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OT sheep question

F

farmer101IL

Member
A friend has a sheep that just had babies. can't get any milk out of here just a little out of one nipple. Any suggestions? Thanks all!!!

Farmer Still in Georgia for the winter!!
 
Get some bottles going quick with milk replacer for those lambs. They don't have a lot of time. Then call the vet about a hormone shot for milk let-down.
 
Sometimes teats are plugged with gelled colustrum - looks like yellow grease. Make sure she is with the lambs -- licking the lamb spurs hormone that lets milk down.
 
What LAA said. When my lambs are born, part of my standard procedure is to tip Mom up and strip her nipples to make sure the milk is flowing.

I also give every lamb a shot of JumpStart just to make sure they get enough nutrition to get off to a good start. Makes a big difference, even if they do start feeding right away.

JumpStart is a commercial liquid, I give 'em about 5cc orally with a syringe.
 
Sometimes a shot of oxytocin will help with the milk let down. Chances are if you can't squeeze more than a few drops out, she isn't going to have any milk. Not too uncommon if shes is a first timer. If the lambs didn't get any colostrum within 24 hours chance are slim they are ever going to make it anyway. After 24 hours they loose the ability to take in the antiboties they would get from the colostrum to keep them healthy. At least get them started on milk replacer from a bottle.
 
Our sheep are usually born without us being there to witness. As soon as they"re discovered, I"m watching to see if lamb(s) are nursing. If not, we bottle feed with a commercial milk replacer made for sheep. Have saved a couple that way. You might find it difficult to milk a ewe. I sure had trouble hand milking an angora goat here a while back. And yes, I"m very experienced milking cows!
 
Welcome to sheep, Sheep die. They have no will to live and when they are born they sorta look at you and say," You have 48 hours to try and keep me alive, I'm going to try and die now."
 
Before lambing every year we go to a local dairy farm and get a gallon or so of collostrum and freeze it in small quainties. When a ewe doesnt have milk give the lamb 60cc every 4 hrs for the first two days then give lamb replacer. Saved many many lambs this way. Bob
 
Had a neighbor in the '60's that said sheep would be dead 3 days before they fell over.
Everyone around there [central Indiana] that had sheep had a couple of pets from bottle feeding.
 
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