Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Preparing the mixture
• Part 2 of 3: Feeding the lamb
• Part 3 of 3: Preventing Problems

Sometimes you have to bottle feed the lamb. A lamb can be orphaned if its mother dies at birth or simply rejects it for some unknown reason. In this case, you need to start feeding the animal as soon as possible in order for it to survive. When feeding, you should adhere to certain rules.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Preparing the mixture

1. 1 Visit your veterinarian. If you need to bottle feed a lamb, it means that it is orphaned or abandoned by one of your sheep. Before attempting to care for a lamb yourself, you need to take it to your veterinarian. The doctor will determine what exactly the lamb needs and will help you find the right milk and colostrum that will provide the animal with all the vitamins and minerals it needs.
2. 2 Get the colostrum substitute. Colostrum is the milk produced by a sheep in the first days after giving birth. It is essential for the health and normal development of the newborn lamb.
   • Colostrum is essential for the lamb because it contains a lot of nutrients and protects the newborn from various infections. Newborn lambs lack antibodies and require colostrum to produce antibodies and fight off infections.
   • The daily dose of colostrum consumed by a newborn lamb should be 10% of its weight. This means that a lamb weighing 5 kilograms needs to drink 500 grams of colostrum in the first 24 hours of its life. If the mother leaves the lamb, try to get her colostrum as soon as possible. If you are raising sheep, it is best to have a colostrum substitute on hand at all times in case of an emergency.
   • Colostrum substitutes can be purchased at your pet store or farm supply store.
3. 3 Purchase a sheep milk replacer. During the first 13 weeks of life, a lamb will need a sheep's milk replacer.
   • Sheep milk substitutes can also be purchased at a pet store or farm supply store. After you open the package, pour the contents into a tight-fitting glass jar. You can put a few bay leaves on top of the mixture to keep insects away.
   • Make sure the milk replacer is specifically for lambs. Avoid giving lamb cow's milk replacer as it contains other nutrients and vitamins that can adversely affect the animal's health.
4. 4 Make your own mixture if necessary. If you can't find a milk or colostrum substitute, you can make your own formula.However, shop for the formula first, as standard substitutes contain all the nutrients you need. Only try to make the mixture yourself after you can't buy it.
   • To make a colostrum substitute, mix 740 milliliters of cow's milk, one egg, a teaspoon (5 milliliters) of fish oil, and a teaspoon (5 milliliters) of glucose. You can also make a mixture of 600 milliliters of cow's milk, a teaspoon (5 milliliters) of castor oil, and one egg.
   • Formula can be made by combining a teaspoon (5 ml) butter, a teaspoon (5 ml) dark corn syrup, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and lambs vitamins in tablet or solution form, which can be purchased from a pet store or food supply store. Agriculture.
5. 5 Prepare the bottle. The lamb should be fed with a 250 ml bottle with a rubber teat.
   • First, pour 10% of the lamb's weight into a bottle of colostrum substitute and feed it to the animal within 24 hours. During this time, try to feed the lamb every two hours.
   • After the initial feeding with colostrum, the lamb will need 140 milliliters of milk replacer. Pour the appropriate amount of milk replacer into the bottle and reheat it to keep it warm but not hot to the touch, just as you would for a baby.
   • Sterilize bottles and teats regularly with a sterilizing solution or steam sterilizer. Milk residues are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria. Do not use bleach as it will destroy the rubber nipples.

Part 2 of 3: Feeding the lamb

1. 1 Make a feeding schedule. After the first 24 hours, a lamb feeding schedule should be established and adhered to.
   • After feeding the colostrum for the next 24 hours, feed the lamb 140 milliliters of milk every four hours. The next day, feed the lamb 200 milliliters every four hours. During this period, the animal needs to be fed every four hours. Record feeding times and remember to feed the lamb on time.
   • After 2 weeks, you can start to gradually increase the amount of milk.
   • As mentioned above, before feeding, you should reheat the formula so that it is warm but not hot to the touch.
2. 2 Lift the standing lamb's face up and feed it. After you have measured and prepared the formula, you can feed the lamb.
   • Lambs should be fed while standing. Do not hold the lamb or take it on your knees while feeding, otherwise it may clog the lungs.
   • Most lambs suckle instinctively. If your lamb is not one of them, it is enough to press the nipple to his lips.
3. 3 After the first week, start adding fresh water, hay, and grass. After a week of feeding, first with colostrum and then with milk, some solid food should be added to the lamb's diet.
   • Give him fresh water, straw and grass. Let the animal eat as it wants.
   • If the lamb is strong enough, let him graze with the rest of the flock to get used to the other sheep.
4. 4 Increase the amount of food every two weeks. As the lamb grows, you should give it more milk.
   • After feeding 200 milliliters four times a day for two weeks, gradually increase the milk dose to 500 milliliters, also four times a day.
   • After another two weeks, gradually increase the amount of milk to 700 milliliters four times a day.
   • After 5 or 6 weeks, start reducing your milk supply. Change to 500 ml and only give milk twice a day.
5. 5 In 13 weeks, the lamb should wean from milk. By 13 weeks of age, the animal should be completely weaned from milk and transferred to straw, hay, grass and water.Keep track of the time and, starting from the 5-6th week, observe the schedule of gradually reducing the amount of milk.

Part 3 of 3: Preventing Problems

1. 1 Observe the lamb after feeding to determine if it has enough food. Make sure he doesn't overeat or go hungry. There are several ways to make sure your lamb is getting the right amount of food.
   • After feeding, the sides of the lamb should form a straight line between the thighs and ribs. This sign indicates that the lamb is getting the right amount of food.
   • If you notice that the sides of the lamb have bulged out after feeding, it means that he is overeating. In this case, reduce the amount of milk the next time you feed.
2. 2 Take care to prevent hypothermia. Lambs often have to be bottle fed due to being orphaned or abandoned by the sheep. If the lamb is not warmed by adult sheep, its body can become hypothermic, which can lead to hypothermia. Listed below are measures to help prevent hypothermia.
   • In the initial stages of hypothermia, the lamb looks weak and thin, it can hunch over. Lamb's body temperature can be measured with a rectal thermometer. The body temperature of a healthy lamb is 38.9-39.5 degrees Celsius. A lower body temperature may indicate health problems.
   • Wrap the lamb in a towel to keep it warm. You can also use a hairdryer for heating. In addition, you can purchase a special jacket for the lamb that will keep him warm at night. The use of heating lamps is not recommended as this could lead to a fire in the sheepfold.
   • Make sure that there are no drafts in the sheepfold, especially in winter.
3. 3 Take steps to prevent pneumonia. Pneumonia is a common problem among lambs, especially when bottle fed, as they do not always receive all the antibodies they need to fight bacteria, even when using colostrum substitutes.
   • Pneumonia is associated with breathing problems, heart palpitations, and fever. Lambs with pneumonia may refuse milk.
   • The main causes of pneumonia are drafts and dampness. To prevent pneumonia in lambs, keep the sheepfold free of drafts and clean and dry.
   • If the lamb gets pneumonia, get antibiotics from your veterinarian and start giving them to the animal as soon as possible.