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SHEEP-fed-barely-sprouting-fodders, page : 197
9. Lamb swapping may have taken place. When two ewes lamb near each other at the same time, a ewe has been known to adopt and bond to the other ewe's lamb, but the other ewe does not accept the first ewe's lamb.
If a lamb has already nursed and the ewe then rejects it, check the udder for sensitivity and also the lamb's teeth. If the teeth are sharp, use an emery board to file its teeth, but not too much otherwise the lamb will become sore and refuse to nurse!
Grafting:
Grafting is when an orphaned or rejected lamb is "adopted" by another ewe. It is getting a ewe to accept another lamb as her own in place of her dead lamb. This isn't the easiest of processes.
Grafting lambs is more successful when it is done close to the delivery of a ewe that has lost her own lamb.
There are a number of things you can try:
1. Smear the ewe's fetal fluids over the lamb you want to graft, this way she can be fooled into thinking the lamb is her own. This is a method that has been used for a long time.
2. Rub the lamb with a little water that has molasses in it to encourage the ewe to lick the lamb.
3. Use an "adoption coat". The coat is made out of cotton, stockinet tubing. When it is stretched over an accepted lamb that died for a few hours, it will absorb the smell and can then be turned inside out and then stretched over the lamb you want to graft to the ewe. This method can also be applied to a ewe that has one lamb and is heavy with milk. To do this, slip a coat on to her own lamb, then put it on the lamb that need fostering.
4. There is available on the market a strong masking scent. Daub the ewe's nose and the rear end of the lamb with this masking scent, or with a dab of petroleum jelly, because a ewe identifies her lamb primarily by smelling its rear end. Menthol, vanilla could also do the job.
5. It is said that tying a dog near the pen fosters the mothering instinct. However, there is the possibility that the ewe will become aggressive and butt the lamb if she can't get to the dog!
6. Another way is to make the ewe rattled and stressed, which isn't the nicest of solutions. But if you are desperate and want to save a lamb, you might try it. Flick the ears of ewe with a switch. Once the ewe is rattled she will urinate from the stress and may accept the lamb.
7. Immerse the lamb intended for grafting and her own ewe in a solution saturated with salt to even out the scent.
Forceful Acceptance:
If a lamb has already nursed and the ewe then rejects it, check the udder for sensitivity and also the lamb's teeth. If the teeth are sharp, use an emery board to file its teeth, but not too much otherwise the lamb will become sore and refuse to nurse!
Grafting:
Grafting is when an orphaned or rejected lamb is "adopted" by another ewe. It is getting a ewe to accept another lamb as her own in place of her dead lamb. This isn't the easiest of processes.
Grafting lambs is more successful when it is done close to the delivery of a ewe that has lost her own lamb.
There are a number of things you can try:
1. Smear the ewe's fetal fluids over the lamb you want to graft, this way she can be fooled into thinking the lamb is her own. This is a method that has been used for a long time.
2. Rub the lamb with a little water that has molasses in it to encourage the ewe to lick the lamb.
3. Use an "adoption coat". The coat is made out of cotton, stockinet tubing. When it is stretched over an accepted lamb that died for a few hours, it will absorb the smell and can then be turned inside out and then stretched over the lamb you want to graft to the ewe. This method can also be applied to a ewe that has one lamb and is heavy with milk. To do this, slip a coat on to her own lamb, then put it on the lamb that need fostering.
4. There is available on the market a strong masking scent. Daub the ewe's nose and the rear end of the lamb with this masking scent, or with a dab of petroleum jelly, because a ewe identifies her lamb primarily by smelling its rear end. Menthol, vanilla could also do the job.
5. It is said that tying a dog near the pen fosters the mothering instinct. However, there is the possibility that the ewe will become aggressive and butt the lamb if she can't get to the dog!
6. Another way is to make the ewe rattled and stressed, which isn't the nicest of solutions. But if you are desperate and want to save a lamb, you might try it. Flick the ears of ewe with a switch. Once the ewe is rattled she will urinate from the stress and may accept the lamb.
7. Immerse the lamb intended for grafting and her own ewe in a solution saturated with salt to even out the scent.
Forceful Acceptance: