Lamb won't suck

rancher

Any ideas, coming backwards, hard pull, a bit oxygen starved/ brain damaged.
Won't suck, not even a bottle, goes to the ewes udder looking for it, hasn't a clue after that
Gave him the injection that used to stimulate sucking reflex in calves twice ....once at the calf rate:eek:.....kill or cure.
Lovely lamb, two days old. won't live forever on a stomach tube

J.O. Farmer

I know it would be hassle but if he won't suck a teat could he be trained to drink from a container like a calf from a bucket.
I've never seen it done but desperate times call for desperate measures.

lopppy

I had the same problem with my ex girlfriend

Conmaicne Mara

Will it suck anything at all, your finger if you put it in it's mouth? Presume you've already squeezed a bit of milk into it's mouth from the bottle, I have a habit of making the hole in the teat bigger (using baby bottle).

Nidge_Weasel

lopppy wrote: »

I had the same problem with my ex girlfriend

Beaten to it...

rancher

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Will it suck anything at all, your finger if you put it in it's mouth? Presume you've already squeezed a bit of milk into it's mouth from the bottle, I have a habit of making the hole in the teat bigger (using baby bottle).

Yes have a plastic bottle here that I can squeeze, makes the milk come out through the teat whether they suck or not.
We use these teats, they screw onto mineral bottles and have a valve in them that lets air in and the don't close over

Conmaicne Mara

I'd give him a few more days if you have the time, but if he is brain damaged like you suggested maybe it's how he isn't able make the link between hunger-suck-fed.

rancher

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

I'd give him a few more days if you have the time, but if he is brain damaged like you suggested maybe it's how he isn't able make the link between hunger-suck-fed.

Gave two sucks on his own this morning.....so maybe

Conmaicne Mara

rancher wrote: »

Gave two sucks on his own this morning.....so maybe

Sure give him the chance anyway, could be slow to learn with the hard lambing.

whelan2

try honey on the teat, works for calves

jt65

rancher wrote: »

Gave two sucks on his own this morning.....so maybe

good sign

often you have to be cruel to be kind

if @ 4 days try a little starvation for few hours without risking de hydration

tomwaterford

rancher wrote: »

Any ideas, coming backwards, hard pull, a bit oxygen starved/ brain damaged.
Won't suck, not even a bottle, goes to the ewes udder looking for it, hasn't a clue after that
Gave him the injection that used to stimulate sucking reflex in calves twice ....once at the calf rate:eek:.....kill or cure.
Lovely lamb, two days old. won't live forever on a stomach tube

I had this problem last year....no matter what I tried no suck...bottle,hunger,put it under a very quite ewe I had, tried drinking from a bucket-had limited success with this
...ended up having to tube him three times a day until it was three weeks old (started to hurt its throat at this stage so gave up:o)

he started to eat a bit of nuts and course mix as well as a bit of silage and drink water....it lived away was a bit stunted alright

hard to let them just die after going to all that work to save it:)

if you find a reason/maybe short of mineral or something let us know

AnFeirmeoir

Separate problem but similar. I have one who's jaw got hurt during lambing ( i had little choice but do feel guilty) Hes 2 days, Hes eager to suck and is strong and healthy and can get a tiny bit if i knock the ewe, but he gets no power into closing his mouth fully. I'm tubing him.

Anyone had anything similar ?
Will he recover?
I would suspect ligament / mussle damage, nothing broken. Mouth is just slightly open.

rancher

AnFeirmeoir wrote: »

Separate problem but similar. I have one who's jaw got hurt during lambing ( i had little choice but do feel guilty) Hes 2 days, Hes eager to suck and is strong and healthy and can get a tiny bit if i knock the ewe, but he gets no power into closing his mouth fully. I'm tubing him.

Anyone had anything similar ?
Will he recover?
I would suspect ligament / mussle damage, nothing broken. Mouth is just slightly open.

My lamb is sucking fully now, and the stitched lamb is gone off with his mother, so a good morning here

MayoAreMagic

AnFeirmeoir, if it is just a muscle/ligament injury it will heal pretty quick in a growing lamb. Just keep him well fed and he should be ok soon enough. Give him a few days rest and then try to get him sucking for a minute or two each time before you feed him. The practice will do him good.

Fair play rancher, some tidy sheparding skills shown there

razor8

rancher wrote: »

My lamb is sucking fully now, and the stitched lamb is gone off with his mother, so a good morning here

Good work, out of curiosity what antibiotics were you using on the stitched lamb, vet must of done a fine job

rancher

razor8 wrote: »

Good work, out of curiosity what antibiotics were you using on the stitched lamb, vet must of done a fine job

Interesting you ask that, can't remember the name but the vet said it was a new to the market and would cover him for 28 days