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Raising Orphan Lambs

 
 
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 Excerpt from the Western Canadian Sheep Production Manual, available from the Alberta Sheep and Wool Commission.

The decision to raise a lamb as an orphan should be made within 24 hours of birth since the success of training to a rubber nipple decreases with advancing age. An effective procedure is as follows:

  • Allow the designated orphan to remain with its natural mother until the evening of the day of birth making sure that an adequate amount of colostrum has been consumed.
  • Late in the evening of the day of birth, isolate the lamb into a small pen (e.g. a lambing pen) preferably with solid walls and, if necessary, a heat lamp.
  • Allow the lamb to fast overnight (no more than eight hours) and in the morning begin training to a round-holed rubber nipple on a bottle containing milk or milk replacer at near body temperature.
  • Repeat the training process at two to three hour intervals, allowing the lamb to consume no more than 50-100 ml (depending on its size) each time.
  • As acceptance of the nipple progresses, the temperature of the milk can be decreased at successive feedings. If the lamb is to be hand-fed, the milk should ultimately reach ambient temperature (10oC - 20oC). If being transferred to a bucket or otherwise self-fed, training should continue until the lamb will readily accept a bottle with a crosscut nipple containing milk at refrigerator temperature (2oC - 6oC).
In general, small amounts of milk consumed at frequent intervals will yield better results than large volumes fed infrequently. This simulates what occurs naturally when a lamb nurses its mother.

The management of orphan self-feeding is most successful when milk (or replacer) is kept cold (2oC - 6oC). When a nipple pail is used, a block of ice in a one-litre ice cream pail will keep the temperature down. Low temperature milk causes the lambs to limit their intake at each feeding. Warm milk is often consumed to the point of engorgement, resulting in digestive disturbance. The addition of 0.1% formalin to the milk reduces the growth of bacterial contaminants, but should not be considered a substitute for good sanitation.

When raising orphan lambs, it is particularly valuable to encourage consumption of solid feed as soon as possible. Under intensive management orphan lambs may be weaned as early as three weeks of age, minimizing labour, milk replacer costs and the risks inherent in feeding liquid diets. However, this should not be attempted unless the lambs are vigorous, free of health problems and consuming creep ration readily.		  
 
 
 
For more information about the content of this document, contact Susan Hosford.
This document is maintained by Tracy Hagedorn.
This information published to the web on August 20, 2004.
Last Reviewed/Revised on August 7, 2008.