I hope that does not result in "scours." I don't even know what scours is, unless it is diarrhea? And I wouldn't expect to see regular pellet poops.
The lamb-milk-replacer says to wean them off of it in one month or 30 pounds. That's pretty funny for a Barbado lamb--it'll take 5 months to get to that weight! Maybe the recommended 8 ounces at a time is crazy for a Barbado, also.
Oh well, it is fun to do anything for a first time.
Thanks again,
Rick Krach
Auburn CA 95602
(530) 889-1488From: "christine handley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 23:42:37 -0800 Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Rick,
I bottle raised 2 ewe lambs last year.
I just used the milk replacer, I maybe used approx 1 bag.
The most important thing is to feed as often as possible. More is better.
But not the amount. If you give them too much at once, that is when you can
have a problem with scours.
I kept a bit of hay for them.
I did buy a bag of lamb creep feed. They didn't like it and I ended up
chucking it out. They both preferred the whole mixed grain and whole corn
that I use for the rest of the critters. The didn't eat a lot, just a
little nibble.
When they were about 2 months, I introduced them back to their herd. I still
gave them a bottle at the regular feed times. (2 X a day -for about a month)
And they were usually eager to grab a mouthful (or More) from the
feedbucket, whenever I showed up.
They are not overly "friendly or pet" . But they will still approach looking
for that feed bucket.
They grew as well as the others, and I never had any problems.
***I would like to add that, I started bottle feeding immediately after they
were born. Usually, if the BB sheep are left and get weak, they don't adapt
readily to interference. My timing must have been right on, cause they were
hungry, but not too weak to suck.
This situation occured because I had two ewes birth at the same time. One
had twins, and the other had triplets. They could have physically raised
these lambs, but for some reason , neither girl was willing to accept them.
(they were very roughly rejectin them) . So one ewe raised twins and the
other raised a single and I raised 2.
Chris.H.
From: "William Buchanan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 07:15:46 -0600 Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I guess I have been pretty lucky. In 6+ years I have only had to raise one on the bottle out of about 200+ lambs. It went very well though. I used Land O'Lakes lamb milk replacer PLUS with every feeding I added about 25% canned goats milk. The lamb LOVED the goats milk and every time we tried to take it out, he wouldn't feed very well at all. Since he was our first bottle lamb, we went the extra mile to keep him happy.
We started out with about 5 feedings a day for the first week. After the first week, we put him out with the others. He was bonded to us and would run up to us the second he spotted us. We then started feeding him about 4 times/day for another 2 weeks, then down to 2 feedings/day for a few more weeks. We didn't supplement his bottle with any grains, but it was Spring and there was plenty of grass/browse for him to nibble on. He learned from the other sheep and their lambs. I think he will be 4 years old this spring and he is a great liaison. He has a home for life.
Chris B
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