Thank you Cecil for sharing your experiences. I don't respond often to the list. I too think that most people overfeed their bottle babies. In our haste to be a good steward we forget that the little critters do not have human emotion or needs. In the past I too tried to feed too much too often. Now I just keep the baby warm, feed small amounts 2 to 3 hours apart (only during daylight hours), and try not to worry. Even as the lambs get older, I do not exceed 3 cups of milk replacer a day and that is usually split into 2 to 3 feedings during the daylight hours. I do not offer grain as their stomachs have trouble processing it. They are fed a small pellet and alfalfa hay. Haven't lost a lamb in several years. My ewes have taken care of their lambs this year and it has been a rough year here in TX. Now we have grass and it is wonderful to see well fed lambs with their slick mamas. Thank you, Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cecil Bearden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info> Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 12:24 AM Subject: Re: [blackbelly] amount of colostrum needed
>I disagree with this recommendation. I have had 4 lambs in the past 7 >years > that had to be bottle fed. 3 died. I now believe this was from > enteroxemia > due to over feeding. The lamb that I had so much trouble with but > survived > has shown me that I was over feeding. When weighed about 8 lbs when I was > feeding her 1 oz every 2 hours and developed enterotoxemia. I later tried > this again a week later and she nearly died from overeating. > > I milked out a ewe that had twins and one born dead. The other was very > weak from the birthing. I only got 1 oz from her total. I fed the lamb > with a tube and he is doing fine now. If he had nursed and had another > sibling, he only would have received 1/2 oz. > > I had a lamb that was very cold from exposure and not enough milk. I > brought him into the house and fed him during the night. about 1 1/2 oz > every 1 1/2 hours. He died 24 hours later. I pulled fluid from his > stomach > when I was trying to revive him and got a back fluid. This was the > stomach > lining due to enterotoxemia. Same fluid found when I had so much trouble > with my latest bottle baby that is now doing fine. She has been bouncing > around in a playpen in the living room. She goes everywhere with me. One > of these days she is going to be a sheep, not a child.. > > I have discussed this with my vet who is on site nearly every day and he > agrees that we have just overfed blackbellies in the past and we have > altered our feeding amounts for newborns. > > Just my $0.02 > > Cecil Bearden > Oklahoma > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Carol Elkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info>; "Nancy Richardson" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 11:44 AM > Subject: Re: [blackbelly] amount of colostrum needed > > >> >> Hi Nancy, >> >> This is from Laura Lawson's book, Managing Your Ewe and Her Newborn Lambs >> (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096339231X/critterhavenesta >> >> I consider this book to be a Must-Have book for all shepherds. >> >> "Recommendations by knowledgeable authorities are for a minimum of 7 oz. >> as >> a first feeding after birth. Lambs may need as much as 12 oz. depending >> on >> the size of the lamb. The equation set forth is about 20cc per pound of >> body weight for the first feeding. The lamb should receive this amount >> from >> 30 to 60 minutes of birth. ... In the case of orphan lambs, initial >> amounts >> of colostrum should be followed at later feedings with divided amounts of >> colostrum for 24 hours. Amounts should equal 15% to 20% of the lamb's >> body >> weight. Unfortunately producers don't have unlimited supplies of >> colostrum. >> This often requires using artificial colostrum for future feedings. Only >> use these after giving the lamb the initial appropriate ewe colostrum of >> a >> minimum amount of 7 oz. within one hour of birth." >> >> These amounts are for wooled sheep; here are the adjustments that should >> be >> made for smaller blackbelly sheep. >> >> Let's do the math on her formula 20 cc colostrum per pound of lamb >> Let's say the average blackbelly lamb is 6 lb. >> 20 cc X 6 lb = 120 cc >> Convert this to ounces (1 oz = 30 mL = 30 cc): 120 cc / 30 cc = 4 oz for >> the first feeding after birth. >> >> She says the total amount for 24 hours should be 20% of the lamb's >> weight. >> 6 lb x 16 oz/lb = 96 oz. 20% of 96 oz. = 19 oz. >> >> So, although your 7 oz. exceeded the first feeding requirement, it was >> short of the total amount needed in 24 hours by 12 oz. >> >> Carol >> >> At 09:48 PM 5/5/2006 -0500, you wrote: >>>Hello, does any one know how much colostrum is needed by a lamb? We had >>>triplets born. 2 of them to small to reach momma and her to wild to >>>catch. >>>I >>>fed them both 3 ounces of colostrum mix before they were 2 hours old. But >>>after that could only get about 1/2 ounce down them every few hours for a >>>total of about 7 ounces in 24 hours. They only weigh about 2 pounds or so >>>each. They are very small. We have never raised ones so small. Thanks >>>Nancy >> >> Carol Elkins >> Critterhaven--Registered Barbados Blackbelly Hair Sheep >> (no shear, no dock, no fuss) >> Pueblo, Colorado >> http://www.critterhaven.biz >> T-shirts, mugs, caps, and more at the >> Barbados Blackbelly Online Store http://www.cafepress.com/blackbellysheep >> >> _______________________________________________ >> This message is from the blackbelly mailing list >> Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > > _______________________________________________ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
