[Jacob-list] Bottle Babies

[Neal and Louise Grose]

We have had few bottle babies here but it seems that every 2nd or 3rd year
we have 2 to 4 in a batch. I highly recommend having children to feed them
before and after school. When our youngest was about 3, he wanted to feed
the lambs, but was a little jealous of them getting one of his bottles. I
would however warn that we are not allowed to eat the lambs that the kids
have named, regardless of how obnoxious they become. ALL ram lambs that are
bottle raised should be castrated for this very reason. "Sneaky" was aptly
named, and periodically gets out and spends time on the deck of the house
with his good friends the dogs.

I will offer this important observation: Once the (normal) lambs are over a
week old, they will do fairly well fed three times a day if the feedings are
spaced out. You can also start a very high quality lamb starter fed free
choice and wean those little jokers sooner than you might think (perhaps as
early as 6 weeks). Studies with calves have shown that calves fed calf
starter that have milk replacer added to the formula actually gain weight
faster than ones that are fed milk replacer for an extended length of time.
Don't tell my kids.

Neal Grose