tortoise's 2020 Preemie Lambs

[tortoise]

Pretty sure I miscounted and today was day 5. IDK, the days are running together even with my written notes!

Day 5 (the second day 5)

Boy 4# 10 oz (+2 oz)
Girl 4# 0 oz (+0 oz) yesterday she was learning to drink from bottle and struggling

They slept through last night! I'm not going to put their basket by my bed tonight, they will be fine.

Today, girl is quicker to get up and more stable on her feet. She's still not putting her hoof down on her injured leg, but it's less curled. Hoping that means she doesn't have a nerve injury. She improved on bottle feeding throughout the day, and taking the bottle vigorously by night. She drank a 4 oz bottle for her last bottle. This is fantastic! I can feed less often now that she can drink 4 oz at a time. Fabulous progress in less than a week!

 

[tortoise]

Awesome, did you ever get s final weight?

They were sooooo cute

They were sold together so I have their average weight (somewhere) on the auction receipt. I have it stuck in my head that they got to >60 pounds. That's good for feeder market. This year half of my lambs were >100 pounds.

 

[baymule]

You are doing great. They are showing progress!

 

[tortoise]

Day 6

I forgot to weight them.

They slept through the night!

They're both grasping the bottle independently now. Now more holding their heads and prying their jaws open. I bet I can bottle feed them at the same time now.

Girl is much better in the last 24 hours. Getting up faster. Just stronger, more stable, more vigorous in general.

They're both drinking 4 oz at a time, so they're on the same feeding schedule. That helps a lot too.

 

[Trying2keepitReal]

They were sold together so I have their average weight (somewhere) on the auction receipt. I have it stuck in my head that they got to >60 pounds. That's good for feeder market. This year half of my lambs were >100 pounds.

Awesome job--you did well.

 

[tortoise]

Day 1

Momma had them on pasture mid-morning. Cold and windy. DS12 moved them into the barn with a heat lamp. Momma is mothering the normal-size lamb perfectly, with an occasional lick to the tinies. The tiny preemies were too weak to hold their heads up and cold.

By early afternoon, the preemie girl was able to stand and nurse. I milked momma for colostrum and started tube-feeding the boy. After the second tube feeding he was up and nursing, but I continued tube feeding him anyway.

 

[tortoise]

Day 2

Boy preemie lamb was doing fine in the morning, but the girl was too weak to stand. Momma startled and trampled the girl, who nows has a bloody hoofprint on her back leg. So I took preemie girl into the house to warm and tube-feed. Still using momma's milk in hopes this will be a quick revive and give back to momma.

By lunchtime, boy preemie is having trouble getting up fast enough to get out of momma's way, so I brought him inside too.

I'm tube-feeding 1 ounce each hour.

By evening, I've given up on the idea giving them back to mom. I've bathed them and switched to milk replacer which is so much easier than milking momma.

They slept inside in a laundry basket by my bed. They woke me up at 2 a.m. for feeding.

 

[tortoise]

Day 3

Morning weights and updates:
Girl 3# 8 oz
Boy 3# 12 oz

Boy has been able to stand and is starting to resist tube feeding. He might be ready for bottle again. Girl is not able to stand.

 

[tortoise]

I need to take a photo of them with a normal size lamb. They're so teeny!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

OH goodnesss - they are tiny! Hope they come around for you!