Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[tortoise]

My friend has had 5 lambs so far this year. 1 DOA, 4 bottle babies. 1 sick ewe, 1 with no milk. Ugh. She's not so thrilled!

Congrats on the babies. At least she hasn't rejected them all!

Wow, that is rough!

My count so far is
Quads - 1 died a couple weeks old, other three are great and on pasture
Quads - 4 dead within 12 hours, no idea what happened
Single - doing great, out on pasture
Triplets - 1 rejected bottle lamb, other 2 are big and look good

I have 2 more yearling ewes due in the next 3 weeks - expecting singles and/or DOA. and 1 due maybe a month after that - also expecting single or DOA from her - she was a bottle baby last year purchased from another farm so she will not be quite a year old. :cringe:

Had 4 or so ewes not get pregnant this year - never had that happen before. Between 2 rams, so can't even blame one of them.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Well her ewe with no milk had pregnancy toxemia and nearly died so the fact that she and her lambs are alive is worth the disaster otherwise. But yeah. No good.

Hope the rest of your lambing goes alright, sounds like potentially not good things coming up? What makes you think DOA? Just size? Just curious!

 

[tortoise]

Hope the rest of your lambing goes alright, sounds like potentially not good things coming up? What makes you think DOA? Just size? Just curious!

They're all first-timers. And the one is young and small and first-timer.

Obligatory cute baby animal photo

 

[tortoise]

Listed him for sale $35 this week, and increase $10 per week. Intentionally low priced to get him out of here before I need to buy a new bag of milk replacer!

There's a bottle ewe lamb on CL right now for $200. (priced to not-sell, maybe???) I paid $45 each for my bottle babies last year.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There's a bottle ewe lamb on CL right now for $200.

Wow! I think I'd pay somebody $200 to take mine and raise 'em for me! I do not enjoy this... Does that make me a terrible goat mama?

 

[NH Homesteader]

But, would it bother you as much if you didn't have a full time job? I mean, that's the worst part isn't it, driving home to feed them?

$200, lol. Right. Some people sell registered dairy goat bottle babies for that but not many. Most bottle babies are $25-100.

And awe! So tiny!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Bottle babies are high(er) here. I sold that bottle baby buckling for $100. I've seen Craigslist ads asking $175 for ND bottle bucklings. I wouldn't pay it.... geeze!

It would definitely be better if I weren't already running in a zillion different directions.

 

[tortoise]

Wow! I think I'd pay somebody $200 to take mine and raise 'em for me! I do not enjoy this... Does that make me a terrible goat mama?

You need some kids around. DS11 does 95% of the lamb raising work. Which does mean we lose a few more than if I did it all, because he sometimes overfeeds or doesn't pick up cues that a lamb is not gaining weight or is losing body condition. Free labor, and it ain't mine either!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Bottle baby goats are more.expensive than sheep. Most bottle many sheep I see are free up to maybe $50. I don't know if they don't do as well on bottles as goats or just less demand.

 

[tortoise]

Bottle baby goats are more.expensive than sheep. Most bottle many sheep I see are free up to maybe $50. I don't know if they don't do as well on bottles as goats or just less demand.

They do terribly, in general. They're not really worth feeding unless you have free labor (farm wife or kids). Seriously. So true that that last sentence is in veterinary textbooks on sheep.

I've had 100% success bottle raising some years. But I'm feeding them like 10 times per day instead of the standard 2 times per day. But I still have trouble when they're weaning. Weaning is hard on bottle lambs, even when we do it slowly and gradually. They're just so much more susceptible to disease in their first few weeks on pasture.


Last year I wanted to add 3 ewes, so I bought 5 bottle lambs. 1 died pretty quick - there was something wrong with her. She couldn't swallow or keep milk down like the others. Then lost one about 3 months old after they were weaned and on pasture. Of course it was the kids' favorite.