pet lambs

weatherbyfoxer

Ended up with 5 pet lambs here due to 2 ewes dying and one triplet lamb I was unable to foster. I usually dont have pets left after lambing so have very little experience raring them

Did a bit of looking on the net and it seems they need 100-125mls 4 times a day!!!! Im feeding them myself with coke bottles and rubber teats and finding it taking up a lot of time!

Just wondering is there any way I could make this easier?

Username John

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

Ended up with 5 pet lambs here due to 2 ewes dying and one triplet lamb I was unable to foster. I usually dont have pets left after lambing so have very little experience raring them

Did a bit of looking on the net and it seems they need 100-125mls 4 times a day!!!! Im feeding them myself with coke bottles and rubber teats and finding it taking up a lot of time!

Just wondering is there any way I could make this easier?

Yes - put em on donedeal. Let someone else rear em.

Cran

Username John wrote: »

Yes - put em on donedeal. Let someone else rear em.

Agree if not set-up to rear them sell em, I could never get them going or surviving on bottles its always that one day when you miss a feed:rolleyes: Have an automatic feeder now but you'd need to be rearing 20+ to justify

weatherbyfoxer

Cran wrote: »

Agree if not set-up to rear them sell em, I could never get them going or surviving on bottles its always that one day when you miss a feed:rolleyes: Have an automatic feeder now but you'd need to be rearing 20+ to justify

I Put them on donedeal like yea said gone out of the yard by 3pm got €120 cash for the 5 of them

weatherbyfoxer

Cran wrote: »

Agree if not set-up to rear them sell em, I could never get them going or surviving on bottles its always that one day when you miss a feed:rolleyes: Have an automatic feeder now but you'd need to be rearing 20+ to justify

I Put them on donedeal like yea said gone out of the yard by 3pm got €120 cash for the 5 of them

weatherbyfoxer

Cran wrote: »

Agree if not set-up to rear them sell em, I could never get them going or surviving on bottles its always that one day when you miss a feed:rolleyes: Have an automatic feeder now but you'd need to be rearing 20+ to justify

I Put them on donedeal like yea said gone out of the yard by 3pm got €120 cash for the 5 of them

sea12

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

I Put them on donedeal like yea said gone out of the yard by 3pm got €120 cash for the 5 of them

Well done. Your better off.

tommy5678

http://www.donedeal.ie/goats-for-sale/2-year-old-goat-with-lambs/6623119

Conmaicne Mara

tommy5678 wrote: »

http://www.donedeal.ie/goats-for-sale/2-year-old-goat-with-lambs/6623119

Think there was some discussion of goats rearing lambs last year here?

Wonder what happened to the goats kid? Presumably she had to have one to produce milk in the first place.

exercise is the antidote

Is there much cost in rearing a few lambs? Could one start a small flock this way? There seems to be lots on DD at the minute..?

Conmaicne Mara

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Is there much cost in rearing a few lambs? Could one start a small flock this way? There seems to be lots on DD at the minute..?

Think Rancher said it cost him €69 or there abouts with milk and meal?

But, what are you buying in? I think it could work out expensive if they have problems.

arctictree

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Think Rancher said it cost him €69 or there abouts with milk and meal?

But, what are you buying in? I think it could work out expensive if they have problems.

Depends why the lamb is a pet I suppose. Smallest triplet, ewe dead, ewe no milk, lamb rejected etc etc

Bleating Lamb

Had a good ewe with triplets die yday am:(....must have had heart attack or something as was 24 hrs lambed and no trouble lambing....got one of the three off today on a single,hoping to do same with other two as pets are not a financial success and take a pile of time for first two months.

J.O. Farmer

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Think Rancher saidit cost him €69 or there abouts with milk and meal?

But, what are you buying in? I think it could work out expensive if they have problems.

At that sort of costs (and I believe rancher runs a tight ship and knows his costs) they will cost you the price of a good ewe lamb when you add in the cost of buying them.
It will probably cost you €100 all going well to buy and rear the lambs. You should be able to pick up reared ewe lambs at that kind of money.

rancher

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

At that sort of costs (and I believe rancher runs a tight ship and knows his costs) they will cost you the price of a good ewe lamb when you add in the cost of buying them.
It will probably cost you €100 all going well to buy and rear the lambs. You should be able to pick up reared ewe lambs at that kind of money.

