How much colostrum does a lamb need and why?

So, here’s the brutal fact about newborn lambs, they are born without ANY immune system to fight bacteria and germs.

ALL their resistance comes from the golden colostrum the mum produces - and can only be digested in the first 24hrs. To be really acurate, all lambs Lambs must consume colostrum within the first 2–4 hours of life to receive vital antibodies and energy to survive. A "cold lamb" is most llikely a hungry lamb, a full belly of colostrum is all a lamb needs to keep warm. They require 50 ml per kg of live weight immediately (first 20 minutes), - which for a Babydolls averaging around 3kg that is 100ml and a totaling 200 ml per kg within the first 24 hours to ensure survival, energy, and warmth again for 3kkg lamb around 600ml.

Does this cause more than a little anxiety for me, if the lamb born doesn't have the vigour to stand /or the internal sat nav to find the milk bar and then the skill to latch on pretty sharpish - YES!

My top tips on Colostrum

So...Two years ago I decided to take the mystery of it and took two steps to ensure i know how much they've drink. Firstly I weigh the lambs as a base guide and then the game changer was secondly I either simply express the colostrum from mum with our uddderyez sheep milker or by hand or feed genuine powdered colostrum via bottle 120ml straight away to the lamb... and I have honestly seen the the clear benefits to this, namely that I've not lost a lamb in two years - and I strongly believe this is a big contributing factor. Once they've had that first drink, they may have a quick nap but then they have the energy and strength to get up and go and find mum's milk bar... and it does take considerable effort and resilience to battle all the fluff and navigate underneath her little legs and low belly.

Parker drinking his first full belly of colostrum.

How do I help their mission to drink the colostrum…

So as babydolls have fluffy fleece EVERYWHERE, so if the fleece is long I trim the belly, leg and around the teet and bag area as should in the video above to make sure the newborns have the best chance in sucking a teet and not fleece. I also clean the teets and the bag with a milking udder sterilising wipe just after she’s given birth (now you see why i touch the girls all the time, they’re used to me and they don’t bat an eyelid)

For a video explaining how have a look at the blog Do I need to shear or trim my babydoll before lambing?

What if the lamb isn't able to get any colostrum milk from the teat?

This has happened more times than you can imagine and i'm happy to reassure you that only once in all the years has it been that the ewe has needed an injection of oxytocin to help to let down her milk - which also did the trick. More often it's the fact that the way plug is still in place at the end of the teat. First check the bag is nice and soft, no hard lumps, pink and that the teats are clear of the mucas plug. (again see trimming blog video for clear view of a healthy bag and mucas plugs in place)

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Gently milk the teat (i'll try to video this year) if no milk is releasing I have a great tip. Get a mini bowl or jug which is just taller than the teat so anout 10-15 cm and fill with warm water(not too hot) . Grab a treat bucket with ewe nuts as you need the ewe still and if you feed her then you can get underneath whilst she eats. Position the mini jug under her teat and then submerge the teat completely into the warm water and hold still. After moments or minutes this will result in a trickle of milk flowing out of the teat which will cloud the water. You can then milk the teat very gently whilst you soak the other teat as you must have flow on both sides and it may take a few tries. I've been at it half an hour sometimes, doubting my efforts will work - don't give up! The warm wet sensation helps mother natures instincts to let the milk down, i imagine the sensation of the lambs mouth on the teat. Don't forget to keep checking for the next few days as the lambs sometimes favour a side and you don't want one side of her bag to become less used and vunerable to mastitis. The care of your ewes bag is the key to her being able to lamb for years to come and you may need to milk that side to relieve the pressure this will encourage the lamb to also feed that side is the supply is better.

Here's Custard and Percy with a masterclass on how it should be!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T9olGuz-ow

A couple of questions crop up, don't they?

So we know they absolutely must drink enough of colostrum and quickly so, how do you know what if any they have drunk from mum. I watch the new lambs feeding and their behaviour VERY CLOSELY for the first six hours. Feeding (and other) problems usually show themselves within this time ...

How to tell if your lamb is succesfully feeding?

The video above shows the optimum feeding position. The lamb is alongside the mum and she will lick the top of his tail to encourage suckling. The tail wags if they are suckling. The time on the teat will vary but a certain sign of success is a good minute on the teat. If the lamb is on for only a few seconds they've either got a low dangling bit of fluff or they can't get any milk.

How to tell if your lamb is hungry?

If the lamb is looking like it's going under and feeding there are signs you can tell to see if it is acutally drinking becuase sometimes it will try but not actual get a feed.

A hungry lamb behavour

1.) Hunching - the back literally is curved as they hunch.

2.) Lethargic - don't be confused with a tried lamb - they do sleep a lot in the first few days, but a good experienced mum will actually wake up their lamb to feed every few hours.

3.) Their tummy is empty - if you turn the lamb and feel either side of it's ambilical cord you'll feel a full tummy.

Any or all of these signs and you must urgently feed the lamb. Forget tyring to get it to feed from mum, that will happen after it's got energy and warmth from a full tummy. At this point you must get colostrum into it's stomach as fast as possible to prevent hyperthermia and it giving up. Stomach tubing is a skill that everyone should learn and it's litterally a life saver - BUT only if done BEFORE that lamb is too weak to hold it's head up and feed. Stomach tubing IS NOT a last resort - it's the first response to getting a lamb back to being warm, and gaining strength. I learnt from my fabulous vet many years ago and I'll try to film this year. It's not difficult if done very slowly, carefully following basic principles with a small amount you've worked out safe to administer - you can always do again but over feeding will kill the lamb. Titch last year was a tiny lamb and I had to feed 25ml a time via stomach tube little and often for her to gain the strength, who went onto bottle and then to feed from mum within a week - It's a blog on it's own - i'll get onto it!

So, the last reasurance to know what's actually going on is you can weigh the new borns at birth and weigh a few hours later to monitor what they drink, the extra weight it the ml of colostrum! We use a fish weighing scales (😂) it's a set of scales with a soft sling underneath it.