Last year, I had complained to a friend about the cost of lamb milk replacer, and she shared with me her recipe for making it from scratch. She has been raising sheep for many years, and says that this recipe works great for her, grows big lambs, and never causes scours or diarrhea. So I thought I’d give it a try this year.
Here is the recipe:
1 two-quart carton of whole (vitamin D) milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg
–>whisk egg and cream together, add milkEdit: I’ve had a lot of metric system folks ask me how this translates. It is about 1.9 liters of milk and 60 mL of cream.
The deal with sheep versus cow’s milk is that sheep have richer milk. It’s higher in fat, protein, calcium, and calories; so cow’s milk alone won’t grow lambs adequately. Because lambs have a small frame size, and are taking in a much smaller total volume of milk, they need more fat and calorie concentration to stay warm and grow, compared to a calf. And of course, whole milk in the store isn’t really whole, it’s had its cream skimmed off. But adding the cream back, plus an egg, apparently brings it in more line with sheep’s milk.
I had a little anxiety about this, as it just seems like the scientifically derived milk replacer should be somewhat better, or safer, or something. But I trust the person who gave this recipe to me, and I really wanted to find a better option for orphan rear lambs that doesn’t destroy their whole profit margin.
I do think it’s a little cheaper than milk replacer. In browsing the web, it seems like maybe you could get milk replacer for as low as about $4.65 per gallon, if you buy it in small quantities. Which usually you do, because you hate to end up with extra. But I think I am paying more like $6/gallon to buy it locally. I think I figured I spent about $68 on MR for one lamb last year, though I had some waste and leftovers. Going by the packaging instructions, if you fed a lamb for five weeks on MR, that’s about seven gallons of milk. So it’s at least a $30 investment, and probably more like $40-60.
By comparison, it seems that local grocery stores currently carry the generic brand whole milk for around, or even under, $3 per gallon. The whipping cream and egg bring it up to about $3.90 per gallon. So the total per lamb comes in under $30.
But the best part is that the ingredients are easily obtained even at odd hours of the day or week. With lamb milk replacer, in the springtime, there are times when multiple feed stores can run out of it at once, leaving you in a panic. And this mixes nicely cold, which some MR’s do, and some don’t. So for people who make their milk out in a barn, this could be a boon.
I’m having great luck with the recipe, though I did feel that it wasn’t adding fat onto the newborns quick enough, so I doubled the cream and eggs for their first week or so. This is nice too, it’s easy to adjust it up or down depending on their weight gain. And I concur with my friends conclusion: no diarrhea! I’m sold!
Edit 2/24/13: Check out the Lindercroft blog for some interesting variations on this recipe, meant for goat kids- but some useful ideas on ways of modifying/improving the general concept.
April 8, 2011 at 4:18 am
Thanks for this tip. I too have been faced with a sudden Friday night bottle baby and the feed store didn’t open till Monday AM. I was afraid to feed cows milk. I will tape your recipe to the inside of my cupboard door!
Julie
http://woolyacres.wordpress.com/
April 8, 2011 at 4:38 am
You’re welcome Julie, let me know how it works for you if you try it!
Michelle
April 8, 2011 at 2:55 pm
I’m saving that also for future possible use. Will tape it to the bucket of leftover milk replacer.
Thanks!
April 8, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Wonderful! And another reason to keep a little cream in the fridge for my coffee!! I would think this would work for goats as well, any thoughts on that?
April 9, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Adam, I don’t know- in this link:
http://www.sheep101.info/dairy.html it implies that goat’s milk is closer to cow’s milk (weird, you’d think goats and sheep would be very similar, since they are in so many other ways). But maybe it’s not critical to get a perfect mix, since it’s only a matter of a week or two before they start benefiting from solid food nutrients.
Michelle
July 1, 2011 at 10:24 pm
How much do you feed them and how often. thanks Kathy
July 2, 2011 at 5:33 am
Kathy, you can use the guidelines on the label of any milk replacer to get an idea of the volume to feed, based on age. I was feeding them each 1 quart twice a day at their peak. This is actually not ideal- it’s better to try to feed them small meals frequently, the more you can break it up, the less risk of bloat. But since I work during the day, I have no choice but to just do twice daily feedings once they are on the bucket and back in the pasture. While they are still on the bottle, I’d try to feed them every four hours during the day.
I was probably actually giving them more than necessary; but since I had a huge age/size difference between the oldest and youngest orphan rear, I gave them a lot to make sure the little ones didn’t get robbed since the big ones could drink the bucket down so fast.
I scaled them back incrementally, starting at four weeks and weaned them at seven weeks. Some people wean much sooner, especially if they have them on creep feed. But mine go onto grass only, so I give them a bit more time for their rumens to develop.
If you are at all unsure, weigh them daily with a little hanging fishing scale, as long as they are growing and showing daily gains, then you know they are OK.
Michelle
July 3, 2011 at 12:11 am
Hi Michelle, Thanks so much little Nelly has been on your recipe for 2 days now and doing well with no diahhorrea I have been following the quantity guideline on the Milk replacer but it was good to be re-assured. Kathy
July 8, 2011 at 4:24 am
Hi Michelle, Kathy here, My little lamb got sick probably not enough colostrum, had her to vet on antibiotic vet advised to go back on milkreplacer.so i did that and She has such bad scours. Will i do her harm to go back to your recipe, im so confused she has her appetite back but still bbad scours.Kathy
July 8, 2011 at 5:06 am
Oh, Kathy, I hate to give any advice- it is so hard to know what to do in these cases! In my albeit limited experience with sick lambs, antibiotics do wonders to stabilize them, so that’s good that you started there. I have good luck with Pepto Bismol, I’ll give it several times a day, alternated with aloe juice, and usually I can get it to settle down.
Paula Simmons book “Raising Sheep the Modern Way” I think has the most advice for dealing with scours- she seems to have pretty aggressive advice for pulling them off milk completely and just giving them a Gatorade-like input to keep calories going in, but let the digestive system rest and stabilize. She also has a recipe for lime water to help with this, and to add to their milk if they are scouring.
