Pet sheep - help!

[red]

judging by the ones my parents raised on the bottle - the ewe that is left still rushes up now in the hope of getting a bottle and she is a yar old - and no she does nto get one.. habbit does not seem to go away..

[camillitech]

i raised 13 one year all at once, it was a nightmare. never again. the guy saw us coming they were 50p each, bargain i thought. got them from a dairy that made stuff from sheeps milk so they took the lambs away from mum asap (that's life guys). they were a cheviot, oldenberg cross and all looked identical so at feeding time we tied coloured wool round their necks when they had been fed then took the wool off at the next feed.

there were 8 boys and 5 girls, the boys went off for the chop with the rest of our lambs and we kept the girls though most of them died over the next couple of years 2 survived for years and 1 was a really good mum. but they were allways a 'bl**dy nuisance' forever in the garden, and allways hanging round the house.

having said all that it was an interesting experience with some great moments, like when one followed me down the road, down the beach, onto a rowing boat then out to a fishing boat to go and feed some salmon of course she made straight for the feed pellets on lying on the deck

good luck, paul

[ina]

Paul, for 13 you really should have invested in a feeding bucket...

That's a bucket with teats on. I use a so-called "shepherdess" as well; a bucket with internal heating to keep the milk warm, and a few teats. They only need filling up and cleaning out once a day. OK, they are a bit more expensive - but I currently have 17 on one of them.
The ordinary feed buckets aren't too bad, pricewise, though - it really is worth it. You get them with varying numbers of teats, too; but you don't need a teat for each lamb. They soon learn that there is milk available all day rather than just at feeding time; it doesn't do them any harm if the milk goes cold, either, as they will be drinking smaller quantities at any one time (which also helps to prevent bloating). So really, those buckets not only save time, they also improve the health of the lambs. They make the lambs less dependent on you - well, some of them; some still seem to think I'm their climbing frame!

[Bonniegirl]

Have a read of this:

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/article ... _lambs.htm

Bloating is a sign of pulpy kidney.

Are there not vaccines available to prevent this there?

Some more info, it's about goats but the same applies:

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/forum/t ... accination

As someone said to us when we started keeping animals, where there's livestock, there's deadstock. Put it down to experience, if you opt to have lambs again, get weaners and make sure they been vaccinated and always remember why you've got them......for roast lamb!

Chin up! One think I've learnt is that sheep are a regular pain in the arse and if they didn't taste so damned good I wouldn't have any!

Give me goats any day!

[camillitech]

Paul, for 13 you really should have invested in a feeding bucket

i worked that out after about a week ina but not before allot of hilarity and because of our location not to mention lack of money it took us another week to get 2, they had 5 teats each and like you said it did make life much simpler still i wouldnae do it again unless i had to

cheers, paul

[ina]

And some of these little monsters are just too b*** daft to go on the bucket anyway! I now have two of these silly little buggers - one quite old one, that had to come of its mum for some reason or other, and that I have to force feed (more or less), and one tiny one that's just not big enough yet to reach the teat (or I'd have to hang the bucket so low that the others couldn't get at it... ).

The joys of orphan lamb rearing! Well, the other 20 are OK - 17 on the shepherdess, 3 on an ordinary teat bucket... I managed to rear 40 like that last year, so this year isn't too bad at all.

[red]

why do you do it ina - to sell for meat ? just curious..

[ina]

why do you do it ina - to sell for meat ? just curious..

Work! I work on a farm, and since they've discovered I actually have the patience to deal with these monsters, it seems to be my annual job! Well, I enjoy it, too. But they are not my own. Most of them will in the end go for meat; some are kept for breeding.

[CrazyParrot]

Isn't death from pulpy kidney usually quick? the lambs have each bloated up several times over the last two and a half weeks, but each time it seems to go down again. I'll get them vaccinated when they are old enough - someone said at around two months is safe, is this right?

[ina]

According to my vet book, you don't usually see any signs before they are dead... So I don't really think it can be pulpy kidney. Have never seen it, though, as ours get their shots before it happens! I'm not sure about the age they have to be - would have to find the stuff and see what it sayd on the packet... If it says anything at all.

[red]

Work! I work on a farm, and since they've discovered I actually have the patience to deal with these monsters, it seems to be my annual job! Well, I enjoy it, too. But they are not my own. Most of them will in the end go for meat; some are kept for breeding.

oh right - for some reason I thought you worked at a desk.. something to do with computer at work.

now it makes sense !

[ina]

oh right - for some reason I thought you worked at a desk..

I do that, too, some of the time... General dogsbody!