[Jacob-list] Re: Wrong Mum

[MarmontJacobs at aol.com]

Hi - yes, we've had this happen. The ewe in question stole the first two of 
quads and suckled them for 24 hours before I guessed what she was up to ( I 
had been away until very late, dh was in charge, and they weren't expected!). 
She looked guilty, so I checked under her tail the next morning and she was 
rumbled.

Returning a lamb didn't work (the 4th was stillborn) as once the milk has 
passed through a lamb it smells wrong and visually now looks wrong too. The 
ewe in question produced enormous twins the following day.

On the colostrum front - catch the ewe and milk a little out. If it's still 
yellow, you should be fine, but if the ram lamb is scoffing the lot (bigger 
and stronger and more experienced so likely to be) then the ewe lamb with the 
weaker suck isn't going to get any. You could try tying up his birth mother 
tight and let him suckle her, penning him in a corner of his adoptive mum's 
pen so he can't pinch all the milk. We did for a month with one of the quads 
as he was too nice to bottle feed ( I never keep bottled rams)...but mind she 
doesn't kick. When the ewe lamb is stronger in two or three days say you 
could put him back all the time but watch for mastitis with the possible 
uneven suckling.

Re shots - I'm pretty sure you aren't to use these until two weeks of age 
minimum because of their immature immune systems. 

Trisha, Wales