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blowin

There was a young lamb alone on the bog as dusk was approaching . The nearest adult ewes were several hundred yards away . I don't know who owns the land or the sheep . The nearest occupied house was several miles away . What is the accepted thing to do ?
- Take it home and make enquiries in the morning , or just leave it alone ?
- How would you look after it for the first night , assuming that you didn't have teats , substitute milk or other specialised equipment ?
- What if you take it home and it dies ?

Jack · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 71 Location: North Otago

Gidday

I would say take it home, keep it warm, but ring any or all of the local farmers until you find the owner.

It is vitally important for it to get some colstrium (I think that is spelt wrong) as soon as possible.
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wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1163 Location: Campile. Wexford

Can you guess how old it is. Like is it fat or scrawny like its new born? It almost certainly is a few days old and had its first milk. You will need to give it some milk. The problem is that cows milk will do it no good. So you will need some replacer like Lamblac. If you can contact any locals they may have a bit for yer. or even take the lamb off your hands. The latter being the best option in my view.
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Camile · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 10:43 pm Post subject: !

Free lamb

I would say go to the nearest agri coop and get some milk subsitute ..

even the local supervalue has some .. bottle feed it .. i think it's every 2 hours or something but don't quote me on that because I have no experience ..

and you have a nice range cooker so keep it close to it .. go on .. you know you want to ! and let him snuggle with Nemo !

Good luck and let us know how you get on ..

Camile

wayoutwest · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 184 Location: west clare

I'd check with the locals and then keep him if poss, but I'm guessing by now the decision is long made...
what happened? are you still in four hourly feeds? Laughing

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blowin · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:27 pm Post subject:

Many thanks for all the interest and advice . I'm afraid that I did nothing in the end . I would like to think that the mother was down in a hollow where I couldn't see her while I was driving past but I guess the truth is that I didn't want to get involved in any conflict . There were no occupied houses for several miles and my more immediate neighbours didn't know whose flock it was .
Perhaps it was for the best as I have since been told not to approach these mountain ewes for perhaps a day after they have given birth because they frighten so easily and may abandon the lamb . You certainly can't get anywhere near them in normal circumstances . Not even with a yellow bucket !

Camile · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject:

Oh that's a shame ..

did you at least see the lamd afterwards ?!

Because I've been told that many farmers around here wouldn't bother with an orphan lamb .. if the ewe died while giving birth ... most of the farmers would actually through the lamb in the ditch and leave it to his own faith ..

which sounds exactly like what happened with this one ..

it's a shame realy .. a life is a life .. no matter what ..

Camile

admin · Site Admin Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 227

It wasn't there the next afternoon but that could have been for any one of several reasons , of course .
I should add that "there" was a good way up a rugged hillside -- it would have taken the better part of an hour to get there and back and night was falling . I don't think I had much choice on this occasion but I was asking in case it should happen again .
To further complicate the question , one of our own ewes has since given birth and I noticed that the lamb would hide rather than follow its mother into the open until it was a couple of days old . If I had only seen the lamb on its own and tried to "rescue" it I could well have caused the mother to abandon it .
I guess you have to deal with each situation as it arises but if you have previously thought it through and decided that in general it is best to leave lambs alone then you won't feel unneccessarily bad about just driving past .
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Camile · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject:

true ..

at least if it wasn' there anymore .. there is chance that it went back with the ewe .. at least it didn't die on the spot .. so we can think that you did the right thing . .. and I'm sure you did ...

Camile · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject:

oh and congratulations on the lamb !