]

Trying every two hours to get mama to accept the little boy. Mom just tosses him around. This is her first set of twins so maybe she’s confused. I’m holding mom still so he can at least feed. I put a lamb coat on the girl and rubbed it all over her then put it on the boy. Mama wasn’t as aggressive the first time but I think she caught on. As long as I can get him to feed off of her I’m ok right? I can milk her if needed and I do have bottles just in case.

Any advice or tricks to get mom to accept him?

 

[Roving Jacobs]

I've had decent success with the "you can have both or neither" method. If she is fairly bonded with the ewe lamb, take both lambs and put them someplace warm together for an hour or so, I usually put them someplace the ewe can see and sniff but not get to like a dog crate in her pen. Then let them both out together to nurse while supervising. Repeat until she calms down about things. She gets both lambs or she gets no lambs until they both smell like her. It usually only takes a day or two.

A headgate might be more successful but I never got around to making one. It's definitely preferable if you can make one though because it doesn't require you to keep going out to supervise.

 

[KWhitted]

I actually made a milking stand in August! It has a headgate. I can lower the stand a use that for sure. Thank you.

Little man is not a fan of the bottle so I’m going to continue every two hours or when he cries to get him to nurse. He is tiny. Maybe 5 pounds.

 

[Sheepshape]

Let mum's udder get good and full. Restrain her, then ram lamb to feed first (or, ideally, one lamb on each teat).

Apply some of the camphorated stuff that we rub on our chests when we have a cold to the top of her nose and the same stuff over the root of the tails of the lambs (that is on the back where the tail starts from the body). Ewes accept their lambs by smell, and this action will confuse her sense of smell.

Lastly....do you have a dog? When I have one of these 'rejecting mums', I bring in my old faithful Border Collie and get him to sit and stare the ewe out. This action usually leads to the ewe huffing and stamping her front hooves and so interested in protecting her offspring that she would let anything feed from her. You may need to persist for a number of days to persuade the ewe that both lambs are hers.

I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this problem as it can be quite difficult to overcome. Do persist, though, as bottle-fed lambs are quite a commitment and lambs do much better when they are with mum.

 

[Baymule]

Beautiful lambs! Congratulations! Naturally the ewe is being a butthead. LOL You have received good advice, indeed I learned a few tricks also. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Beekissed]

Beautiful lambs! Congratulations! Naturally the ewe is being a butthead. LOL You have received good advice, indeed I learned a few tricks also. Keep us posted on your progress.

Me too! I really like that~you'll take both of them or neither of them~approach to it. I've grafted calves onto a milk cow and rabbit kits onto another mother with the use of Vick's, so I knew about that one...it actually works great with those two species, but wasn't sure if it would work with sheep.

 

[Ridgetop]

Another thing to try is to rub him with the other lamb's poop so they both smell the same. Definitely keep trying to get her to accept him. I wouldn't mind bottle feeding a ewe lamb that I planned to keep so much (they get very tame) but a ram lamb that is going into the freezer is better feeding off mama - the rate of weight gain is better than a bottle. The slightly lower rate of gain on a keeper ewe lamb for a replacement breeding ewe will be ok since she will still gain a healthy amount.

Good luck. Cute lambs.