# I'm hand raising a lamb. He's 2 weeks old- now what??



## rootsong (Jun 22, 2008)

I'm having an impossible time finding answers to my lamb raising questions in any books or websites. Can you guys help me?

I have a bottle fed ram lamb. He is 19 days old now. He was born about a week prematurely so he's still pretty small, thin, and wobbly but is thriving, growing, and playing. I am bottle feeding him 4x/day.

I kept him in our house in a plastic bin until he outgrew that, then I put him in a tall box (in the house). He's now big enough to jump out of it, tip it over, and he also pees/poos a ton & is getting stinky in the house. I put him in a little play area on the grass during the day starting a few days ago but always keep him in at night. Very soon he'll be able to jump over the sides of the play area. 

Here are my questions. What the heck do I do next??  Where does he go once he outgrows boxes & bins? Is he old enough to sleep in outdoor weather? Does he still need a heat light at night? Is he okay in his outdoor play area when it's only 55 degrees?

More info: We also have 2 ewes, one of them being the orphan ram's mom. They are in a pasture surrounded by electric fence netting. I worry that my little, wobbly, thin legged lamb will just stumble into the netting & get caught. I also wonder if the ewes will trample him. 

Another option I have is somehow creating a pen for him in our shop/barn under the heat light in there (if he still needs a heat light?). It's just a concrete floor though. 


Thank you for listening. I appreciate any advice I can get! We are obviously brand new & clueless to this whole thing. 

By the way, he's a Katahdin sheep.

Here is is 3 days ago in his outdoor play area.


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Yes, he can do without a heat lamp. Yes, he can go outside- as long as it isn't wet out. I'd put him out with the others and watch closely for a while to see how they treat him. Are there other lambs? Make sure he has a place to run to in case another momma gets ugly with him. We kept a little ewe lamb in the garage until I felt so sorry for her being alone. I had a dog crate that I extended into a pen with a folding table. I put an old rug down for her to stay off the concrete floor. The other sheep were in the barn so I sent her out with them. She could climb through the stall gate if the other momma's took after her. The other lambs would come out and play with her. All in all, I think it helped her learn to be a sheep. I did go out hourly for a day or two to make sure she knew she still had 'family' of her own. I also brought her to the house to sleep at night since going to the barn for a feeding wasn't on my list of favorite things to do. She made a great mother herself this year - though her mom rejected her. 

Bottle-fed rams can be a problem later.


----------



## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

We use a child's playpen with old towels with a sheet over them for inside living space for the lambs. The sheet and towels can be thrown into the washer easily. When they start getting out on their own, they're ready to go outside, depending on the weather. We want to get them outside before they get too old, or they don't really ever become sheep - they don't integrate into the flock well. If you have decent weather they can go out all day. I don't like going out into the dark to feed something, either, so they usually come in at night until we just can't keep them in the playpen, or the weather is good enough to leave them out. This year's little girl had no problem being allowed to sleep in the middle of the pile with the rest of the lambs. She still would like more attention, but she is now a sheep. 

Last year's house-sheep who was given to us, had a great pedigree but he was a dwarf. He never grew, and was never accepted by the other sheep. He stayed with us a lot longer because he could just scoot through the cattle panels and come in the cat door of the house. He rode in the car and slept on my mom's feet watching TV. Unfortunately, since he wouldn't stay with the other sheep, even when he got big enough to stay in the fence, we think he got picked off by coyotes. He was so small that he could have just been carried away. Definitely not the herd sire I had been hoping for!
Anyway, they're fun and cute. Have a good time with him! I've read that the hand-raised rams can become dangerous when they get to be adult, but I haven't found that with mine. All our sheep are friendly and come to us readily, but the house-sheep aren't any more pushy than the others.
Kit


----------



## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

LMAO!!! I had a bottle lamb too named Thor that slept in my house in a dog crate...LOL he wore diapers around his belly to catch the pee...LOL he stayed with me till he was 2 months old. I bought them swaddlers to wrap around his belly....LOL He would jump up and down on the couch and when older slept next to my bed.

He finally got too big and I had to force myself to place him outside. He cried for me and always found ways to escape. I would come home from work and there he'd be sleeping on the porch waiting for me to come home. 