And amazingly, some lambs seem to be able to power through despite having diarrhea, and eventually turn around once they start eating more forage. So though diarrhea is risky and cause for concern, it’s not necessarily a harbinger of doom. Bottle lambs almost always struggle some, and there is risk of losing them, but most of them pull through. Good luck!
Michelle
July 8, 2011 at 8:05 am
Hi Michelle, I have already done the gatorade thing she did seem to pick up and i think the antibiotics are working. I took the plunge and put her back on your recipe,she is now doing plops instead of water like poos. Excuse my ignorance but i dont know what Pepto Bismal is or where to get it hopefully she has turned the corner.Thanks again.Kathy.By the way where are you.Im in Tasmania.
July 9, 2011 at 3:06 am
Kathy, Pepto Bismol is an old fashioned human product for diarrhea/upset stomach that you can get at a grocery store here, it’s bright pink. Maybe it’s not a common product in your locale, but I’m sure something similar is- the active ingredient is Bismuth subsalicylate. I can get it in liquid form, which makes it easy to “serve” to them via a syringe with no needle.
I am in Snohomish, Washington. U.S. Far away from you! :-) Small world!
Michelle
August 23, 2011 at 5:04 am
hi there I have just recieved my very first lamb to care for.i saw your home recipie and wondered weither to put our lamb on it.I was given a bit of calf milk powder until i get to town to buy lambs milk powder,I rang Mum and she said to add an egg to the calfs milk powder so I did,he does have scours at the moment.
If the lambs powder is to dare can I use your recipie.
August 24, 2011 at 1:32 am
Heather, it’s totally up to you, and of course if you are unsure, I would consider consulting a veterinarian or a local sheep expert who can help you. On one hand, some lambs can be really robust and survive a very challenging first few weeks even with dodgy nutrition, but on the other hand, some of them are weak, or already compromised from whatever situation caused them to be a bottle lamb in the first place, and can die at the drop of a hat. So it partly depends on how much you’re willing to gamble to go it alone to save money, versus pay for expert advice to make sure the lamb has the best chances. It is definitely disappointing to lose them… My guess would be that milk replacer labeled specifically for calves is going to be a poor solution for a lamb. And keep in mind that dietary changes are also a stressor, so it would be ideal if you can pick whatever you’re going to use, and stick with it. And hopefully the lamb already got colostrum in the first several hours? Good luck, let me know how it turns out!
Michelle
January 30, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I’m a bit new with the whole baby lamb thing… So do you serve it cold or warm? And can you store it in the refrigerator?
January 31, 2012 at 4:43 am
Karina, yes, storage in the fridge, and feeding it “not warm.” Room temp-ish is probably ideal, though I do it straight out of the fridge just because that’s all I have time for. I do find that they gulp it down and then shiver for a bit- partly from the cold, and partly because drinking a lot of milk does tend to make them shiver a little anyway. I think all their blood must rush to their stomach or something! But the key is not to feed them warm milk from the bucket, because that really tempts them to over-eat and risk bloating…
February 28, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Ok my name is Jodi and we have a brand new baby boy 8 hours old and mama did not make it. I have him on colostrum suppliment right now because he got NOTHING from mama. I will feed him the colostrum suppliment for 24 hours like the lable say and I have just sent my husband to the store for the things needed for your recipe. He is a little cold though so I am trying to warm him now. A friend gave me some goat replacement …good thing I read the bag it has a warning Contains Copper do not feed to sheep!.I will keep you posted to see if this works. He is just so cute! I think I will name him Samson.
February 29, 2012 at 3:12 am
Oh, sorry to hear Jodi, that is a bummer that you lost the ewe. Good luck with the lamb and with the recipe- I hope he makes it ok! Definitely work on keeping him warm so he has the energy to nurse. The best advice I’ve read is to put your thumb in their mouth- if the tongue and mouth feel cold, the lamb is too cold.
March 7, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Wow, I’m so glad to have found your recipe! My local feed store is out of milk replacer for my 16 day old lamb, so I was in a panic and bought the goat milk replacer just so she wouldn’t starve until I figured something out. I did feed her 1 cup of the goat’s milk, do you think she will be OK? Also, I didn’t realize that the scours were such a dangerous symptom. Now I do! Poor lamb – she got a first-timer for a human parent!
I will try the recipe and let you know how it goes!
Best regards.
March 8, 2012 at 3:42 am
Kim- that seems like such a common problem this time of year, feed stores running out of milk replacer! I wouldn’t stress about using the goat version for a little bit. Companies worry about liability of toxicity to copper in sheep, so anything that has any added copper at all they put big warning labels not to feed to sheep even for a moment, just to protect themselves. But in reality, probably most sheep that have an adverse reaction to copper have been fed a lot of it over a long period of time- it seems it’s the accumulation, and then later a stressor that causes it to “dump” into the bloodstream in quantity that is the worry. It seems doubtful that feeding a goat ration for a few days would cause this. Good luck with your lamb!
March 11, 2012 at 11:57 am
I just wanted to tell you thank you for posting this recipe! I brought home 2, 3 week old lambs 2 weeks ago and have used your recipe and my girls are doing awesome!
This is my first experience with bottle babies of any kind. I’m new at the sheep all together.
I will always use this for any bottle lambs I ever have.
Thank you!
March 11, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Brandon I’m so glad it’s working for you too!
March 22, 2012 at 11:36 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have many bottle babies, rather bucket babies since they are all trained to drink from a bucket. This recipe is a life saver. I always have these ingredients on hand and I’m so tried of trying to find lamb milk replacer because very few people raise sheep in my area any more, plus the local feed store charges an arm and a leg. Thanks again.
March 23, 2012 at 4:32 am
Cynthia you’re welcome, though I can’t take credit other than sharing what was shared with me! Given how well it seems to work, I’m surprised it’s not “out there” on the internet more, but maybe now it will be! This post seems to be getting a lot of hits!
March 26, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Thank you Michelle for posting this recipe – I am a part time sheep farmer and should know stuff like this – I have terrible long term luck with bottle babies – I am going to try this recipe out on my triplet runt who hardly gets anything from her Mom after her brothers are finished. I will let you know how it goes.
It also helps to keep cost down that I don’t have to buy eggs given we have chickens.
