Bucket method fostering - need advice

Connemara Farmer

So a picture tells a thousand words.

None of those are her lambs. She will take the blackface ram lamb, doesn't fancy either of the cheviot ewe lambs (donated twins).

So I stuck a bucket on her head, as you do

What I would like to do, is to adopt those two cheviot ewe lambs onto her and remove the blackface ram lamb. I'm under a bit of pressure for ewe lambs this year.

Is it possible?

At the moment I have the three lambs in the pen next door to her, she ain't happy. The idea being the two cheviot lambs will get a fairer go at the teats when I let them back in.

I was thinking of buying a can of lynx or similar and spraying it on her nose and all three tails.

Just not 100% sure how to go about this. It's probably a terrible idea altogether.

When all three are in the pen together the cheviots will follow her and opportunistically suck when they get the chance. Ewe is learning quick that when "her own lamb" is fed and lays down in a corner that something is up and it's then she gets upset.

Connemara Farmer

Don't all reply at once :pac:

Decided to let her keep the ram lamb and try adopt one of the ewes onto her.

Some awful stink of that Lynx Africa, but it works, she's not sure now who's friend or foe.

ganmo

We foster usin a head clamp, one successful pairing and a 2nd one in residence now, seems to be taking

eire23

A ewe actually got the bucket treatment here today:D
Never tried adopting two lambs onto a ewe useing the bucket but keep the faith it will work definatly for one lamb.
Like ya said the lamb will get opportunistic and suck from behind or whatever way he can and she will get used to him eventually.

Have ya any wee paddock wired off outside that ya could let them out to, She might not be inclined to heed the lamb as much when shes outside grazing?

paddysdream

Never tried the "bucket method" to be honest so very unsure of its effectiveness.

I always use head gates where the ewe cannot turn to smell or even see the lamb.Prob. successful in 95% of cases but you will always get 1 ewe who steadfastly refuses to take to any lamb other than her own and a few who don't even like their own at times.

Had an outbreak of racism(sheepism?) here this year where a few ewes refused to take to one of their twin lambs and in all cases it was the black lamb who was unloved.A few days in the stocks cured all bar one.

If I had your problem would remove the blackface lamb to where she can neither see or hear it and then try a foster gate if one available.As long as the ewe cannot see/smell the lambs she should let them suck if they are capable of a little bullying ie strong enough to push in after a kick or two.Ewe should settle after a day or 2 but don't release her until you are sure she is letting them suck without moving/kicking. This could take from a few hours to 3 week in an odd case.

Even if she is released and not bunting the lambs leave her in a small pen for a few days with them as sometimes a ewe will be as good as gold until put to grass and then wanders off and doesn't call for her lambs.Strong single fostered lambs will usually follow the ewe and make sure to suck but doubles esp. small ones can be inclined to stay put and call for the ewe without her taking any interest in finding them.

Sometimes a sheep that had a single lamb that died can be more difficult to foster 2 lambs onto as they seem to be conditioned to having only one tit sucked at a time.
Other times no problem fostering on a second lamb to a single bearing ewe.
Would sometimes swap lambs before ewe has licked them ie having a few lamb together match them up size wise esp. if a double was vastly different in size or one of a treble was much bigger than the other 2.

From my point of view some ewes will take to lambs no bother and others are impossible(had one here this year 3 weeks in a foster gate and still refused to even let a lamb suck.Got fed up and just let her out !)
Ewe lambs are usually the simplest to foster on to esp. if their lamb was born dead and never licked.Usually a matter of hours and sometimes minutes.

Nothing nicer and more satisfying than letting out a ewe with two ex pets on her and nothing more depressing than looking at a ewe beating a lamb around the pen after being released despite letting him suck for a fortnight or running away after smelling grass.
Anyways good luck and don't feel its a dead loss if the first few don't take as once you get a few to take you will wonder what all the fuss is about and refuse to buy frisky ever again.

Green farmer

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Don't all reply at once :pac:

Decided to let her keep the ram lamb and try adopt one of the ewes onto her.

Some awful stink of that Lynx Africa, but it works, she's not sure now who's friend or foe.

