What you need to know about bottle lambs.
2020 has brought us a LOT of adventures (aside from COVID-19). One of those adventures being bottle lambs. My husband has always wanted to raise sheep and we had discussed it a bit, but we leaned more towards goats and cattle. Thanks to Craigslist, he found someone local selling the breed of sheep we were interested in! We got in contact and within a few days we were shepherds to three bottle lambs, two rams and one ewe. All three were roughly a week old and were rejected by their mother. A ewe will typically reject a lamb if they have more than 2 lambs at once. This is a primal instinct as most ewes can only support the nutritional needs of two lambs at at time. Sometimes it works out for them to feed 3+, but it is rare. Rejection sometimes will occur just due to poor ewe attitude as well. Either way, that is how you end up with bottle babies!
If you are considering raising lambs or kids (goats) as bottle babies, I highly suggest gathering the following items before you bring them home.
-Bottles and bottle nipples
I suggest using the Pritchard style teats. You can purchase teats only to be screwed onto a regular pop bottle or you can purchase them with a fluid ounce marked bottle. Also, if you are going to have several bottle babies at once, I suggest getting or making a bottle holder. There’s nothing like having only 2 hands and 13 babies trying to eat! We made a bottle holder that could hold 5 bottles, there are several simple designs on Pinterest!
-Milk Replacer
I recommend using whatever the lambs/kids have been given by the previous owner so that you don’t upset the rumen in their tummies. This can cause bloat, which is the most common cause of death in bottle reared animals. We have used two different replacers, The Shepherd’s Choice and Tractor Supply Brand DuMor Blue Ribbon. Both were great, but some people prefer to feed whole milk from the grocery store. Do your research before choosing!
-Veterinary care box
Here is a YouTube video link explaining what is in our vet care box and what each thing is used for. Along with having a well stocked vet care box, I suggest collecting contact info to near by livestock vets in case of an emergency.
-List of livestock veterinarians in your area
We did not realize our area is VERY limited on livestock veterinarians. I recommend calling around to your local vets offices and see what services they can provide for your animals.
-Hay and grain feeders
It is usually best to offer free choice hay and/or grain from day 1. Kids and lambs tend to nibble on hay within their first week of life and will adapt to eating hay as part of their diet by week 2. This helps build healthy rumen and supports overall health for the animal. If you choose to offer grain, offer it in smaller quantities. Some animals will gorge themselves on grain and create problems in the gut which generally leads to bloating and death.
-Indoor and outdoor pens
We keep our kids/lambs separate from the rest of the herd until they are plenty big enough to defend themselves or at least run from the larger livestock. Having an indoor and outdoor area that is attached is ideal. Being able to let the babies out to play will help with muscle and bone development and it will help prevent respiratory issues.
-Bedding and barn lime
Another key to animal health is keeping things CLEAN and DRY! Thick bedding will help keep the animals dry, but you have to think about the layers underneath. We kept thick bedding, but would rake the straw down to the ground and spread anti-slipping barn lime all over the flooring surface before adding the bedding back. Barn lime helps to keep ammonia smells down and dries up any spots they tend to stay wet.
Now that you have everything ready for your critters, bring them home! It may sound simple enough; feed, clean, exercise, sleep? Negative. Now is where the work begins. It is very helpful to set aside time each day to watch each animal’s behavior. Knowing each animal’s personality and normal behaviors will help indicate any issues early on so you can treat them. This helped save several of our lambs. Here are a list of things to watch for and check daily.
-Attitude
Is the animal alert and playful or does it act sluggish and inattentive? Is the animal usually eager to eat or does it hang back a little more and wait? We had some timid lambs that would get overwhelmed with the activity at feeding time and hang back. If we didn’t catch them and hold them while being fed, they would’ve developed slowly, had health issues, or even died from starvation.
-Poo
Watch for any runny stool or dirty back ends. That can be trouble for growing babies.
-Food Consumption
Is the lamb eating like normal? Are they having any issues with suckling or possibly coughing/wheezing? Bottle lambs and kids are prone to pneumonia and will rarely show signs until it’s too late to treat. Holding bottles too high can contribute to this.
Raising animals from bottles can be one of the most rewarding things you can do as a farmer, but it can also be quite devastating if you aren’t careful. I hope this post helps you get prepared for bringing home your critters! If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment!
Thanks for visiting the Ridge!
-Kristen
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