March 27, 2012 at 4:18 am
Erin, you’re welcome- would love to hear how it works for you! I have farm eggs too, and feel they probably really add to the recipe, since I think free ranged chickens really have nice eggs!
March 28, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I’m going to try your friend’s recipe with my 3 week old. His mother was forced into a chute with him to nurse, but refused him under normal circumstance. I’m out of MR and none of the feed shoppes have any. Lamb has had diarrhea since he was days old so I have been watering down his food. I’m hoping this will be the trick.
March 29, 2012 at 2:45 am
Good luck suecissel, I hope it works well for you!
March 31, 2012 at 12:30 am
Michelle –
I am having luck with this recipe – no diarrhea so far – I can’t believe that. My little lamb is gaining a little weight but I am going to modify the recipe to add some fat with more egg and more sweet cream as you tried. I hope that works. Thanks again – I am excited to have something to mix up when I get a bottle baby and not have all that powdered milk replacer getting wasted every year.
March 31, 2012 at 2:27 am
Erin, I’m so glad! I really had my doubts too, it seemed to easy/good to be true; and there is so much written out there about how important it is to use species-specific milk. But go figure, it seems to work!
March 31, 2012 at 10:25 am
Still having diarrhea. I have consulted a vet who gave me antibiotics to add the formula. Also recommended I add Pepto Bismol. Lamb is still very active, and very hungry. We’re hanging in there.
March 31, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Suecissel, Pepto Bismol works well for me. I also use aloe vera juice, a recommendation out of Paula Simmons’ book. She also has recipe in there for lime water, and I think recommends backing the lamb off of milk for several feedings and just running that through to try to settle down the digestive tract. I haven’t tried that. I think some diarrhea is just par for the course with bottle lambs, if they are vigorous and gaining weight, I don’t worry about it. But if they lose their appetite, have discomfort, or otherwise seem “off”, then I’m all over the antibiotics, because they can go from bad to worse quickly. :-[
March 31, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Thank you so much for your communication. I’ll check out the lime water and aloe juice remedies; both are very common here in the Virgin Islands for human consumption! Lamb is still active today; walked 1/2 mile with me when I took a donkey to my church for tomorrow’s children sermon. LOL too bad it’s not Christmas! I am seeing a change in his stool; beginning to solidify somewhat. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
April 1, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Aw, suecissel, I bet he’s fine if he’s that perky! It makes me think of my friends with human babies that have “colic” and what a stressful struggle that is, but in the end, they pull through just fine.
April 4, 2012 at 11:57 pm
Hello my name is tania matheson i went through your article and found out thats cows milk and water will feed my week old lamb but doesnt have enough fat contenMy lamb doesnt have the scours and i want to try your recipe but i just need to know how much is two quarts of milk. t.
April 5, 2012 at 12:54 am
Tania, two quarts is half a gallon, or about 1.9 liters, according to google’s converter. Hope that helps!
April 7, 2012 at 1:11 am
Hi Michelle, I am trying the recipe starting today too. We have a triplet whose momma just won’t let him nurse and we ran out of suppliment. He got a good one week start with mostly momma’s milk but it is too difficult to get her to cooperate any more. He likes it better than the MR and I expect he will do well on it. One of his brothers is almost identical in size so we should have a good comparison for weight gain. We live on an Island and have to drive a considerable distance to get the Milk Replacement and I suddenly realized it was a holiday! I was so pleased to see your recipe!
I enjoy my sheep but, like you, I did get them so my Border collie had something to work. Twenty two years later and I still have sheep and border collies too :)
April 7, 2012 at 1:21 am
Hi Michelle –
Just had to update you on my starving triplet that wasn’t getting milk from mom after her 2 brothers were finished…I put the lamb on the homemade milk replacer for 3 weeks – long enough to get the lambs big enough to go without mom’s milk overnight.
Now I seperate mom from the 2 brothers and let mom and sister have all night together for her to nurse. After just 3 nights, she has put on a noticable weight gain. I stopped bottle feeding after the first night. I think she will catch up to her brothers in about a week. All the lambs are now starting to eat grass – Thank goodness!
Again – thanks for sharing this seemingly simple recipe which has saved me a lamb, costly MR and waste – we are enjoying the left over whole milk and cream – a treat!
April 8, 2012 at 12:25 am
Sandra- I hope it works for you. I know *I* think the homemade recipe tastes much better than that powdered stuff- it would be interesting to do a taste test with a lamb and see which one they chose!?!
April 8, 2012 at 12:26 am
Erin, yay, so glad it worked out!
April 8, 2012 at 8:15 am
Hi its tania matheson here again my two week old lamb is doin good but only drinks four 150ml bottles a day and sleeps all night since its second night here.how will i know when to give her a larger amount as i red that they should only drink 140mls each feed at this age and if there over fed they will die.So how many mls should i add and at what age should she be drinking more,she also drinks water out of a bathtub and is trying to eat grass
April 8, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Tania, it is really a judgment call… In the ideal case, if you can feed them every hour or two, it’s safer to let them drink as much milk as they want- this simulates the natural situation of the lamb drinking very small amounts very frequently from his mother. But when we bottle feed, because it’s usually not practical to feed that often, we tend to feed larger amounts less frequently, and that’s when the lamb is at risk of over-eating at one sitting. So what we are doing basically is limiting their growth by only giving them just enough to survive and progress, but not to over-eat and be at risk of enterotoxemia.
But the “rules of thumb” are very generic, and since lambs and milk replacer recipes all vary, it’s hard to say exactly how much one should eat. I usually feel their stomach between my thumb and fingers, I can tell how full they are, and try to make sure they are nice and full, but not bloated from too much gorging. And then you just go with judgement- is the lamb gaining weight, does it feel fine, is any diarrhea manageable and not getting out of control?
The other option is to wean them onto nursing from a bucket. Once they have that, you can fill the bucket with an unlimited supply of milk that’s cool or at room temperature, and then they can go back to doing what they do with their mother- drinking a little bit very often. Some people have good success with this. I do use a bucket, but I still limit how much I give them, because unlimited milk for a lot of lambs is expensive…
With bucket or bottle, it’s better to not have the milk warmed, because it encourages them to overeat.
