As mentioned in my last post we are having lambs earlier than expected due to a jail break from our Tunis Ram, last fall. He managed to breed 5 ewe that short time he was out, so lambing season began earlier than planned.
We had a Tunis ewe that we thought looked close to lambing, so we put her in the barnyard so we could keep an eye on her.
The next morning (wee hours) we found a ewe with a lamb. When heading into the barn we noticed another lamb, cold and abandoned. I am so glad we seen him in the dark! We quickly bought him indoors, to warm him up, he was pretty non responsive. Thankfully, after getting warmed up he was able to drink some colostrum that I took from him mom. After a short while, we took him out to the pen I had put the ewe and sister in, to see if by some chance she would accept him.
Unfortunately, NO!
I can't be positive, but I can guess that the ewe got caught up with one of her lambs, and wandered off from her second lamb. Too much time had passed, the abandoned lamb was too cold, and our first priority, was to get him warmed up, not getting him reunited with his mother.
The first two days, we took him out every couple of hours and let him nurse off his mom, so he could get the colostrum, he needed. We have to coerce/force her to let him, but that is easier than trying to milk a ewe.
He has now been put on a bottle (not taking him out to the barn at 3:30 a.m.) but he still gets a couple of meals from his mom every day. She never came around to the fact that he is her lamb. She is too aggressive to leave him with her, so for now he is a house lamb.
He is our first 2015 bummer- hopefully, our one and only!
It's a lot more work for you, Sandra, but I know you are glad you found him. He sure is a cutie!
ReplyDeleteFern
Yes, that is true!
DeleteGood thing he is cute! Bummers are a lot of work and I don"t envy you the task ahead to grow him up. I have so enjoyed your posts and pictures of the new crop of lambs. I live in a city - get my goat and sheep fix by volunteering at the zoo in the barn where zoo visitors can interact with the wooly beasts. Come home smelling of goat and sheep which my dog thinks is wonderful. May the rest of lambing season be calm, all lambs loved by their mommas, and no more bummers.
ReplyDeleteyes, they are a lot of work. I have girls that love to help, so it gets spread out :) Thanks for stopping by, and leaving a comment. It is nice to hear from people who read the blog,
DeleteHe is a pretty cute little thing. Everybody needs at least one critter in the house come spring, right?)
ReplyDeleteYes, there have been a few springs over the years where we have had a house lamb :)
DeleteWhat a relief that you found him. I've only had one kid rejected by his mom. He was the smallest of triplets and I think she knew she couldn't produce enough milk for all three. She wasn't mean to him but she wouldn't let him nurse, so I had to do that. Bottle babies are a lot of work but it's a pretty sweet job. :)
ReplyDeleteThere are many years we do not have any bottle babies. They are a lot of work-but they are so cute!!
DeleteAwww :-)
ReplyDelete