Giving young lambs cattle colostrum....

[Happy at it]

Is it OK to do this?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Ok in a pinch. Long term feeding of cows milk will make them anaemic.

 

[CharcoalWally]

Yes , you can give newborn lambs cattle colostrum , but just do it for the first drink or two , after that feed them lamb replacement milk powder if these are lambs you are rearing yourself. Over the years thousands and thousands of lambs will have had cattle colostrum to start them off.

The obligatory word of caution........

I don't give cow colostrum to ewe lambs I'm going to keep for further breeding , I give them powdered colostrum as there are potential issues with cross contamination from cattle to sheep with Johnes through the milk. Dairy colostrum could be a big issue - fine if it's from one of your own cows and you know your Johnes status.

If it's just lambs for slaughter I wouldn't worry.

 

[Guiggs]

God,don't let a certain vet hear you say that!!

 

[Happy at it]

Yeah, I would just be using it for giving to small lambs or threes on my last round the pens at night, to keep them full. Some said cattle colostrum was to rich/ high in protein for the lambs.,...

 

[Forever Fendt]

have done this for years no known problems

 

[Dkb]

Just be careful as lambs won't be getting any hep p or covexin or whatever from ewes. So if ders any lambs that got no ewes milk and only cows milk you'd want to make sure lambs were covered

 

[Chris123]

Just be careful as lambs won't be getting any hep p or covexin or whatever from ewes. So if ders any lambs that got no ewes milk and only cows milk you'd want to make sure lambs were covered

Only one way to solve that problem get the cows on the heptavac p system! Will 2ml cover a 500-600kg animal I wonder

 

[Downton_shep]

Only one way to solve that problem get the cows on the heptavac p system! Will 2ml cover a 500-600kg animal I wonder

Yes works well

 

[bovine]

Some people did used to vaccinate cows with Heptavac, but I don't know of any work done to check it works properly. I would expect you to need a bigger dose (for example we give cattle 2ml of Bravoxin and sheep 1ml). I don't have anyone doing it now.

The issue with anaemia is some cows produce a specific antibody that affects the sheep. A singe feed will cause problems, it's not a chronic problem.

The biggest issue is that cattle colostrum is very much less concentrated so you need to feed more by volume (test with a colostometer and only use 'green' zone and give 1.5X as much and you'll be ok). Good cow colostrum is better than any of the artificial replacement products.

Johne's is the biggest risk. I said in another thread I dealt with a Johne's outbreak in fattening sheep, ruled out the more common things first. Must have got a hefty dose.

 

[spin cycle]

bit off topic...i know...but what is lamb milk replacer made out of? ....am i right in thinking the larger fat globules in cows milk mean you can't feed to lambs?