hypothermic lamb

[kris]

After a couple of abortions it is so nice to have lambs on the ground. First were a set of triplets and one of these was very hypothermic this morning. I have him at present in a cooler box with a hot water bottle and a hair dryer. He has warmed up considerably, it's supper time right now. I have been feeding him warmed lamb replacer with 100mls of dextrose added as recommended by a; very new to the business; vet. My big dog Jackson has decided to be his mother and is licking him but not the type of licking of the lips one does just before dinner.

I've never had to warm up a lamb before, is there anything else I can be doing?

Never a dull moment!
kris

[clunmules]

Can you get a temp?

see:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/liv ... 98-089.htm

for more ideals.

[Liz]

I know I always put this down but I find an enema will help, it will help clear out the meconium ( black first poop), and warm it up from the inside and get them a little motivated.
Liz

[kris]

How do you give a lamb an enema?

kris

[Liz]

I use a stomache tube with a syringe.Warm water and some mild surgical soap and some lube, if you don't have that just a little veggie oil in a pinch to get the tube up and push warm water up.About 60 to 100 ml,then hold tail down for awhile, lamb should start straining then he should push some out, I will do this a few times.If you don't have a stomache tube just a dose syringe works o.k. just insert gently.Right now I have a lamb running in the house bugging the dog that we found hypothermic last week,we couldn't even read her temp.I warmed her up under a heat lamp and gave enema,when she was warmed up enouph and could get up and cry I tube fed her and gave her a shot of Hemostam.She was severely dehydrated so I tubed her for almost 2 days so she got the full feeding otherwise she wouldn't suck enouph.Now we have a house lamb, the 5 year old is in love with her, they are joined at the hip it really is cute but a real pain in the rear
I'm not sure if these links work of the lamb, if you copy and search they will also come up.
Liz
http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... r1/003.jpg
http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... r1/004.jpg
http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... amb004.jpg
http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... r1/008.jpg

[kris]

I've solved the hypothermia and didn't need to give an enema. The above omafra link was extremely helpful.

I think this little guy has a bunch of issues going on. He seems weak yet is eager to take the bottle, pees and poops just fine. I've never had a hypothermic lamb before. Right now I have him in with mom and 2 siblings, she isn't too keen to have him back so I'll take him back out as the temp will be low again tonight.

Great photos of your daughter interacting with the lamb.

Kris

[hammond shepherd]

I've begun carrying around a small bottle of Nutri-Drench (for sheep) and a 2cc syringe. I've found ewes who have 3+ lambs can't always clean the lambs off quickly enough, and the lambs get chilled. I stick my finger in the lamb's mouth, and if the lamb tests cold, I'll give it 2 cc of Nutri-Drench and check on it a few minutes later. The Nutri-Drench has a higher percentage of propylene glycol then other nutrition drenches that acts as an energy source, giving the newborn's "furnace" a quick start.

If that doesn't work, the lamb goes into the milkhouse where we have a simple system set up. We have a small electric heater, called a milkhouse heater, that stands about 15 inches tall, has 3 heat settings with a fan for blowing the heated air, and has a tip-over switch that shuts the heater off if it is knocked over. We stock up with empty produce boxes from the grocery store before lambing. When we have a cold lamb, we put the lamb in the bottom of the box and put the cover vertically over one end of the bottom so it only covers half the box....we put the heater at the open end so it blows into the back of the box and over the lamb. We have a thermometer stuck into the box and try to get it 100 degrees in the box.

Depending on the temp of the lamb going into the hot box, it may only need 30 min. to dry off and warm up. If the lamb is very hypothermic, it may need additional care....others will have to give the information on that since it involves injecting dextrose? into the peritonial cavity? (obviously something I heard about but don't do.) Sometimes the lamb is so weak upon being warmed it may have to be tubed and put back in the hotbox for a while.

The danger with taking a lamb away from the ewe is the ewe rejecting the lamb outright, or beating on it later if she doesn't remember having it and it doesn't smell "right." good luck, farming is never boring