Shepherdess bucket,

[Bones]

Would I be right in saying the longer a lamb stayes on a ewe the harder it is to take to the bucket , would I be better giving colestrum and then straight on to the bucket , any thoughts?

 

[neilo]

Would I be right in saying the longer a lamb stayes on a ewe the harder it is to take to the bucket , would I be better giving colestrum and then straight on to the bucket , any thoughts?

Yes. I’ve always found the younger the lamb (& less used to suckling a ewe’s teat), the easier they take to an artificial teat. I lift the odd one off a triplet as soon as it’s had a suck of colostrum, and just drop it in the machine pen with the others. It’s very rare that I have to even show it the teat when I do that.

However, it can be equally hard to get such lambs to then suck a ewe’s teat, if you have a chance of adopting it on, as it’s only really been used to a latex teat stuck out of a flat panel...

 

[watfordfrosty]

what money are the shepardess buckets can you make one using an aquarium heater

 

[neilo]

what money are the shepardess buckets can you make one using an aquarium heater

I seem to remember there have been numerous threads on here about doing just that. They’re not complicated bits of kit ultimately, so something similar should be fairly easy to rig up, if you should want to.
Personally, i’ve never had one (or particularly want one), but can see they would be better than bottling if you have a small number.

 

[Bones]

It needs to be made in the shape of a sheep, wool and all, so the lamb can go under and suck,

 

[MJT]

Would I be right in saying the longer a lamb stayes on a ewe the harder it is to take to the bucket , would I be better giving colestrum and then straight on to the bucket , any thoughts?

I used to find that if you have older lambs to try and get on shepherdess then the best way was if I had a ewe pop her clogs, sit her over shepherdess with the teats in correct place and the older lambs would go straight to them and suck, and then they’d soon remember to go back there . Sounds bad but worked great !

 

[David.]

what money are the shepardess buckets can you make one using an aquarium heater

All you need is an outer insulated container for a water jacket, a 30w submersible aquarium heater, and an inner vessel to sit in the water to hold the milk. Oh and obviously, a couple of teat holders and non-return valves and some silicone milk tube, £50 tops.
Hardest bit is finding two suitable containers, a 20kg plastic rat poison tub is the same as the Ewe2 outer container, drill a suitable hole at the bottom of the side for the aquarium heater to pass through, and use a end-cut-off teat pushed in there for the seal, I cannot mind a perfect fitting tub with snap lid, for an inner vessel to match it though; perhaps a home brew bucket? But the inner vessel must sit clear of the aquarium heater..even if on a couple of half bricks.

 

[Longlowdog]

Shepherdess bucket is neck end of £130+vat, bought one ten years ago, wouldn't buy another. Two different sized tubs (size and shape don't matter they will be remote from feeder) from Homebase, aquarium heater from Pets R Us/Amazon, as many as you like teat holders with valves, a few yards of pipe and you're off. I reckon you'd build a system for 100 lambs for £100 or less.

 

[FIL46]

I made a shepherdess from parts I bought, no problem with lambs drinking etc but could not find a good temperature to keep it at as the milk was yellowing after half a day loads of waist, bought myself a heatwave this year not using it yet but from what I see and here it it the best way apart from a full auto mixing machine which is big money

 

[beardface]

+1 for the heatwave got one last year. Easy to keep clean and milk stays nice and fresh. Takes about 15 mins to clean the lines each day and make sure you unscrew and clean the years as the harbour the most amount of grime behind them.

 

[quavers]

+2 bought a heat wave last year , soon pays for it self in the amount of hours saved in a week .

 

[Granite Farmer]

I have recently bought a Ewe 2 feeder. I have never had such quiet and contented bottle lambs, not much waste either. Would I buy another one? No because they are too expensive, however I needed something in a hurry. I may have a try at building my own in the future.

 

[Ysgythan]

Just buy a shepherdess and avoid all the hassle. Bought one years ago and it still works fine even if it goes a season or two without use. As to age of lambs, we wean them abruptly at about 4-6 weeks so if a lamb is about a fortnight old I wouldn’t bother.

 

[Bob the beef]

+3 for heatwaveabout to start 4th season with ours. Keep it clean works a treat. Also has the benefit of being able to feed a calf if you need to . Change the teat and all sorted

 

[jamesy]

Have a sheperdess bucket but don’t use the heat element, just put warm milk in the bucket, decreasing the temp every few days then just give it cold

 

[Bury the Trash]

I made a shepherdess from parts I bought, no problem with lambs drinking etc but could not find a good temperature to keep it at as the milk was yellowing after half a day loads of waist, bought myself a heatwave this year not using it yet but from what I see and here it it the best way apart from a full auto mixing machine which is big money

What if a diy one was made ....... but in the style of the heatwave one..