Lamb help

[Wimbles]

One of my rare breed Leicester Longwools gave birth to triplets. All seemed OK at first but for some reason (not mastitis or anything that we've seen in the past) the ewe decided that Motherhood was not for her and killed one of the lambs and left the others to die. When I found them the smallest lamb was cold and unresponsive so they were scooped up into the back of my car with the heating on full and came back to work with me so I could bottle feed them to try and revive the small one.

It was successful and both remaining lambs started to pick up and took the bottle well. A day later it seems that the smallest is constipated and nothing is passing through so she has pretty much stopped feeding. At 4am I was stood over the bath in my pj's giving said lamb a soapy enema which produced some hard poos but didn't appear to completely clear things.

Just wondering really if anyone has any other good ideas about how I could get things moving as I'm desperate to save her.

 

[Cecile]

Do Leicester Longwools have a club or advisors you can contact?

Do you have a farm vet handy to you? So many of the real farm vets seem to have given up

You could contact the Small Shepherds Club, they have a list of advisors and although they are not vets they are incredibly knowledgeable/experienced on problems relating to these types of things
Call Alex on the link and explain the situation and ask for a bit of help from all the advisors
http://smallshepherdsclub.org.uk/

I have had huge success with older ones but that doesn't help you much or at all, heat lamps, marmite/boiling water and wholemeal bread made into a slop and fed via syringe if need be for the older ones

 

[Wimbles]

Thank you so much for replying.

Our farm vets are nigh on useless sadly, they could offer me no practical advice

Will contact the small shepherds club.

Thank again!

 

[Cecile]

Thank you so much for replying.

Our farm vets are nigh on useless sadly, they could offer me no practical advice

Will contact the small shepherds club.

Thank again!

Good Luck - let me know how you get on
Agree about farm vets, so many have stopped and are concentrating on small pets
I have one good farm vet who I dread may retire soon

 

[popsdosh]

Did they get colostrum from the ewe? How old are they now?

 

[Puzzled]

Not a clue about sheep if I'm honest but what about trying some good old castor oil...have used it on kittens with success....do u have a local farmer u can contact? Is he/she taking in enough liquid?