She’ll definitely start eating solid foods and drinking water as well; but their ability to digest grass and hay is limited for quite a while. You can get better growth if you get them eating grain as soon as possible.
April 8, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Hi michelle its tania again what sort of grain is good for the lamb and at what age should i start to introduce the grain
April 9, 2012 at 3:38 pm
Tania, I’m not sure where you live and what’s available to you- livestock feed manufacturers make “grower” grains especially mixed for lamb growth, complete with mineral supplements and sometimes even medication to reduce worm load. But you can also use simple things like rolled corn or barley. I’ve read studies in calves that show that grain develops the rumen faster than grass or hay. Often there is no hurry to get them to grow, and if milk is readily available and inexpensive for just the one, you could just let the lamb nurse for a long time, like 3+ months. Usually milk is the most expensive thing to feed them, thus people are in a hurry to get the rumen to mature quickly and be able to use regular feed.
April 11, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Hi I’m really interested in trying this recipe! I am feeding 5 young lambs 4 times a day 300mls at each feed.
How much ingredients would I need for a litre and I half?
April 11, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Alison- according to google, this recipe should translate to 1.9 liters of milk and 60 mL of cream. I think there is some “wiggle room” on the ratio. I’m not sure what standard milk container sizes are in European countries- am wondering if mixing a 2 liter bottle of milk with 63 mL of cream is easier, and probably one egg would still suffice, as long as it was a big one?
April 24, 2012 at 3:00 am
Thanks Michelle for the recipe. I am pickining up two newborns tomorrow and will try your recipe. How much should I feed three day old lambs?
April 24, 2012 at 3:51 am
Tammy- as much as they’ll eat, more or less. With newborns, I’d get concerned if I wasn’t getting at least a couple of ounces in at each feeding, so there is sort of a minimum to worry about to make sure they are taking in enough. You can weigh them to verify that they are gaining or at least holding steady to confirm the “enough” part.
For the max, you can mostly let them eat as much as they want if you are feeding them frequently. If you have to cut them back quickly to a few feedings a day (like because of a work schedule), then sometimes you have to be careful to not let them gorge when it’s put in front of them. But just use their appetites as a guide.
April 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm
I have a 1 month old ram that was 1 of a set of triplets. He was the runt and the mother rejected him and didn’t allow him to nurse. I quickly started bottle feeding him when he was 2 days old. When he was 1 week old we had another set of twins born and they were almost twice his size. He is growing a little and starting to fill out some, but he is still very small compared to the 8 other babies that range in age from 3 weeks to 2 months old. I have been giving him a kid milk replacer with very low copper content so it doesn’t hurt his liver and it seems to work well. However I am running out and have nowhere to buy more and I would like to try this recipe. He is still drinking out of a bottle and I have tried getting him to drink from a bucket. How should I help him make this transition? He likes to nibble on sweet feed and grass. Am I doing anything wrong? Do you have any suggestions?
April 29, 2012 at 8:48 pm
Kenna, it sounds like you are doing everything fine. Triplets are often born small and it takes them a while to catch up in weight, and orphan-rears are often a little behind the dam-reared lambs just because they don’t get to eat as often or as much. As long as he is gaining weight, you are probably ok though. If you have enough, it might be good to mix the new milk recipe half and half with the old one, so that there is a gradual transition.
As far as switching them onto the bucket, I have luck with standing behind it, so that I’m in a similar posture to when I’m holding the bottle. Then I point to the teats to draw their attention to them. It helps if the teat on the bucket is similar or the same as the one you’re using on the bottle. Sometimes you can lure them with the bottle to the bucket, but then make the bottle disappear quickly and try to draw their attention to the bucket teat instead. Sometimes you have to be persistent- make them miss a feeding so they are hungry and willing to try something new and different. Once they catch on, though, there is no stopping them! It definitely makes it much easier, it’s less work than standing there holding a bottle!
May 6, 2012 at 8:49 am
I wanted to thank you for posting this recipe. I have a 4 week old Shetland bottle baby who has been doing wonderfully on Lama Pro, but EVERY feed store in the area is sold out at the moment and no one can get it in until five days from now. I’m going to be picking up the items for your recipe tomorrow and trying her on it! I am worried about switching her “cold turkey” but she’s not eating enough to go without the bottle, yet….
Thank you again.
May 14, 2012 at 9:20 pm
i have a pregnant shearling down with lockjaw shes had all treatment you can throw at her but obviously she cant/wont eat am drencing with all and sundry but am NOW considering giving her Lamlac as she needs something
May 15, 2012 at 3:44 am
Wow Joanne, that sounds dramatic! For what it’s worth, I have an old ewe who loves milk replacer and will down a gallon or two of it if she gets the chance, and it doesn’t seem to cause her any trouble! I would have thought the adult rumen would no longer like/tolerate milk, but I guess it doesn’t mind! There’s certainly a lot of rich nutrition there, would love to hear how it turns out if you treat her with it!
June 2, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Hi when I was a child we use to hand rear orphan lambs all the time ( sometimes 30-40 at anyone time) I haven’t done so for years now. So was wondering if cows milk straight from the cow was any good to feed them as I can get that for nothing? Do I need to add a egg to
It then still. Thanks
June 2, 2012 at 11:04 pm
Yasmin, I think you do still need the egg. Here’s a comparison of milk by species:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_milk#Nutrition_by_comparison
You can see that sheep milk is higher in protein and fat, so I think that’s what the egg is for, is to correct for that. But that’s awesome that you have access to free, fresh cow’s milk- I think the enzymes in it would be way better than pasteurized milk from the grocery store!
June 21, 2012 at 4:59 am
Hi Michelle, I have a couple of questions..
I have a 4 day old lamb and he is currently on milk powder.
This recipe sounds perfect! but would i need to slowly change him from one milk to this new recipe? or are lambs fine just going straight from one to the other?
Also, do you just use regular milk from the supermarket?
Thanks Emily.