Good man, Con. Whatever works. I've a foster gate here and has proven successful here this year. However still have one "spirited" wagon who is refusing to take to a lamb after a week. She had a single and I've fostered another on to her. Despite spells in the stocks she will let the lamb drink when I'm in ear shot ,but will puck it away when I go. I've tried spraying the lambs necks with the same scents etc, but she just picks,another scent area from their rear ends etc. I'm keeping at her hoping she'll crack before I do

Username John

Green farmer wrote: »

Good man, Con. Whatever works. I've a foster gate here and has proven successful here this year. However still have one "spirited" wagon who is refusing to take to a lamb after a week. She had a single and I've fostered another on to her. Despite spells in the stocks she will let the lamb drink when I'm in ear shot ,but will puck it away when I go. I've tried spraying the lambs necks with the same scents etc, but she just picks,another scent area from their rear ends etc. I'm keeping at her hoping she'll crack before I do

I have exactly the same issue here...

And to make it worse - it's her own fecking lamb - when she lambed, another ewe stole one lamb, then the 'theiving ewe' lambed her own two lambs on top of the stolen lamb. So when the true mother got her own lamb back, she didn't want it back...
That was about 10 days ago... And she still doesn't want the lamb it seems... Not sure how long to keep at it...
And am back to work now, so can't out her in the stocks (adoption gate thing) all day long... So the lamb will have to just get on with it I think...

Green farmer

Username John wrote: »

I have exactly the same issue here...

And to make it worse - it's her own fecking lamb - when she lambed, another ewe stole one lamb, then the 'theiving ewe' lambed her own two lambs on top of the stolen lamb.
..

Similar here. Thieving ewe robbed lamb. Then a few days later had her own twins. Left 3 with her for a day. She became recked and looked depressed after a day feeding three. So I took one of her lambs and fostered it on to the "wagon" who had twins but one died at birth. sounds like the sheep version of Jeremy Kyle .

rangler1

I think it's important that the ewe doesn't see the lambs while she's in the stocks, that is have her head outside the pen, she will eventually give in. While they're passing under her nose she'll always know her own and always be able to discriminate

arctictree

I imagine its like smelling someone elses fart. You always know its not yours!

Connemara Farmer

I don't have stocks at the moment, so that's why I'm using the bucket. This morning the cheviot lamb I left with herself looks fed, the ewe is a bit more relaxed as well but still circling. Hoping she'll get fed up of that. After a few days I might let the three of them into a bigger pen and see what happens.

Bloody place still stinks of lynx africa from yesterday, vile stuff!

Green farmer

rangler1 wrote: »

I think it's important that the ewe doesn't see the lambs while she's in the stocks, that is have her head outside the pen, she will eventually give in. While they're passing under her nose she'll always know her own and always be able to discriminate

I don't know how you successfully manage to lamb all those ewe lambs rangler. I'm getting a little irritated with my ewe lambs here. If they lamb when I'm not around, it's drop the lamb and disappear back to the rest of ewes as quick as they can. Then if you do trace them, they'll act as though they never saw the lamb before. :mad: the sooner I get more maternal genes into my flock the better.

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

I don't know how you successfully manage to lamb all those ewe lambs rangler. I'm getting a little irritated with my ewe lambs here. If they lamb when I'm not around, it's drop the lamb and disappear back to the rest of ewes as quick as they can. Then if you do trace them, they'll act as though they never saw the lamb before. :mad: the sooner I get more maternal genes into my flock the better.

Very seldom a ewe deserts a lamb here, even after a hard pull they'll get up looking for the lamb...it's probably the lleyn in them.
The Vendeens on the other hand haven't a maternal bone in their body

Green farmer

I've llyen x lambs being born at the moment , so hopefully as they spread through the flock over the next few years, things will get better. Separately I tried the head in the bucket trick today. Can confirm that it works, ewe now feeding foster lamb the same as her own. Anyone know long to leave her wearing the bucket ?

