Lamb Questions

[WolfeMomma]

Our 2 lambs are almost a month old now, and are already in to their mothers food and eating hay. Is this normal? Why did i think they would stick to just milk lol They seem very healthy, and active so im not too concerned. But as I am a bit of a newbie i wondered if that's how it usually goes.

 

[Sheepshape]

Totally normal....they will mouth lots of things to see if they will prove good to eat from about 7 days old.

 

[Baymule]

One week old lambs will start mimicking their moms. That's how they learn. Their rumens are not developed yet so they don't get much out of it. I observed my lambs licking dirt from fresh gopher mounds and concluded that something was missing, even though I keep mineral out for the ewes. The lambs eat that too. So I put out Azomite, which is rock dust, and the dirt eating stopped.

 

[Latestarter]

Same thing with baby goats... they start trying out all sorts of things with their mouths at a week old. Have to make sure there's nothing bad around that they could swallow and hurt themselves with... bits of plastic twine (found in hay bales frequently), other plastics, small metal pieces like nails and such.

 

[Sheepshape]

Actually our own babies are pretty good at 'mouthing' too!

Happy Xmas and Happy New Year from Wales.....Nadolig LLawen a Blywyddyn Newydd Dda (as much spit as a grumpy alpaca needed for proper pronunciation).

 

[WolfeMomma]

ah ok thanks everyone! Im trying to figure out when to wean these guys, Im thinking 3 months? at least that seems to be a common wean time from what I have read.

 

[Mike CHS]

We always plan to wean at two months like most of the sheep farms that we know but we rarely get it done. The bigger producers around us wean at two months and put the ewes back in with a ram a month after that. We don't do that since we give our ewes a break and let them get back into peak condition before placing with a ram. That break might be 3 months or more.

 

[Sheepshape]

We adopt the leisurely approach as we have seasonal breeders and only put ewes to the tup once a year. Lambs with mum stay there for months and we let them gradually wean themselves. Ram lambs are removed from the ewes at 3-4 months as they start to get an unhealthy interest in the ewes and are capable of becoming fathers at a remarkably early age. Ewe lambs stay with mum until they go either to market (at about 6 months ) or are added to the breeding pool of ewes if they are about 80% of their expected adult weight.

Lambs left with the ewe become less and less reliant on milk until mum will only stand for a second or two to let them suckle. Eventually that ceases altogether. Leaving ewe lambs with mum will not prevent the ewe from becoming pregnant again.

Bottle lambs are a different issue altogether. They are weaned at 6-10 weeks depending upon their size and vigour. Large, healthy lambs who will eat lamb 'creep' and are grazing well are warned earlier than the sickly little lambs.As the rumen isn't fully developed for 2-3 months, too early weaning can stunt the lamb growth. Th strategy which we use will result in bottle lambs being indistinguishable from those who were with mum.

We don't do that since we give our ewes a break and let them get back into peak condition before placing with a ram. That break might be 3 months or more.

I think your strategy is very sensible. Recurrent pregnancies too close together may lead to exhausted ewes old before their time, and scrawny, sickly little lambs.