Always follow the feeding instructions on the bag. If lambs are weak and unable to suck, they should be fed colostrum and/or a lamb milk replacer using a tube feeder. Do not increase recommended volumes as lambs are susceptible to bloating and/or scouring from overfeeding.
Feeding lambs appropriate amounts for their age and weight is extremely important. Never over feed and do not feed on demand. Excess milk sits in the gut and can cause bloat (see Lamb Health page on bloat).
Lambs will consume around 20 percent of their body weight in milk per day. It will be beneficial to weigh the lamb to know how much to give. This would equate to about 38 ounces per day for a 12-pound lamb (12 pounds x 16 ounces per pound x .
It is best to keep the lambs a little hungry especially in the first few days. Overfeeding can lead to scours or bloating.
By the time your lamb is 13 weeks old, she should be completely free of milk and transitioned into a diet of hay, feed, grass, and water. Make sure you keep track of time and stick on your schedule to gradually decrease feedings starting at 5 to 6 weeks.
A lamb requires 10-15 % of their body weight in milk. For example a newborn 4kg lamb needs 400 ml-600 ml total of milk, split into 6 feeds of 75-100 ml. As the lamb grows, the amount of milk can be gradually increased. 1 litre daily split into 3-4 feeds should suit most lambs over 3 weeks old.
Most of the time you don't need to feed a healthy lamb during the night. It will survive the night without and is all the more willing to drink early in the morning when it's hungry. If you have a very weak lamb, then you must feed it at night too.
Mix two tablespoons of ginger in a small amount of warm water and administer with a syringe. Ginger has traditionally been used for the treatment of gastro-intestinal ailments. Pain meds may also be given to affected lambs.
As a rule of thumb, lambs should receive 10 to 20 percent of their body weight in milk once every 24 hours.
Although overfeeding a baby is rare, it can happen. The most common cause of an overfed baby is a parent or caregiver misinterpreting a baby's hunger and fullness cues. When a baby has enough to eat, they turn away from the breast or bottle and do not want to suck.
1-2 day old lambs should receive 4 to 6 ounces 4 times per day. 3-7 day old kids: 8-10 ounces 3 times per day. 1-2 week old kids: 12-14 ounces 3 times per day. 3-6 week old kids: 16-20 ounces 2 times per day.
As soon as the lambs are eating dry feed well, wean them to a high quality, dry ration and manage them as early weaned feeder lambs. Lambs can be weaned from milk feeding at 25-30 pounds body weight or when they are 30-45 days of age.
It is recommended that milk be fed cold, about 40°F (~4°C). With cold milk, there is less tendency for lambs/kids to overeat, thus helping to prevent bloat, diarrhea, and other digestive upsets. Feeding cold milk is essential if milk will be offered free choice.
This is the disease most commonly referred to as the “Overeating Disease”. Typically, it affects young lambs under two weeks of age or the weaned lambs that are consuming a high-carbohydrate diet (grain). However, lambs grazing lush pastures are also susceptible.
First and foremost is to make sure that the lambs are getting enough to eat. Typical lamb behavior is to stretch when they get up, ears should be alert and they should readily seek the udder. Lambs that cry, stand around hunched up, or simply don't get up most likely need more to eat.
Lamb Shaking after a feed
When heated, the milk should be at room temperature. Test a small amount on the back of your hand to check the temperature. A lamb shaking but not cold following a feed could, however, be a sign of a tummy problem causing pain and discomfort. In this case a vet visit may be required.
Early weaning should always be the goal. Artificially-reared lambs can be successfully weaned from a milk diet at 25 to 30 pounds body weight or when they are 30 to 42 days old. Weaning abruptly is better than offering a diluted milk replacer the last week.
In total, each lamb will receive about 200 pounds of whole corn, 125 pounds of alfalfa hay, 13 pounds of soybean oil meal, 2.5 pounds of salt and 2.5 pounds of limestone to gain 60 pounds in 90 days. Feed conversion rates vary from 4 to 6 pounds of feed per pound of gain.
Lambs less than 30 days of age will need a liquid diet until about 60 days of age. They will start to nibble lamb ration pellets at about 30 days of age. Provide fresh drinking water at all times for the lamb in a clean bucket that the lamb can easily reach.
Bloat in sheep is simply a surplus of gas in the rumen. Bloat is typically caused by two culprits in mature sheep: excess grain or overeating fresh, lush grass in the spring.
One of the most common reported problems for these lambs is abomasal bloat (tympany), which is caused by harmful bacteria in the stomach that feed on the lactose, which often gains entry with unhygienic conditions and hot milk.
Lambs and kid goats with abomasal bloat will have a swollen belly and will be dull and lethargic. Abdominal pain (colic) and teeth grinding (sign of pain) is common. Onset can be rapid, within 30 minutes of feeding and sometimes death is the first sign (i.e. found dead).
Suggested feeding times: 8 am, 12 noon, 4 pm, 8 pm. For very young lambs 4 hourly is best. See feeding schedule overleaf. Initially they will only drink about 1/2 of a small soft drink bottle.
As soon as the lambs learn to nurse readily, switch from warm milk to cold milk. Offer it ad lib. Day 5, offer dry feed (a commercial lamb starter or soybean meal with cracked corn) in a feeder. Placing a light (a heat lamp with 175 watt bulb is sufficient) over the feeder encourages lambs to stay nearby and eat feed.
Ewe's milk provides the main source of nutrition for lambs until about eight weeks of age. Lambs will sample pasture from about two weeks after birth but by eight weeks of age pasture overtakes milk as the major part of the diet of a lamb.