Stories

Every year I have at least one "bottle baby." I also call them "bummers" or bum lambs. Bum comes from them bumming off other ewes because they don't have a mom or their mom doesn't have enough milk. These orphan lambs must be artificially reared on milk replacer.  I had 5 this year.  They each have a story.

Peaches was the first one (#1) and is the only ewe in the bunch. Her mother is the blind ewe (#820), who has lambed 8 times. Every year but one, she's birthed and raised three lambs. She had three lambs again this year:  a ram and two ewes. Only this time, she was producing milk on only one side of her udder. She wasn't going to be able to raise all three. So, I pulled off one of the ewe lambs. The male was much larger and was sure to take more than his share of the milk supply, which he did. I left the other ewe lamb on, but offered her a supplemental bottle when she wanted. I call her Zoe.

Joey, Peanut, Henry, Peaches, and Jacob

Peaches was in a pen by herself for a few days, then Henry (#2) joined her. Henry's mom is only 4 years old. Last year, she had twin lambs that needed supplemented for the first week or two, but she went on to raise two nice lambs, one of which I kept. I thought she would be okay to raise lambs this year. Wrong. She produced no milk for her single ram lamb. The lesson that I've learned over and over again is that ewes that have milk issues are only going to get worse the following year. Any ewe with any hint of mastitis should be culled.  Henry joined Peaches in the orphan pen. He took to the bottle right away and grew like a weed. I was never able to convert him to bucket feeding. I waited too long. Peaches nursed from the bottle and bucket.

Joey is #3. His mother  is only 3 years old, but had milk issues last year with her single ram lamb. I helped out in the beginning, but eventually she raised him on her own. He grew so well that I figured she was okay for another year. Wrong. This time she had triplet ram lambs and milk coming out of only one side of her udder. I decided she only  had enough milk for one lamb. I put two of them in the orphan pen. One died after several weeks of bottle and bucket feeding. He (Bernie) got sick all of a sudden. I wonder if he had a twisted gut, because his symptoms didn't present like (abomasal) bloat which is the usual problem with artificially-reared lambs. Joey went from bottle to bucket. He grew very well and is the nicest looking lamb of the bunch. He's 8% Lacaune.

Jacob is #4. His mother (#501) is a hard luck case. On Super Bowl Sunday, I noticed that she was swelled around her jaw, sort of like bottle jaw -- but not. I did deworm her. I was eventually able to get most of the swelling down, but she went off feed. For weeks, I provided her nourishment through an oral dosing syringe. Fortunately, she has a very good disposition and didn't fight me too much. Several weeks into treatment, I noticed she had an odor. She had a hole in her neck and was oozing pus. This indicated an abscess, probably in her esophagus. I put her on antibiotics and began flushing the infection twice daily with peroxide or betadine. Eventually, the pus stopped and she began eating again, though not as heartily as she once did.

501 is 5 years old. She is part Lacaune (16%). She has birthed and raised triplets four out of her five lambings. I figured she was carrying triplets this year. I decided I wasn't going to let her raise three lambs. She had triplet ram lambs. After they got their colostrum, I removed one for artificial rearing. Jacob eventually went from bottle to bucket. He's grown well, probably better than his siblings, though he misses his mom. Not sure what I will do with the ewe. She seems to be doing okay now.

Peanut (#5)

The final lamb (#5) is Peanut. Peanut's mom is 9 years old (#153). She has lambed nine times, twins and often triplets. She has always raised all of her lambs. Her litter this year was unequal in size:  two lambs of good and equal size and Peanut. Peanut was much smaller and clearly not getting his share of milk. He probably would have been okay (albeit a runt), but I decided to put him in the orphan pen, since I was already feeding four other lambs. He would do better. He was very hard to get on the bottle. I never bothered trying to convert him to the bucket.

The five of them have been weaned for almost two weeks. So far, they've been vaccinated twice for CDT. They'll get a third injection. They're in a pen in the third bay of my garage. Maggie, the new livestock guardian dog, shares a corner with them. I keep her food and water there and she sleeps in the garage, if it is raining. The bummers will stay together as a group until after the other lambs are weaned. They're not ready to be merged with other sheep.

I usually feed bum lambs for about six weeks. It takes almost a bag of milk replacer (25#) to artificially rear one lamb. Modern milk replacers are very good. With good management, artificially-reared lambs should grow as well as dam-raised lambs. I introduce bum lambs to feed as soon as possible. The feed is a mixture of cracked corn and soybean meal, with some minerals mixed in. They also have free choice hay, an alfalfa-orchardgrass mix. I wean abrupt, just stop feeding them milk at approximately 6 weeks of age. I may try earlier weaning next time, maybe 5 weeks, if the lambs are doing as well as these. Cutting a week off milk feeding will save money and not be harmful to the lambs. In fact, it is better. Many people "kill" orphan lambs with "kindness" by not weaning them when they should.