I'd love on him and walk him back to the pasture. But I had other little ones that he could play with. And their momma's didnt much like him next to them. So he got a few head buts then he learned to hang out with the rams as they were not as mean to the little guy, and he'd play with the other lambs during the day. I still had to bottle feed him for a couple of weeks cutting back to twice a day then once. He picked up on eating and drinking fairly quick, but I was always the momma. He'd follow me down the fence line just crying, it broke my heart.

Here he is now with his new owner she loves him just as much as I did.
Thor the white ram and Gizmo the black ram, This little girl bought both Gizmo and Thor


----------



## VA Shepherd (Dec 26, 2010)

Haha, Fowler, what a great picture! I remember you posting a picture of Gizmo as a baby, he is adorable! Babydolls are so precious I don't know how you manage NOT to keep them in the house.... 

Rootsong (great screen name, btw)-- The heat lamp does need to go, sheep are healthier in a cool, well-ventilated area; they are built for cold weather. As long as he's dry, he should be in the coolest spot you can find. These are critters that sleep with their boobs/nuts in the snow. 

And I would put him in with the ewes. Lambs, even little ones, learn about electric fences very quickly. You have to steel yourself for the first time they hit it-- he'll yell and run far and fast-- but rarely do they try it more than once or twice. As long as he doesn't get an ear tag tangled in the electric netting that first time or two, he'll be fine. And he's big enough to take getting stepped on a little; once lambs are old enough to run, they're usually big enough to avoid getting trampled under normal circumstances.

Also, as KIT.S said, he won't really ever be a real sheep if he spends too much time without a flock. In my experience, a bottle lamb is happier, in the long run, getting knocked about a bit by other sheep, than living like a cat with people. They'll butt him around a bit until he learns his place in the pecking order, especially if he tries to nurse, but unless they're pinning him against a fence and pounding at him, that's all normal and harmless. You should have seen my little bottle lamb this year, she tried sneaking a drink from every ewe for a week, and I think she spent more time in the air or on her butt than she did on her feet!  She learned her place, napped with her brother and grazed with her mom (mastitis was the problem, not rejection), and she's always happy to see me (and I her ), but she knows she's a sheep, and how to be one. And she was a tiny thing, too, but they're tougher than you think-- her favorite thing in the world was, and is, chasing chickens.










He's adorable, by the way, thanks for sharing the picture! Enjoy him, bottle lambs are extra work, but I do like having one to cuddle.


----------



## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Trust me VA I've tried, I should just set-up a bunker in the barn and we will all have AC then...LOL!!
I just love all little lambs, and YES bottle lambs are a handful. But they need me...LMAO!!!

I cant wait till next spring!! I'm getting excited just thinking about it...LOL I love watching lambs run, jump, sidekick and play king of the mound. And their little hop,hop hop, when they are trying to run or slow down. It just gives my heart and face a big warm


----------



## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Those are some very nice rams Fowler!
Wish I could found one like that back when I was thinking about raising Babydolls.
Only rams I could find in my area were aggressive and nasty enough they ended up in the freezer.


----------



## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

I would definitely find him a buddy about the same age or a small lamb born last this spring, he really needs to spend time with your other sheep so he better learns how to be a sheep to some extent, it will make him (and you), much happier  

Your mention of wobbly legs makes me wonder if he might benefit from an injection of BOSE - where are you located and was he given a shot at birth ?

~Deb


----------



## rootsong (Jun 22, 2008)

Thank you thank you!

I started following your advice & suggestions the very day I posted this. Now we have a whole new routine, he's out hanging out with the 2 ewes hopefully learning how to be a sheep right now.

Unfortunately we don't have any other lambs for him to play with. And he sure seems to think he's a person! He follows me everywhere and frolics right at my feet. Little goofball. 

Sometimes I can search & search through my books & Google, but coming here is where I finally find answers to my problems! I'm so appreciative. Thanks!


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> Sometimes I can search & search through my books & Google


If you want the *best *sheep books there are, get these:

http://www.sheepbooks.com/MYE.html



> This sheep farming book covers preparation
> for breeding and lambing, lambing, and care of
> the ewe and lambs after lambing. Some of the
> things you will learn about are: Ewe & Ram
> ...


http://www.sheepbooks.com/LP.html



> This sheep farming book shows you how
> to treat respiratory, scours, feet, prolapse,
> digestive, and 145 other problems in lambs.
> 
> ...


----------