Financially I'd be as well of selling them but I've seen some lambs go to very bad homes which turned me against selling them.
Those costs as I said were rearing indoors on milk and meal and it gets rid of them quickly

tomwaterford

rancher wrote: »

Financially I'd be as well of selling them but I've seen some lambs go to very bad homes which turned me against selling them.
Those costs as I said were rearing indoors on milk and meal and it gets rid of them quickly

1 question if you don't me asking!!!
deos the e69 include the cost of getting lamb born (meal fed to triplet ewes etc)
just wondering is all!!!:o

zoe 3619

Rearing lambs doesn't cost much in terms if money,but takes loads of time and commitment.colostrum is essential for the first few feeds,then regular bottle feeds with appropriate milk.easiest is to foster them with a ewe whose lost lambs if she'll take them .goats milk is perfect too(preferably unpasteurized).a good goat can rear a lamb very well.without access to an animal willing to play surrogate mother,it's down to you,but does get very much easier after the first 2 or3weeks.

zoe 3619

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Think there was some discussion of goats rearing lambs last year here?

Wonder what happened to the goats kid? Presumably she had to have one to produce milk in the first place.

Sometime the goat may lose a kid,but other than that have seen goats give birth to triplets and raise then well.meaning a goat with plenty of milk and just a single kI'd can easy provide for another little one if she's willing.

martinmc32

exercise is the antidote wrote: »

Is there much cost in rearing a few lambs? Could one start a small flock this way? There seems to be lots on DD at the minute..?

i am up to 20 "pets" doing well , i had 1 die but was weak when i got him. i cant afford to go out and buy a flock of ewes but i thought this was a good way to get into it . my plan is to hopefully bring 20 healthy lambs to weight pick out 5 good ewes for breeding and sell 15 to the factory and hopefully cover my feed cost . i am feeding frisky at the moment started them with a babies bottle than a beer bottle and now on a multi tit feeder i have them graded and in pens . when feeding i always have a bottle in hand for any empty looking one . by "friskys" instructions it would be costing me 94.50 a week for the milk replacer at 13.50 a bag . im a bit lean on the mix to try and get the most out of the bag , but i dont recommend it . its probably safer and wiser to follow the instructions . they are all eating a bit of creep and bedded with good straw . i will wean them at 6 weeks . i hopefully finish them in . its not my first time with "pets" but it was normally 1 or 2 for the freezer and they finished on grass . i will let you know if its a success or epic failure

AnFeirmeoir

martinmc32 wrote: »

i am up to 20 "pets" doing well , i had 1 die but was weak when i got him. i cant afford to go out and buy a flock of ewes but i thought this was a good way to get into it . my plan is to hopefully bring 20 healthy lambs to weight pick out 5 good ewes for breeding and sell 15 to the factory and hopefully cover my feed cost . i am feeding frisky at the moment started them with a babies bottle than a beer bottle and now on a multi tit feeder i have them graded and in pens . when feeding i always have a bottle in hand for any empty looking one . by "friskys" instructions it would be costing me 94.50 a week for the milk replacer at 13.50 a bag . im a bit lean on the mix to try and get the most out of the bag , but i dont recommend it . its probably safer and wiser to follow the instructions . they are all eating a bit of creep and bedded with good straw . i will wean them at 6 weeks . i hopefully finish them in . its not my first time with "pets" but it was normally 1 or 2 for the freezer and they finished on grass . i will let you know if its a success or epic failure

A good way to start - you'll learn a valuable lesson about the hardship of pets.
It will work out fine for you - but i would have just bought 5 hoggets and save on the effort.

tomwaterford

this may be the wrong place....but this seems v.dear for pet lambs????

http://www.donedeal.ie/sheep-for-sale/lanark-sheep-for-sale/6707407

if anyone wants to give me that for <week old lowland lambs....il be willing to talk;)

arctictree

How are ye lads getting on with the pet lambs?

One of mine that I took at birth eventually keeled over at 6 weeks. She was never very strong.

Another one, I bought off a neighbor for €25 euro, gave her one 1 bag of lamlac and she's flying along now. Weaned at about 45 days.

Felt bad that she was on her own so I took the biggest triplet from a ewe at 50 days (is that a pet lamb??) and she's flying along too, didn't feed her milk at all, just some nuts.

sea12

arctictree wrote: »

How are ye lads getting on with the pet lambs?

One of mine that I took at birth eventually keeled over at 6 weeks. She was never very strong.

Another one, I bought off a neighbor for €25 euro, gave her one 1 bag of lamlac and she's flying along now. Weaned at about 45 days.

Felt bad that she was on her own so I took the biggest triplet from a ewe at 50 days (is that a pet lamb??) and she's flying along too, didn't feed her milk at all, just some nuts.

Well I just bought one to put on a single as I had no ewe with spare lambs at the time. It was near end of lambing. Worked out fine and it's nearly but not quite as good as any of the other lambs.

Green farmer

I've got two. Hoping to cut out the milk soon. Their on nuts. Still ended up with little pot bellies.

jt65

Green farmer wrote: »

I've got two. Hoping to cut out the milk soon. Their on nuts. Still ended up with little pot bellies.

might be as well to off milk abruptly

Green farmer

You might be right there