What next for my pet lamb
Hopefully the initial long nights of feeding have paid off and your lamb is happy, healthy and growing well ... so what now?
WEANING: Once your lamb is eating an adequate amount of feed (greater than 75% of the diet), then weaning at around 6-8 weeks old is fine. This will be helped by encouraging them to eat grass, sheep nuts, hay etc as young as possible. Early weaning decreases the time required each day for feeding but if your lamb is being used for a school pet day then you may want to keep up with a bottle or two to maintain the child-lamb relationship!
ENVIRONMENT: Lambs, and adult animals, continue to need a safe and secure environment with shelter, quality pasture, fresh water and companionship.
VACCINATIONS: Clostridial vaccination (5-in-1 or 10-in-1) is an important and relatively cheap insurance policy to protect your lamb against potentially fatal diseases! The schedule to use depends on the vaccination status of the ewe:
- Ewe fully vaccinated (lamb has maternal antibodies) - give vaccination at weaning with booster in 4-6 weeks, then yearly booster 4 weeks before lambing.
- Ewe not vaccinated (lamb has no maternal antibodies) - give lamb vax (tetanus antitoxin plus pulpy kidney) prior to docking, followed by TWO shots, vaccinations 4-6 weeks apart (i.e. 3 shots total), plus yearly booster as above.
DOCKING of TAILS & TESTICLES: This is normally done as early as 2-4 weeks of age with rubber (elastrator) rings placed around the tail at the desired level and around the base of the scrotum, ensuring that both testicles are present.
DRENCHING: There is no generic recipe to suit absolutely everyone as treatment depends on your situation (stock numbers/types/classes/ages etc). However as a very general guide start at weaning with an oral combination drench every 6-8 weeks for a series of 6 treatments and then as required (growth and appearance of stock, presence of dags, faecal egg count results etc).
SUPPLEMENTS: If your pasture is selenium-deficient AND you've had lambs develop white-muscle disease OR had selenium deficiency diagnosed, you may want to inject lambs with selenium and vitamin E supplement.
Depending on your experience and what you are comfortable in doing, docking, drenching and vaccinations can be done by yourself or your vet. Please don't hesitate to contact the team at Totally Vets.
