- Location
- Highland
Following on from our change in pet policy this year, to leave them in a paddock with their mothers and train them to come to the fence for their bottles. Been a great success, some are getting a wee bit from the ewes but mostly have not had the stress of losing their mum, protection and social structure. Have to say they are doing much better than previous years of lifting the lambs and putting them in a paddock on their own. The stress really knocks their immune system IMO and some that should make it don't, having consumed vast quantities of powedered milk first. So far no unexpected losses this year.
Had a wee brainstorm yesterday (brain starting to work again after lambing). Had an old ewe die pneumonia (no idea how she managed to slip through the net
) Leaving a 3 week old, confused lamb in good nick. Left her in the pen dead for a day (still cold here!) to make it easier to catch him and introduce the bottle. This morning sheared a bit off her and took her out for knacker pick-up. As suspected, lambs can't judge size, so he is still happy with his mum's bundle of wool being there. Big bonus for the humans - no endless bleating!!! When he goes to the pet paddock, his "mum" can go too until he adjusts.
None of this has been time-consuming, in fact the feeding bit only takes the same time as always anyway. For the other 23+ hours of the day, the lambs can grow instead of being stressed. We have a few small outdoor pens where the ewe/lamb start out, once they've been pulled out of the field while we're assessing what's needed/waiting to see if treatments work/checking twins getting enough milk/etc.
After that they go in a large paddock of bottle feeder families. Defo using less powdered milk, they spend time playing, eating grass and sleeping, rather than wandering about 24/7 bleating, looking for their mum, and getting a bashing when they try to cuddle in to another ewe for comfort. Since mixing in a wee bit of live yohgurt and letting the foam settle in the bottles, haven't had problems with bloat either
.
Had a wee brainstorm yesterday (brain starting to work again after lambing). Had an old ewe die pneumonia (no idea how she managed to slip through the net
) Leaving a 3 week old, confused lamb in good nick. Left her in the pen dead for a day (still cold here!) to make it easier to catch him and introduce the bottle. This morning sheared a bit off her and took her out for knacker pick-up. As suspected, lambs can't judge size, so he is still happy with his mum's bundle of wool being there. Big bonus for the humans - no endless bleating!!! When he goes to the pet paddock, his "mum" can go too until he adjusts.None of this has been time-consuming, in fact the feeding bit only takes the same time as always anyway. For the other 23+ hours of the day, the lambs can grow instead of being stressed. We have a few small outdoor pens where the ewe/lamb start out, once they've been pulled out of the field while we're assessing what's needed/waiting to see if treatments work/checking twins getting enough milk/etc.
After that they go in a large paddock of bottle feeder families. Defo using less powdered milk, they spend time playing, eating grass and sleeping, rather than wandering about 24/7 bleating, looking for their mum, and getting a bashing when they try to cuddle in to another ewe for comfort. Since mixing in a wee bit of live yohgurt and letting the foam settle in the bottles, haven't had problems with bloat either
.