Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The most likely situation is when the ewe has twins and rejects just one of
them. Spraying the rear end of both lambs with a confusing scent (like a room
deodorant) is the easiest thing to try at fi rst, and most often it works.
If the ewe starts showing any hostility at all toward one of her twins, don't
wait until she starts butting it — take action right away. The most reliable way
is to tie her up. The sooner you stop her from comparing the smell of the two
lambs, the sooner she will accept the rejected one. If the ewe has to be tied
up, however, be sure she gets water often, for it may be diffi cult to leave it in
front of her.
Grafting an Orphan on a Different Ewe
If another ewe goes into labor and you think she may deliver only one lamb,
you might choose to graft the rejected lamb on that ewe, for she may be more
willing than the ewe that has proved her desire to reject something.
Have ready a bucket of warm water and an empty bucket. Keep the rejected
lamb nearby, and watch the lambing. If you are fortunate enough to catch the
water bag, put its contents into the empty bucket, which makes everything
much easier.
Follow these steps for grafting:
1.
As a ewe delivers her own lamb, dunk the rejected lamb into the water-bag
liquid. Or if you didn't catch the water bag, immerse the lamb in the warm
water up to its head.
2.
Rub the two lambs together, especially the tops of the head and the rear
ends.
3.
Present them both to the ewe's nose; usually, she will lick them and claim
them both.
Don't neglect the newborn when you are working with the orphan — the
new lamb's nose must be licked off by its mother or wiped off by you so that
it can breathe. If the mother delivers twins, you may have to take the reject
back. Dry it off, and keep trying to get its mother to take it (or bottle-feed it
yourself).
If the substitute mother seems to accept a grafted lamb that is much older
than her newborn, hobble the orphan's legs so that it doesn't get up and run
around too much at fi rst. Let the newborn lamb have the fi rst chance to nurse.
If your orphan is a few days old, it doesn't really need the colostrum and
shouldn't get too much of it at one time. Actually, for you to do this trick, the
orphan should be less than a week old, as an older lamb would surely cheat