Connemara Farmer

This afternoon she's letting the cheviot lamb suck on her own without moving away, also when she sees the cheviot in front of her she doesn't act aggressively. I haven't given the cheviot lamb one drop of anything since bringing her into the tunnel, I have watched in case she looked hungry, a little hunger is good motivation to harass the ewe.

Green farmer

We'll have to be careful lads , where we place our ewes with buckets on their heads. Could be a danger to passing motorists doing a double take while passing roadside fields. :eek:

eire23

Green farmer wrote: »

I've llyen x lambs being born at the moment , so hopefully as they spread through the flock over the next few years, things will get better. Separately I tried the head in the bucket trick today. Can confirm that it works, ewe now feeding foster lamb the same as her own. Anyone know long to leave her wearing the bucket ?

Take off the bucket after a few days, if she lets him suck, leave it off. Ifs she dosent back on with it!

Green farmer

eire23 wrote: »

Take off the bucket after a few days, if she lets him suck, leave it off. Ifs she dosent back on with it!

You've started a trend on here Eire :pac:

Connemara Farmer

Green farmer wrote: »

We'll have to be careful lads , where we place our ewes with buckets on their heads. Could be a danger to passing motorists doing a double take while passing roadside fields. :eek:

I put her up on Twitter #HyacinthBucket :P

MayoAreMagic

May I ask, how exactly does this work!?
How does the bucket stop her butting the lamb away? Surely if she can get her nose to the lamb - which I imagine she has to be able to do to be able to eat, then she can smell him and butt him away, bucket and all? He'd have to be in front of her at some stage wouldn't he? Or is she tied facing forward also?

AntrimGlens

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

May I ask, how exactly does this work!?
How does the bucket stop her butting the lamb away? Surely if she can get her nose to the lamb - which I imagine she has to be able to do to be able to eat, then she can smell him and butt him away, bucket and all? He'd have to be in front of her at some stage wouldn't he? Or is she tied facing forward also?

Mayo,
I also am unsure of how this works having tried it with a ewe last week, i made sure the bucket was covering her full face and nose but she was still able to smell the lamb when she turned her head when it was in suckling and instead of thumping it with her head she hit it with the bucket?? I was unsure of how she was going to eat as grass wasn't too lengthy last week and she would have found it difficult to graze fairly bare covers??
Maybe I was putting her welfare above that of the lamb considering she stood in a crate for 3 days refusing to take the lamb.

Green farmer

It's successfully working for me on a ewe with a single who got a extra foster lamb. see yesterday's pic. I found she couldn't catch sight or smell of which lamb was sucking from her. Also found that when she tried to snuff a lamb in front of her the bucket ended up pushing the lamb away. Same ewe spent a few unsuccessful days in and out of stocks before it and was rejecting the lamb a week after I introduced it to her.

Connemara Farmer

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

May I ask, how exactly does this work!?
How does the bucket stop her butting the lamb away? Surely if she can get her nose to the lamb - which I imagine she has to be able to do to be able to eat, then she can smell him and butt him away, bucket and all? He'd have to be in front of her at some stage wouldn't he? Or is she tied facing forward also?

In my case I sprayed the lamb she was happy to take, and the cheviot x lamb with Lynx Africa, head, navel, tail. Also sprayed the ewes nose. That stuff reeks and seemed to confuse her for the first day to the point she wasn't sure what lamb was what and didn't butt either lamb.

The next day she had it figured out a bit better and would nose the cheviot x away, but not butt the lamb away. Later that day she was allowing the cheviot x to suck.

Day after that she'd allow the cheviot x suck on her own, with the lamb she was happy to take in front of her, all loose in the pen, no one tied up or in stocks.

If a lamb is sucking her, she can't see what lamb is at it, because of the bucket. Yes she can turn and smell the lamb, but seems to get fed up of doing this after a day or so.

I'm not feeding the foster cheviot x and that lamb looks a lot better than her sister than I'm feeding 4x times a day. On the look out for a foster ewe for that lamb now.

Can't say the bucket is a finished success here yet, but it does SEEM to be heading in the right direction. I'm going to take it slow and see how it pans out.

