Shepherding Lambs

Every lambing season I am reminded of how delicate life is. I am humbled by how much more I have to learn about shepherding lambs. This year, we began with a set of triplets to a new mom. She delivered on a frigid day and that night the temperatures dipped to the coldest of the season. It was a long labor filled with distractions. In the end, mama rejected lamb number two, the only ewe of the three. We named her Ofelia.

Rejected Lamb

I am not sure why she was rejected. Was it because we tube fed her to get colostrum into her because she was weak and cold? Was it because she was one of 2 that came to the house to dry off? Or was it because she was long in coming after number 1 and then her brother came literally on her heels with no time for mama to clean her off before getting distracted by another lamb? I will never know exactly the cause. Mama didn’t just reject her, but I feared she would injure her lamb. Mom went into a head gate so that all the lambs could nurse. The theory is that if mom can’t see or smell who is nursing, she will forget which one she loved and which she disliked, and accept them all in time. I have used this once before and it worked perfectly. This time, however, Ofelia was not thriving despite having full access to mom’s milk. After just a few days of being able to nurse when ever she wanted, she began a downward spiral.

Failure To Thrive

Her brothers were much stronger and one much larger than she. They were pushing her away from the nipple and it was clear that she was not getting enough nourishment. She laid under the heat lamp all day and didn’t frolic with the other two lambs. She stood hunched up and looked quite pitiful. We tried supplementing her with tube feeding in hopes to boost her energy enough that she would fight for the nipple but that did not work. I felt I needed to transition her to a bottle so that I could be sure she was getting sufficient nourishment. The only problem was that she refused the bottle. Her sucking reflex was weak and she lacked the will to live.

Challenges Of Bottle Feeding

She came into the house for a couple of days so I could tend to her regularly. I spent the better part of each day coaxing her to drink. Despite my efforts, she still refused to eat. We would tube feed her enough to keep her going but ultimately, I knew she had to take the bottle to survive. I began to sense that she was getting depressed and needed to be with sheep so I started bringing her in only at night and taking her out to lay under the heat lamp with the other lambs during the day.

A few days into this, I received an email from another breeder who gave me a recipe for a lamb milk that she prefers over the store bought powdered milk replacer. She promised that her lambs love it and that they thrive on it. That afternoon, Ofelia had her feeding in the barn with the new milk. I couldn’t have planned it myself. God knew this little one needed some help. As I came into the barn she was sleeping under the heat lamp with her brothers. Her mama was calling to the boys to come to nurse and they were all waking up and baaing to her. I sat right there in the lamb creep and popped the nipple in Ofelia’s mouth. For the first time, she began sucking! Her brothers were trying to get to her bottle and mom was calling. It was the perfect scenario and Ofelia took all the ques from her mom and brothers and drank for the first time.

So what did I learn from Ofelia? I learned that:

• house lambs are cute but lambs really need other lambs
• all milk replacer is not created equal
• sometimes the ol’ time farmers REALLY do know best
• the entire labor process is so important to mother/lamb bonding from start to finish
• life is fragile and…
• never give up-ever!

Bottle Lamb Milk Recipe

Here is my go-to lamb milk recipe when bottle feeding is a must.

1 gallon whole milk

1 can WHOLE evaporated milk

1 cup buttermilk

Mix all ingredients together. Warm milk to 95°F before bottle feeding.