June 21, 2012 at 5:24 am
Hi Emily- I think it’s generally recommended to always switch food gradually. But I sometimes supplement with milk replacer when they are also drinking dam’s milk, and it doesn’t seem to bother them to have this switch multiple times a day; so maybe it’s no big deal.
yep- just regular whole (not 2% or non-fat) milk from the supermarket. I buy the cheap-o brand in the plastic jug.
June 22, 2012 at 9:30 am
Last night i gave him 2 1/2 1/2 feeds, and then a 1/4(old) and 3/4(new milk) formula, and all today he has had this recipe.
He had been scouring for two days and it was getting bad….its gone now!!!!
Thank you so much for putting this up for everyone!
It may have saved this little mans life!
I will definitely let other people i know raising orphans about this!
15/10 stars from me :)
June 23, 2012 at 3:41 am
LOL, good to hear Emily! That’s why my friend told me about the recipe too, she claims zero scours!
August 2, 2012 at 10:48 pm
I had a lamb that i was feeding on powered milk she had bad scours and i had been treating that for 4 days with medication. woke up to find the poor little thing could barely walk. took her to the vet and after paying a fortune i bought her home and weined her onto your recipe within 2 days she was walking and her droppings were solid. thankyou for your recipe. im in Australia and i worked out it costs me about $1.50 a day to feed her
August 3, 2012 at 4:14 am
That’s awesome Natasha!
August 24, 2012 at 10:05 pm
so many websites say DON’T use cows milk its not good for the lamb is this really alright to use I’ve been trying it but I just worry its not good enough for him,I’ve never raised a lamb before so really don’t know what I’m doing…any help would be much appreciated
August 25, 2012 at 1:50 am
Susan, indeed, this recipe goes against all advice I’ve ever encountered on the planet! It sounds crazy, and I never would have tried it had it not been recommended by someone I respect who has been using it for years. I believe the egg is what roughly compensates nutritionally for the fact that sheep’s milk is richer than cow’s.
The biggest downside I see is that grocery store milk is pasteurized, and everyone knows now that the process ruins enzymes and other important nutritional factors compared to raw milk. But this downside exists with powdered milk as well.
As far as worrying about lambs- weighing them is your biggest confidence factor that things are going ok. I use a hanging fish scale, you can get one at any sporting goods store. If they are gaining daily, even just a little bit, and are not suffering from severe diarrhea, and are bright and active, they’ll be fine! :-)
August 25, 2012 at 5:20 am
Thanx we might be able to get some milk from the cow farm down the road yet. I just weighed him he’s 5.3kg hes a week old tonight not sure if thats good or not?I have put in extra cream and egg in the last day or so,he seems to be great running about chasing my 13yr old son who helps feed him playing with my 9mth old dog.his poop is soft and sticky not runny at all….I will keep weighing him and see how it goes
August 25, 2012 at 5:51 am
Susan, that sounds like in the ballpark of normal for a week old lamb, though they vary widely depending on breed. Gaining is the most important thing though, and if he’s running around pursuing wants, then he’s going to be fine!
August 27, 2012 at 9:18 am
well we ended up with a second baby lamb a girl this time shes very weak but has eaten we got given a bucket of cows colostrum milk so very handy I’m mixing with your mix for now when we move on to just the colostrum should I keep putting in the cream and egg??
August 28, 2012 at 12:13 am
Susan- yes, the egg definitely always needs to go in, to add fat and protein above what cow’s milk has. If it’s fresh cow’s milk with the cream not skimmed, then you wouldn’t need to add extra cream. The added cream is to compensate for “shelf” milk where the cream has been removed.
September 2, 2012 at 12:01 am
[…] source has a recipe for home made milk replacer. I seem to recall using this recipe (or one similar that had eggs anyway) about 15 years ago, but […]
September 2, 2012 at 4:13 am
Could I use cow colostrum milk as I have plenty on hand and add the cream and eggs to that
September 2, 2012 at 4:28 am
Deb, I assume so; though colustrum is richer than regular milk, so it may be worth doing a little bit of reading to help guess whether you should skip either the eggs or cream or both. Usually people transition away from colostrum after the first day or two, as I suspect it may be too rich and risk scours.
September 2, 2012 at 5:53 am
Hi Michelle, I’ve just come across this site and wish I had seen it 3-4 days ago. I had a little lamb that mum ignored from his second morning. He had such bad scouring and nothing was working. I lost him at 4 days old and I’m not sorry I didn’t give him this recipe and a chance. I now have the recipe written down and will use it for any and every other orphaned lamb I have. Lisa
September 2, 2012 at 6:48 am
thats what we have been given and mine have been fine mixing it with a little shop mlik to make it last and as that was what they were own to begin with and still add the egg doing great gaining weight little soft lumps of poop all over the place….lol
September 2, 2012 at 6:50 am
excuse the bad spelling but I think you get the gist….lol
September 2, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Lisa, sorry to hear, it’s so disappointing to lose lambs, but seems it’s part of the deal sometimes. I hope the recipe works for you in the future!
September 2, 2012 at 8:46 pm
“… lost him at 4 days old and I’m NOT sorry I didn’t give him this recipe and a chance…”
Oops – so very sorry for my typo – been so emotionally exhausted from this experience……
The word NOT should not have been in my post.
In trying to look for answers as to why he didn’t make it, I found this site and it’s very inspirational. I gave away the store bought milk replacer today and will only ever use this recipe in the future. It seems much more natural and the success stories on here are showing how much people are using and relying on such simple remedies.
again, my apologies for the miscommunication in my original post. I did not use this recipe BUT I sure will be in the future – thank you
September 3, 2012 at 10:27 am
the 2nd little girl lamb we got was pretty much dead but breathing when I got her thought there’s no way she’ll make it but warmed her up took 2 hours just to get her warm enough to shiver then tried syringing your recipe mix into her and then the bottle she has gone from a few days old and weighing 3.8kg’s then 2 days later 4.4kg I will weigh her again soon and see where we are at she’s just gone over a week old she’s a little sweetie had to hand the first lamb(ram) back as couldn’t cope with his pushy ways and her too but he’s doing good back in the paddock…I’m sure this recipe has been a life saver….thanx
September 3, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Good to hear Susan. I am always amazed how you can bring them back from the dead like that. I have had many that look like they are goners, but once you warm them up and get a few calories in them, they bounce right back!
