This is a lucky one. she is up and going again. and back with her mom in no time.  This weather, minus 20's with the added wind chill puts a real strain on their little bodies.  This one got separated from Mom and got chilled so she started to shut down her system to keep warm.  A tiny shot of Apricot Brandy (5ml or so) will kick start her from the inside and get her going again. once she is up and pees then she will take some milk.  Once she has that milk in her and is sucking strongly, it is back to Mom and under a heat lamp for the night in a lambing jug.  A jug is a small pen to keep mom and lamb together and alone often about 3 foot square.

It is not unusual for any shepherd with a large number of sheep to have a lamb in a box to be fed.  We have many different ways of ensuring a lamb has a mother and is out in the fresh air getting the exercise it needs to stimulate good growth and health.  The first trick is to try to ensure that each ewe has the right number of lambs for her milk.  This can mean adding or taking away a lamb.  If a ewe does not have enough milk for two you can supplement one or both lambs, which we often do with triplets.. She has two and I have one part time.  This is a win-win situation as I don't have to feed as often [middle of the night] and she raises 3 good lambs.  If you have a ewe that has lost a lamb, that is not milk related then we have a head gate system that will often in two days have a ewe adopt another lamb as long as the lamb is healthy enough to suck.  After that step we usually put the ewe & adopted lamb in a small area where they get used to following each other before going out to the large group.  This also works for adding another lamb to a ewe that has a lot of milk but only had a single lamb herself.

Often it will take a day or so for the ewe to have her milk come in fully.  Sometimes especially with a first time lamber it is a good idea to carefully watch the mom and lamb to ensure that both are doing their part. ewe providing milk and lamb getting up under there and sucking.   I often walk the pens with a bottle and quietly check to ensure new lambs are staying strong.  Most ewe soon figure out that you are helping and now I often have ewes that can't find their lamb come and holler at me to help find their wayward lambs.

Ewes have calls that are as individual as mothers calling their children by name in the playground.  Some have a deep voice and short call and some are high pitched screamers.  I was surprised the other day by one of our very old faithful ewe [twins consistently and never a problem and comes for a scratch all the time] calling her lambs and one didn't come right the first time she hollered in her deep voice usually 2 short baa's when it did get there she suddenly let go a tirade the likes I've never heard from her before.    You just knew that lamb was in trouble with Mom!  Lambs are equally individual and have their own little variation of voice.  You can even tell who is calling if you pay attention enough.  Unfortunately that means you spend a lot more time in the barn than in your house.   Sheep also remember faces and understand when you call them by name.  The lambs I bottle all answer their name [number on their ear tag] when I call them and most continue to answer their name even as they get older and have lambs of their own.  

Pete & Lorna Wall raise White Dorpers, Black Dorpers and Katahdin Sheep as well as Border Collies in Poplarfield, MB.