Lamb colostrum

[gone up the hill]

Which is a good one to buy/ use on the odd lamb needing some artificial colostrum?

( ie triplets/ the odd ewe without any when she lambs etc )

 

[Henarar]

milk some out of a ewe that has plenty and freeze it failing that cow colostrum is better than the artificial stuff

 

[steveR]

milk some out of a ewe that has plenty and freeze it failing that cow colostrum is better than the artificial stuff

Still got some in the freezer from last year in freezer ice bags.. What is the shelf like on it?

 

[Jerry]

Just back from a vets meeting where this was discussed.

Basically all artificial powders are poor, but also all ewe actual colostrum is not equal. Have to test with a Brix refractometer to understand artificial vs real and real sample against another real sample

as a rule of thumb artificial are about 50% as good as the real thing on average.

Next best thing after real is good cows colostrum as long as it’s been collected as soon as possible.

 

[Nithsdale]

Bought powder - Osmond's is one of the best IMO.

 

[Dkb]

I hear some farmers make a deal with a local dairy farmer and vaccinate some of the cows with hep p so then the lamb gets the passive immunity enven though it’s not ewes milk.
We always try to milk a good bit from a few singles that lambed with lots of supply or a single that lost a lamb or something like that. If not we use colostart and I can’t say weve ever had a bad experience with it.

 

[yellowbelly]

This is a year or two old now but we used it to pick the one we still use (Nettex).......

 

[M-J-G]

Cow's colostrum is usually fine, I always try to give a bit of sheep stuff along with it to get the Hep P into the lamb.

Some cows however produce milk that's not compatible with the lambs digestion (I think it's to do with an amino acid), so it's more reliable to use pooled cow colstrum, or that from a cow that you've fed lambs from before.

 

[Henarar]

as a rule of thumb artificial are about 50% as good as the real thing on average

Our vet more or less said the artificial was rubbish, better than nothing but only just.

 

[Henarar]

Still got some in the freezer from last year in freezer ice bags.. What is the shelf like on it?

Vet did say but I can't remember.
I would rather use last years than fake stuff.

 

[Devil's advocate]

I've no problems with artifical but always try to get a bit of real stuff to mix with it.

ie If twins & 2 sets of triplets.

Strip out all the ewes mix the colustrum with some powdered & tube the lot.

Prefer cows colustrum but there is a small disease risk.

My vet recommends powdered because of the disease risk. If you have your own cows, well that's a no brainer.

 

[M-J-G]

Still got some in the freezer from last year in freezer ice bags.. What is the shelf like on it?

I've used colostrum that was at least 2yo on an orphaned calf that got nothing else, she was kept for a cow, she's about 10 yo now, I'll let you know when she dies (assuming I outlive her )

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Get some cow colostrum and freeze it in plastic cups so quick and easy to thaw out. Good as a filler for triplets and to stop hypothermia and watery mouth.

Nick a bit from every single with too much milk so you can get proper antibodies into any poorer lambs.

 

[Downton_shep]

Used Agri Lloyd stuff last year. Was pleased with it so will use again this lambing.

 

[Woolless]

Vet meeting I attended a couple of years ago had Ovicol Gold as by some way the best of the artificial ones. Some others were very poor in terms of antibody content. But as above, best to mix in some homegrown stuff if you can.

 

[Jrp221]

We use Ovicol Gold but generally try to keep some ewes colostrum in the freezer.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

I always buy the cheapest in the shop!