Re: [blackbelly] lamb sucking technique
I have a 5 day old blackbelly 2 1/2 to 3 lbs ewe lamb that I found wandering in the sheep lot last Monday night. It appeared to be less than 12 hours old. I have not been able to find its mother. I had at least 2 ewes have lambs that day. The one ewe that seemed to be the mother would not butt it away when it tried to suck, but had no milk available beyond the lamb it was nursing. I have been feeding this lamb with a pritchard teat on a bottle. It would only suck about 6cc when I tried to feed it about every 1 1/2 hours. I have been tube feeding it for the last 3 days. It is very alert and active, it will run the entire length of the house, and has good heart sounds. However, when I try to get it to suck the bottle, it seems to fight the nipple rather than suck. It exhibits all the necessary response to suck, and looks for a nipple, but it gets its tongue crossways in its mouth rather than longways to suck the nipple. After a short time of trying to nurse the bottle, it appears to be tired out. I have tried to get it to suck my litte finger, and I have to get my finger on the back of the tongue before it will suck. I have tried several other nipples with no results. I have pritchard nipples with large and small holes, but cannot get her to suck. The large hole nipple crestes a gagging response sometimes. I have tried the feeding tube on the back of the tongue and seem to get some vacuum on the end of the tube, but cannot get her to pull milk from a bottle with the tube attached. I think this lamb is possibly about 2 weeks premature. I have also tried to get her to drink from a bowl but have not had any success. I have a good veterinarian friend that can find no problem with her so far, she just won't suck Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?? Helmut are you listening? I am sure you have had this problem before.. Cecil in OKla ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] lamb sucking technique
We are currently raising our first premature bottle baby. She was born way early as a triplet and the other two siblings died. We don't think the sibling's lungs were ready yet. But the baby girl that lived had to be fed very frequently and might only take a few good draws/sucks on the nipple. We used a very soft silicone nipple with a cross cut into the end to increase flow. When we lowered the bottle the milk would just start dripping out (very messy). The baby needed a lot of holding and comforting to keep her spirits up enough to eat. It took attention from our whole family in shifts to bring her around. If she didn't take a good meal we would retry in another 15 to 30 minutes. This little girl is now out in the barnyard with the other bottle babies and lambs doing fine. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Cecil Bearden Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 7:57 AM To: blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info Subject: Re: [blackbelly] lamb sucking technique I have a 5 day old blackbelly 2 1/2 to 3 lbs ewe lamb that I found wandering in the sheep lot last Monday night. It appeared to be less than 12 hours old. I have not been able to find its mother. I had at least 2 ewes have lambs that day. The one ewe that seemed to be the mother would not butt it away when it tried to suck, but had no milk available beyond the lamb it was nursing. I have been feeding this lamb with a pritchard teat on a bottle. It would only suck about 6cc when I tried to feed it about every 1 1/2 hours. I have been tube feeding it for the last 3 days. It is very alert and active, it will run the entire length of the house, and has good heart sounds. However, when I try to get it to suck the bottle, it seems to fight the nipple rather than suck. It exhibits all the necessary response to suck, and looks for a nipple, but it gets its tongue crossways in its mouth rather than longways to suck the nipple. After a short time of trying to nurse the bottle, it appears to be tired out. I have tried to get it to suck my litte finger, and I have to get my finger on the back of the tongue before it will suck. I have tried several other nipples with no results. I have pritchard nipples with large and small holes, but cannot get her to suck. The large hole nipple crestes a gagging response sometimes. I have tried the feeding tube on the back of the tongue and seem to get some vacuum on the end of the tube, but cannot get her to pull milk from a bottle with the tube attached. I think this lamb is possibly about 2 weeks premature. I have also tried to get her to drink from a bowl but have not had any success. I have a good veterinarian friend that can find no problem with her so far, she just won't suck Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?? Helmut are you listening? I am sure you have had this problem before.. Cecil in OKla ___ 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
Re: [blackbelly] lamb sucking technique
I find that often the ones that put their tongue sideways have a cold and can't smell and therefore are reluctant to suck. Can you hear any congestion in her lungs or does she have a runny nose? Although difficult to do, I generally try to give these a shot of gallimyacin (sp?) and continue to feed with a tube until they start feeling better (I don't tube down into their bellies, but put a short tube on a syringe and put the milk on the back of their tongue and make them swallow it). Also, hold your fingers on the side of their mouth to try to keep their tongue in straight. Some lambs like the harder nipples, not sure of the name, but they are the black 'goat/sheep' nipples that go on coke bottles that I get at the feed store, the really soft white nipples are hard to get in their mouths when they are fighting you, because they collapse so easily. I usually put a pretty big hole in them so the milk will flow out without much effort on the baby's part, this does tend to make a mess, I agree, but I try to make sure the baby is swallowing every so often so that at least SOMETHING is getting down them. After a couple of days they usually come around and start sucking once they can smell. Another thing I've done is give them a tiny bit of probios, this sometimes helps get them eating better. I always clean the milk mess off the baby with warm water after each feeding is all done to keep them from getting so sticky and messy. Onalee ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Scrapie Ear Tags
No, it just means that the only tags currently approved FOR SALE are the 2Xte tags. The scrapie tags you apply, whether tamper-proof or not, are permanent tags and should never be removed. If you have questions about Premier's tags, call Stephanie Sexton at (800) 282-6631. She knows more about scrapie tags than the government does! Carol At 10:30 AM 3/19/2006 -0800, you wrote: Only TamperProof versions of 2X tags (2XT) are approved by USDA-APHIS for use in the Mandatory Approved and Voluntary (SFCP) Sheep Scrapie programs. For approved tamperproof tags please see our new 2XTE tags. Regular 2X tags are no longer approved for any scrapie program. Does that mean I have to remove the 2X tags I bought last year, and replace them with 2Xte tags??? That doesn't sound like fun... 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
