Our system for raising poddy lambs changes a bit each year and we normally don't have as many - alters the approach a bit. When we pick up a lamb there is almost always something wrong, to warrant intervention, ie: swollen head from difficult birth and can't suckle, mothering mix up with no colostrum, weak, sick or hypothermic due to wet windy weather conditions. So the first step is to make sure they are warm and fed. We start with little feeds of about 100mls or less to give their systems a chance to adjust to their new regime. If we think they haven't had colostrum we give a penicillin injection and 2ml of a B Complex injection. This works very well in improving their chances of survival.
Everything you could want, a little mob of sheep and a kelpie dog.
We use a commercial lamb milk replacer and have tried several different ones over the years. At the moment we are using Profelac Shepherd ( $64.00 at Landmark), it mixes well and does not seperate out. Veanavite and Palastart which we have used in the past seem to have changed their formula and they now leave a lot of sludge in the bottom of the jug, bottles and lamb bar, blocking the flow. We are always careful to mix the milk exactly as the manufacturer recommends, making sure the lamb is getting the right amount of nutrition and not slowly starving, by having the formula too weak. We feed four times a day when they a only a few days old, gradually dropping back to two feeds up to weaning at about ten weeks. We never feed lambs during the night, we are not that dedicated. It is also important to practice good hygeine to reduce cross infection and the risk of scours. Since using any of the above three products we have not had lamb scours, a problem with other milks!
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