BabyBQ

BabyBQ was born September 27th, her mom is TabbyQ.  She was very small, weighed only 4 pounds at eight days old.  The night she was born, I found her cold and very lethargic.  Her mouth was cold, so she needed warmed up immediately.  We put her in a big plastic bag, with her head peaking out, them submerged her, from the neck down, in a 10 gal. bucket of hot water.  It did the trick!  She warmed up enough so I could "tube" her and then feed her freshly milked colostrum.  I fed her colostrum every 4 hours for the first 24.  I continued to tube her for two days.  She did not respond quickly to all the treatment she was receiving.  TabbyQ was  a very good mother and was always attentive, even though BabyBQ spent all her time sleeping.  I must admit, I said a few prayers to the good Lord for this little bitty lamb!  A prayer for the little lamb to respond and a prayer for me to have a steady hand to insert the tube.  Every day this little bit of a lamb was a little bit better.

"Tubing" a lamb is a very good way to save a lamb.  The tube is inserted, them removed, for every feeding.  The tube is a method to get the life-saving colostrum in the stomach of weak lambs.  Once you get the colostrum in the lambs belly, usually the lamb will respond in a miraculous fashion, in minutes!  From lethargic and limp, to struggling to it's feet to take it's first steps. 

Premier's Equipment That Works! catalog has a very good tutorial on how to "tube" a lamb and all the supplies in which to do so.  Pipestone Veterinary Supply catalog as is a very good source and also carries all the supplies needed.