October 24, 2012 at 5:39 am
Love this recipe. Always works for the little ones! Next best thing to mum! Thanks heaps
October 25, 2012 at 2:31 am
both my lambs are a couple of months old now and back in the paddock near other sheep and lambs having a ball…thanks heaps
October 25, 2012 at 2:49 am
yay Jola and Susan! I keep telling my friend who gave me the recipe how many people have commented! I can tell this post is destined to be one of my top blog hits of all time…
November 21, 2012 at 6:39 pm
hi im andrew and would like yor help… i am thinking about getting 2 baby lambs as pets for my kid. can you please tell me how much of this i would need (in litters if possible) until each of them is ready to go into solid food only (like grass and other things that they will find as free range animals)
November 22, 2012 at 4:00 am
Hi Andrew- everyone does lamb weaning differently, so it’s a hard question to answer. Milk replacer of any kind is pretty expensive, so there is usually high motivation to get them to switch to solid feed asap, and also reason to limit their intake of milk compared to what they’d prefer. Here is a good article on weaning in general:
http://www.sheep101.info/201/weaning.html
I find my lambs easily drink a 1/2 gallon (1.9 liters) per day at peak, of course it’s less in their first week or two when they are littler. I feed milk for at least 6 weeks, that would equal roughly 20 gallons (76 liters) of milk per lamb. (It could be different depending on breed of sheep too, and their relative size.) I transition them somewhat late because I’m moving them on to grass, and its tougher for them to thrive on it when they are young. You can switch them more successfully, earlier, and with better growth if you move them onto a high protein concentrate feed; then later (e.g. at six months old) transition them onto forage alone.
November 22, 2012 at 1:18 pm
thanx for the info
very helpfull!!!
January 25, 2013 at 4:14 pm
I have been looking for a recipe for lamb milk replacer. We have our own chickens so the cost is less, too. I often have more eggs than I need so I now have another use for them. As for goats, we use whole milk to our bum goats and they do real well. They do not get diarrhea with the whole milk like they do with goat milk replacer.
February 15, 2013 at 4:45 pm
[…] Michelle from the Collie Farm blog posted a link to a milk formula that she uses. Homemade Lamb Milk Replacer. Check it out for another variation. I think the only thing different I would do is substitute one […]
February 15, 2013 at 10:35 pm
Hi Michelle, thanks for stopping by my blog and your link to this post. I enjoyed reading through all the comments! Well, I should say most of the comments… they are very long! Seems this is a very interesting and useful topic for a lot of sheep raisers. Of course as you know, I don’t raise sheep, but raise goats. I wanted to comment on one of your comments about goats milk being more like cows milk. This is true for most of the dairy breeds. However, some breeds of goat’s milk come closer to sheep’s milk. Nigerian Dwarf’s are one. Also Nubians, although not as close as the Nigi’s. Pygmy goats would be the same as the Nigerian’s. Probably most of the breeds that are not milk breeds, like Boer goats would have a composition closer to sheep’s. This original recipe should work fine for most milk goats. However, the added egg and cream may be needed for the other breeds of goats.
February 16, 2013 at 2:58 am
Linda- it’s amazing how popular this post was- I told my friend she had probably saved a few dozen lambs in the first year I wrote it! :-) I think I found a chart once that showed the comparison between the species milk- isn’t cow’s milk the least rich, goat’s milk is in the middle, and sheep is the richest? It would make sense that the dairy breeds are richer, though meat breed people want really heavy milk production too, as it’s one of the main promoters of lamb/kid growth.
I like that your recipe adds cod liver oil and also minerals, and I agree, the yogurt is a good addition too, for probiotics- especially if one can’t access a raw milk source. I wonder if the Nutridrench is redundant, since I assume it’s mostly carbohydrates, electrolytes and minerals; and babies probably get plenty of that from milk anyway, especially if minerals are being added?
February 20, 2013 at 9:16 pm
[…] worry. We now use raw cow’s milk from a local dairy, strait for goats, in the following recipe for […]
February 23, 2013 at 3:21 am
I am hoping you can help me Michelle, I have a little lamb that was diagnosed today with a huge heart murmur, both vets have never seen this in sheep before. She will usually drink milk replacer cause the dam doesn’t have enough milk she both her sister and her but today she does not want her milk anymore but has drank to big bowls of water, what can I do to get her to drink milk ?
February 23, 2013 at 4:22 am
Marie, I’ll email you, because I have a couple of questions before I can give my guess, and this sounds time sensitive.
April 8, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Is using raw cow’s milk okay in this recipe?
April 8, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Taylor -yes, in fact, IMO, it’s superior, because it still has enzymes and probiotics which are lost during pasteurization. If your raw milk still contains all of the original cream, you may want to back off on the added cream, because I believe store-bought “whole” milk isn’t really whole, it’s had most/all of the cream removed. But, I’ve also found that using more cream than the recipe calls for is OK; it seems that usually they can use the extra fat.
April 8, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Thank you SO much!!
I am hoping to use this recipe. I have had two lambs die on me while using formula so I am ready to try something else. Thanks so much for your insight.
April 8, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Taylor, good luck. I find that with bottle babies, I have begun to be very quick with antibiotics if I see them show any signs of crashing at all, or getting dangerously scour-ey and not gaining weight. I think often there is something wrong with them in the first place that lands them in the orphan status, so often they need meds to pull through. I figure lots of things could be underlying- pneumonia, bacterial infection in utero, e. coli from manure, naval infection, and the like. If they are coping with illness, maybe didn’t get adequate colostrum, and then have to cope with imperfect nutrition from milk replacer, they just have a lot going against them.
April 9, 2013 at 2:11 am
Okay! Thanks again! You sure know a lot about this stuff!
April 9, 2013 at 2:46 am
I’ll let you know how my baby does on this good stuff!