In the pen I have them in, it's only 5x5, so enough room to turn around comfortably but not much in the line of antics. I did try extending it to 10x5, big mistake, too much room and she'd go to one end on the look out for the foster lamb.

razor8

Heres one in operation, she can eat grass and meal from trough. I think the secret is the bucket needs to be wide enough so she can't turn her head to smell lamb when it's sucking

Took it off after 5 days and she's happily letting both suck

eire23

I think razor has it there in the way it works, she just cant figure which lamb is sucking when their both behind her.
Another plus is it frees up a pen when lambing is busy.

Connemara Farmer

I've moved Hyacinth Bucket to one of the vacant main pens, the three of them seem to be getting on very well, she will smell the foster lamb and let it suck. Tomorrow I'l going to take off the bucket and see that happens.

Today I started bucket lady #2, she may be a bot more of a challenge as she's the ewe that rejected her own lamb. The foster lamb is very game, so I'll see how that goes.

sea12

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

I've moved Hyacinth Bucket to one of the vacant main pens, the three of them seem to be getting on very well, she will smell the foster lamb and let it suck. Tomorrow I'l going to take off the bucket and see that happens.

Today I started bucket lady #2, she may be a bot more of a challenge as she's the ewe that rejected her own lamb. The foster lamb is very game, so I'll see how that goes.

Tried letting a ewe out of the stocks today after 3 days . She still knew which was the foster lamb and started to puck it. So she may go back in again for another try

Connemara Farmer

sea12 wrote: »

Tried letting a ewe out of the stocks today after 3 days . She still knew which was the foster lamb and started to puck it. So she may go back in again for another try

If she does, she'll be wearing the bucket in a jiffy again.

Green farmer

I'm still in a battle with two ewes. One is in and out of stocks, the other is wearing a bucket. I'm not going to give in. Their not getting a free pass to spend a year around the place without rearing a lamb.

Username John

I had two ewes that wouldn't take to one lamb each (they had another one each)

Sold both rejected lambs today as pets, spent enough time messing with em...

Both ewes are out now tonight, with their remaining single lambs, shed empty. All done....

ganmo

Username John wrote: »

I had two ewes that wouldn't take to one lamb each (they had another one each)

Sold both rejected lambs today as pets, spent enough time messing with em...

Both ewes are out now tonight, with their remaining single lambs, shed empty. All done....

PUB!!

Connemara Farmer

All quiet in the asylum tonight, hopefully be the same in the morning. I noticed the first ewe letting the foster lamb suck, while smelling it's tail, and the other lamb in a different part of the pen. A good sign I figure.

Second ewe is much less agitated now.

Connemara Farmer

Took the bucket off the first ewe today. I wasn't too encouraged at first, she'd move away and kick a back leg when the cheviot x lamb would try to go suck. She also threw the odd shape but nothing too serious. Whether that was because both had already fed in hr mind or she wasn't taking to it, not sure. I fecked off up the land to check the singles and when I came back she seemed happy to let both lambs suck together. So I've left the bucket off for the time being, but it's hanging on the side of the pen ready for use.

MayoAreMagic

Worth mentioning on here, for anyone looking for fostering tips.

I lost a lamb Saturday morning. I skinned him, put the skin onto another lamb. The ewe never tumped him at any stage and had taken to the lamb within two hours, with the skin being removed Sunday morning and both outside with the other ewes and lambs. The ewe in question is one of the flightiest ewes I have too.

stantheman1979

We have 800 belclare crosses so we do alot of fostering here. If fostering a lamb under 3 days old. tie his 4 legs together give him a good wash in luke warm water to get the smells off him and make him look fresh and just wet foster him. Untie him when the other lamb has sucked or hell take all the beastings. If shes a bit iffy put her in a pen take away her lamb for half an hour works 95% of time. If fostering older stronger lambs put her in the head stocks 24/7 for 3 days. DO NOT LET HER OUT BEFORE THEN as if she smells the lambs before then and doesnt like them nothing will convince her to take them. wasting youre time with buckets on head as she can still smell them. Weve very few pets and almost everything goes out with two lambs.