First LAI Babies!

[Honey Tree]

We welcomed twin ram lambs from Viking Genetics ram Tomcat this morning.  They weren't due until the 14th so it was a surprise.  Both are pretty tiny.  I don't have a scale but I don't think they weigh more than six pounds.  Mom's first lambs so I'm keeping a close eye on them.

[EmsoffLambs]

Wow, that's really early. How many days do you use to calculate your due dates? Glad all is well and congratulations!

[Honey Tree]

When they did the LAI they gave us October 14th as the due date based on a 148 gestation.

There won't be too much sleep tonight.  I'll need to get up a couple of times to help the lambs nurse.  She's not standing really well for them and they are so small they're having a tough time reaching the nipples.

[PCrome]

I'm not one to recommend indiscriminate antibiotic use, but if it were me, I'd be dosing every ewe on the place with LA200 or similar tetracycline, to head off an abortion storm. Those lambs are too early, and I'd be concerned about an infectious cause. Tetracycline is a good, cheap, and effective way to head off many of the common causes of such a storm, and injecting it is the fastest, surest way to get it in them. Talk to your vet if you need to, but do it quick would be my advice.

Phil Crome

[EmsoffLambs]

Not a bad idea. I had an abortion storm a few years ago, started with ewes delivering dead lambs at 137 days. If my calculations are correct, that's only one day early that your little ones. The LA200 sure wouldn't hurt, as there's not much more devastating than a bunch of ewes delivering dead lambs.

[Honey Tree]

How much should I give?  IM or SQ?  At what point of gestation should it be given?  I have three more ewes that were bred the same day and due October 14th, but I have a bunch that have been bred over the past eight weeks.

I tied the ewe this morning and one lamb nursed off of mom.  The other lamb is pretty slow.  He'll get the nipple in his mouth and then continue to nose around.

Also, I gave both lambs 1cc of Penicillin during the night.  I need to get a small scale to weight them.  It's more curiosity than anything although it's nice to see if they are actually gaining weight.  When my daughter was in the NICU as an infant, they would weigh her before and after each feeding to determine the exact amount of milk she was taking in. 

[EmsoffLambs]

Give SQ at the rate of 4.5 cc per 100 lbs. To be safest, all bred ewes would need treatment, but I would at the least treat any that were with the ewe that lambed. Another option would be to feed them all aureomycin crumbles, though the LA200 is probably a bit more effective in the face of an abortion storm.

[Deemer]

http://www.pipevet.com/page.asp?p_key=C7F93559C54D44FEB0BCADABD308746E
This is a good article. The La 200 will give immediate short term protection. It's sub q. If you have a good vet l would go talk to him/her.

[Bigiron59]

I would be milking the ewe and tubing the lamb. At least if I had any worry about if it was nursing. 1 once per pound .

[Don Drewry]

If you don't follow Shane's sound advice it would be smart to at least take the temperature of the lambs you are sure are eating.  If they are under 102 they aren't getting enough to eat.  If under 100, it's very critical and best way we've found to get them going is to inject 25% dextrose [edit] into the lambs.  When it's warm out lambs that aren't getting enough to eat can mislead a lot of people and die of hypothermia and/or starvation before they know it.

[Heresheep]

Curious what date you did your LAI?

[Honey Tree]

The LAI was May 19th.

Where do I get the glucose?  Even if I don't need it now, it would be good to have on hand.  I'll be heading out to pick up tube in just a bit.  The one I had from last lambing season seems to have disappeared.

Milking this ewe is cumbersome.  She's got those little bitty nipples.  I know the large nipples are always a problem for small lambs to get a hold of, but I sure do like them when I have to milk out a ewe.  Has anyone used those pump milkers before?

[Don Drewry]

My mistake, (I've edited the post) I should have said dextrose, most farm supply stores sell bottles of dextrose.  Ours sells a 50% solution.http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/-dextrose-50-500-ml/0000000003442

Some mix with sterile water.  We mix with hot tap water to bring the refrigerated solution up to room temperature or bit more. We mix it 50:50.

[Deemer]

Where do you inject the dextrose at Don?

[Honey Tree]

Okay, I have to add a thermometer to my shopping list. 

My little postal worked for weighing them.  I put a small cardboard flat on it and put the lambs on that.  My original estimate of six pounds was really off.  The biggest one weighs 4 lbs 15 oz and the smallest one weighs 4 lbs 7 oz.  after they ate.  They sure needed that extra 9 days in the oven.  No substitute for a full term pregnancy.

Now for the really dumb question…sterile water?  Do you boil tap water or do you buy it?  I would guess you inject it SQ?