May 2, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Hi Michelle, I have to tell you again how much I like your milk replacer recipe! My bottle lambs look better than they ever have. They are enormous and have perfect stools (not my experience with packaged milk replacer). I am milking out a couple of ewes and am mixing their milk with your formula, as well, but have I given it without sheep’s milk included and the boys did fine! Are you selenium deficient where you are in Washington? We are, here in Vermont, and I think this is why a couple of my ewes have continually thrown weak lambs. I supplement but I think these two are super-sensitive. I plan to cull one and will give Bo-Se to the other (the best milker) about a month before she lambs next year.
May 3, 2013 at 3:49 am
Sheri, glad it’s working for you! This year, I have access to fresh, raw cow’s milk, and I think they are doing even better on that.
Our region is definitely known for Se deficiency, though strangely when I finally tested my grass last year, I found we have adequate levels (which actually made me worry I was over-doing it in supplement form, and I backed off). I assume it’s because this place has been fertilized by dairy manure for so long, it has probably come through the manure from supplemented cows.
Re- weak lambs, I think there are a lot of things that can cause that. I had some prior years with more of it. I think it can be kind of a subtle problem, so it’s good you are thinking about the potential root causes. I started vaccinating for vibrio, and also changed my minerals, and bumped up my feeding program a bit; and I find I have fewer. So I’m not sure what helped, or maybe all three things. But it still seems like there are always a couple lambs that don’t get it together at birth. Maybe a difficult birth tires them, or sometimes they seem to have enough physical energy, but just lack the brains or persistence to master nursing.
May 8, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Thank you for this post and all the wonderful replies. We are picking up our first two lambs (bummer rams) tomorrow and I have been feeling not so great about powdered milk replacer. I will purchase it along with Pepto Bismal and the makings for the limewater in the Modern Sheep Raising book. We have sporadic access to raw cows milk. I was wondering about mixing the lamb replacer with the cows milk or is that too much?
Also the lambs are currently on an every 8 hour feeding. What do you think about changing that to 4 hours? Am I nuts or would it reduce the likelihood of scours?
Thanks so much!
May 9, 2013 at 3:13 am
violicious-I suspect you probably could mix in raw cow’s milk with commercial milk replacer, and hopefully benefit from some of the probiotics and enzymes that are in raw milk. My guess would be that doing “hard” switches between two different recipes might be upsetting to their systems, but if you are mixing, then the shifts would be less abrupt if your cow milk supply is variable.
I think it’s always better to feed more frequent, small meals if you have the schedule that can support it. This mimics how they nurse naturally- a little bit very frequently. It may not make a difference in scours, as I think that’s mostly caused by runaway bacteria that’s irritating the gut, and I’m not sure the feeding schedule makes that worse or better. But, it will reduce the risk of bloat, which is always a risk when lambs go hungry for several hours, then gorge. It’ll also help them take in more overall, which will contribute to growth.
May 9, 2013 at 3:21 am
Thank you! I was WRONG and they are feeding every three hours which is why I am up now! The 3 day old seems to be transitioning better than the 8 day old. I suspect it is because after bonding to mama, then farmer, we are not what he was expecting so we shall see how the next 24 hours go!
May 9, 2013 at 4:02 am
LOL-violicious, lambs are SO stubborn about change, it is always harder with older lambs. But hunger eventually wins out! I had a pair of twins whose mother was apparently electrocuted when they were a couple weeks old. I think they refused to take the bottle for more than a day, I was really getting concerned, but in the end, their stomachs prevailed and they embraced the rubber nipple! ;-)
May 9, 2013 at 1:14 pm
They are doing great this morning and I have enlisted my 10 year old to do some feedings. I have four children, all exclusively breastfed, and after being up all night making bottles, well….breast is best! Ha!
May 9, 2013 at 7:37 pm
My comment didn’t seem to go through. Everything seems to be fine so far, fingers crossed! Thanks!
May 26, 2013 at 10:31 pm
[…] Feeding little lambs, frequently. Modifying this. […]
July 1, 2013 at 5:59 am
[…] It’s impossible to draw definitive conclusions from this for several reasons. For one, it’s a small data sample: only thirteen lambs over four years. Genetics is probably a factor, as I have been getting some incremental improvements over time from selective breeding. In 2010 I used commercial powdered lamb milk replacer. In 2011, I started using the homemade recipe. […]
February 8, 2014 at 4:52 am
[…] to The Collie Farm, we are starting this recipe for our lambs. I made a half gallon this afternoon and mixed it with […]
March 18, 2014 at 12:27 am
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for sharing this recipe. We have had a few orphan lambs over the years and always had a problem with scours when bottle feeding them. This year I was determined not to use commercial milk replacer and searched the net for a better solution to the problems of feeding orphan lambs, found your recipe and have one lamb on it now, he is doing very well and no scours, hooray. Hope you don’t mind but I have sent the link to your site to friends who also do some small scale hobby farming who have sheep.
Colleen
March 18, 2014 at 2:25 am
Sure thing Colleen! Glad it was useful to you!
March 22, 2014 at 6:27 am
I have been feeding 25 lambs on lamb milk replacer at $70.00 for 25 pounds this will make 12 gallons. this was getting real expensive. I seen your post and decided to try it on a few at first. No problems except the lambs seem to like it better, And the price is the best part. milk is $2.03 per gallon the cream is $3.00 for 1 quart, And I raise laying hens. So 12 gallons now cost me about $30.00, And the clean up is easier than the powder. Thanks so much for the recipe
March 22, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Glad you like it Mike, I like it for all those same reasons!
March 22, 2014 at 11:34 pm
I really appreciated finding this blog post. It isn’t about the cost. It’s about doing what is best for the bottle lamb we have that was rejected by its ewe. You gotta wonder how nutritious whey is which is a key ingredient in a lot of milk replacers.
There are so many varying views out there.
Feed cows milk, don’t feed cows milk. Feed goats milk (which I would if I could find it). It’s all very confusing to know what the right thing to do is on a little creature that is depending on you for its life.
My lamb is 5 days old and wasn’t doing well on replacer. He’s not sick. He’s alert, hungry, and bouncy. But his poops are not good and that is a sure sign that all can go downhill very fast.
Maybe we were feeding too much, or not mixing the right amount. It was a multi-species replacer. So this morning I bought a specific lamb milk replacer.
He got colostrum the first day because we force held the ewe so he could nurse. He also got colostrum supplement. I have learned to have goats colostrum on hand.
