Saturday 15th April 2017
Lamb fostering!!!
Well... this very pretty ewe-lamb is a Mule/Suffolk cross (a mule being a cross itself between a ‘hill-breed’ ewe and a Bluefaced Leicester ram). We got her from our farmer neighbours who farm around 1000 acres, which includes lambing around 1500 sheep each spring. Mule crosses are the backbone of the lamb market in this country. The idea is that the original cross, the hill breed with the Bluefaced Leicester, bring together the best of both breeds: the hardiness, vigour and mothering instinct of the hill-breed with the milk capacity of the Bluefaced Leicester. When these are then crossed with a good meaty breed such as the Suffolk, the result is a fast growing lamb that gets great milk from its mother and then does really well on grass.
Obviously we were just interested in trying to get a replacement lamb although, as this little one is a ewe, it may be interesting to think what might happen if we bred from her. Mules and their crosses are often bred from as ewe lambs, as indeed we did with Lamorna which means they ‘earn their keep’ sooner than a more traditional pure breed!
But back to our attempts at fostering. Well, the good news is that having been born just a couple of hours before we arrived at the farm, plucked from the security of her pen and so arriving at ours VERY unsettled, tonight this ewe-lamb has gone to bed with a very full belly. The not such good news is that Bressay is so far proving a very reluctant foster mother. We have had her haltered and tied up for much of the day in order that she keeps still for the lamb to suckle. She has a trugg of hay that she can easily reach but we have had to release her so she can have a drink or two. When we have done this and the lamb approached her, she pushed her away!!! Tonight the lamb is the other side of a hurdle so Bressay can lie down and/or have a bit of a free wander in her stall without the lamb getting in the way or getting hurt.
We rubbed the dead lamb over our foster lamb but may have to consider skinning the dead one and ‘dressing’ the foster lamb in it so it smells ‘right’. Other suggestions have been to rub salt water on the lamb as mum will enjoy licking it off!!!
The major consensus however is that this process takes time, one posting suggested up to 7 days!!! Bressay is obviously not happy being tied up but we stand no chance of success unless she is restrained enough or compliant enouigh to stand still and allow the lamb to drink. We are currently working out what is best here: having a ewe that grieves for maybe 48 hours and then is okay or having one that is somewhat stressed for 4/5/6/7 days but then ends up with a lamb? There is also the 'small' matter of Bressay having a very full udder which may or may not dry off on its own. Masitus is caused by bacteria getting into the teats/udder and a ewe with a very full udder can be more at risk!. Right now Jack is thinking of bottle feeding and allowing poor Bressay to go back to the rest of the flock!!!! This is definitely not a ‘farmer’ attitude. Bottle feeding is time consuming and costly!! There are many smallholders who take this view too. In other words, Jack is possibly being a bit too soft!!!
We will have to see what tomorrow brings!!!
But back to our attempts at fostering. Well, the good news is that having been born just a couple of hours before we arrived at the farm, plucked from the security of her pen and so arriving at ours VERY unsettled, tonight this ewe-lamb has gone to bed with a very full belly. The not such good news is that Bressay is so far proving a very reluctant foster mother. We have had her haltered and tied up for much of the day in order that she keeps still for the lamb to suckle. She has a trugg of hay that she can easily reach but we have had to release her so she can have a drink or two. When we have done this and the lamb approached her, she pushed her away!!! Tonight the lamb is the other side of a hurdle so Bressay can lie down and/or have a bit of a free wander in her stall without the lamb getting in the way or getting hurt.
We rubbed the dead lamb over our foster lamb but may have to consider skinning the dead one and ‘dressing’ the foster lamb in it so it smells ‘right’. Other suggestions have been to rub salt water on the lamb as mum will enjoy licking it off!!!
The major consensus however is that this process takes time, one posting suggested up to 7 days!!! Bressay is obviously not happy being tied up but we stand no chance of success unless she is restrained enough or compliant enouigh to stand still and allow the lamb to drink. We are currently working out what is best here: having a ewe that grieves for maybe 48 hours and then is okay or having one that is somewhat stressed for 4/5/6/7 days but then ends up with a lamb? There is also the 'small' matter of Bressay having a very full udder which may or may not dry off on its own. Masitus is caused by bacteria getting into the teats/udder and a ewe with a very full udder can be more at risk!. Right now Jack is thinking of bottle feeding and allowing poor Bressay to go back to the rest of the flock!!!! This is definitely not a ‘farmer’ attitude. Bottle feeding is time consuming and costly!! There are many smallholders who take this view too. In other words, Jack is possibly being a bit too soft!!!
We will have to see what tomorrow brings!!!