Right now I’m gradually mixing in fresh jersey milk, egg, and pro bios with the specific lamb replacer. We’ll see how that goes in regulating him. Six ounces a feeding every four or so hours. I may completely switch over to your suggested recipe. I sure am glad I found it. Thank you.
March 23, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Thanks, Kim, I agree, definitely sooo many opinions out there. Many sellers of lamb milk replacer try to scare people into thinking their product is the only good one! I was a bit skeptical about this at first myself, but boy, now I’ve raised enough thriving lambs on it I wouldn’t risk switching. When I first heard about it, it sounded very novel, and I couldn’t find any info on the web about it, nor in any of my books. But since then, here and there I’ve run across other people mentioning it, and have seen a lot of interesting variations on the recipe(s). Some people add cod liver oil, yogurt, or use different proportions. So the idea definitely is not new, and that would make sense. Commercial feeds have only been around since about the 1950s, so surely in all the time before then, this is what people did.
For me, cost is a huge issue since I raise meat lambs. The profit margin on a butcher lamb normally is about $100, so whether I spend $50 or $80 on milk replacer is a big deal. If it’s $80, then the remaining $20 I make on the lamb isn’t worth the labor to feed it, and I might as well give it away to a neighbor kid and let them do all that work. With commercial formulas, add in the extra labor of messing around treating lambs that have scours, and it’s definitely “out” as a practical option, at least for me!
April 1, 2014 at 6:00 pm
We have a 3-week old lamb here in UK, she’s on commercial lamb replacer, its our first orphan lamb. She’s reacting to the milk replacer, been to vets, she’s had antibiotics and buscopan, as she gets a form of colic with a gas pocket but not full bloat. Vet feels its the milk, so advised us to find an alternative milk replacer, but advised against cows milk because some lambs do very badly on cows milk. I’m wondering whether your recipe would be good though with the added egg and cream, as we have to get her onto something else but she’s too young to wean, only eating tiny amounts of creep feed and not eating grass yet. We’ve been trying to source sheeps milk but its pasturised so may not help anyway? Your thoughts?
April 1, 2014 at 7:04 pm
Michaela, it sounds like you have nothing to lose! :-) I think veterinarians can be locked-into a mindset of “laboratory formulated is best” because that’s so much what they learn in school regarding any animal diet. But I’m more inclined to use whole foods. Sheep’s milk, even if it’s pasteurized, may be OK- maybe just add yogurt or some other probiotics to replace what was destroyed in the heat process. But if it’s hard to get, or expensive, I’d vote for cow’s milk with the milk & egg. It works fabulous for me, my lambs grow like gangbusters on it!
April 1, 2014 at 8:23 pm
I live in Canada and am using this formula again for some babies and have had absolutely no problems at all once again. We had Quads for the first time
and unfortunately lost the last one born and momma has only one side of her udder working. The babes are getting some from mom so that certainly helps. I have started using 50% of the milk in a powdered form and adding 50% more cream as our milk is so expensive here. So far so good just wondering if anyone else has replaced some of the milk with powder.
April 1, 2014 at 9:54 pm
Michelle, thank you. I think we will need to give it a go, poor little thing drinks well for two days then stops drinking again as she has colic. Today we’ve only managed to get 60ml down her, just not enough for her, so we do need to try something! The vet is keen for us to find an alternative as he;s convinced its the formula milk thats the problem!! Can I use Jersey creamy milk from the supermarket? plus the cream and eggs?
April 1, 2014 at 11:59 pm
Michaela – I have used the cheapest whole milk the grocery store carries, and that has worked fine for me. Now I have access to raw cow’s milk, and I think that works even better. But, whatever you can get. I find you can always tinker with the amount of cream/egg too- if you want the lamb to gain weight, especially if she’s not able to take in much, you could increase those to help her gain better. Good luck!
April 2, 2014 at 12:00 am
Sandra, interesting- I suspect mixing in some powdered would work ok, especially if they are still getting some milk from their mother, so still getting those good probiotics there. Definitely has to be sustainable cost-wise, no matter what!
April 7, 2014 at 11:28 pm
Hi, I have a little girl who’s mother didn’t want anything to do with her. She was born Friday. I just lost a set of triplets, who appeared to be underdeveloped. One had what appeared to be an abscess on his neck. The third one I took it the house to warm her. She couldn’t stand and her eyes were still shut. After warming her, I gave her back to her mother who was happy to have her back. She didn’t make it… Anyway, the one I am feeding now, who’s mother rejected her, but her other lamb is doing well with her. This one is half the size of her brother. I saw her walk in the barn, looked fine, but was wobbly, not steady enough to insist on nursing. One of her eyes was still closed, but is open now. I brought her in the house, found your recipe and started feeding her. I use my finger and a syringe at the same time, she eats good, but she only weighs 3.4# and only eats about 50mls in each feeding..her choice. When I began feeding her, I noticed one of her front legs doesn’t move like it should, like the knees have no stability. Now the other leg is doing that. I put her in a crate in my kitchen when I can’t watch her, when she comes out, she seems fine, then after a couple of steps, it happens. Does anyone know what this is and is there something I can do to correct it, before I have to take her to the vet? I guess mother knew best, she must have sensed something was wrong with her. Now I feel even worse for her. She can walk, she seems like she wants to jump, but she just gets knocked off balance. Thank you for your time.
April 8, 2014 at 5:09 am
Beckie, for such a tiny lamb, I think 50 ml seems like an appropriate amount of food; tho I’d try to make sure she eats every couple of hours. Maybe she’s just underdeveloped and weak and needs more time to mature. There are some other things this could be, I think- selenium deficiency (white muscle disease) or spider lamb, which is congenital and incurable. Maybe try giving her Nutridrench or some other supplement which has added Se. You can also get injectable form from a vet, which is faster acting. But maybe you can just give her a few more days and see if she comes around. If she’s eating and alert and happy, that’s at least a good sign.
April 9, 2014 at 6:03 pm
Michelle, thank you. The first leg that was crooked is now straight and the other leg is crooked. I’m hoping that she is just a little under developed, and the other leg will correct itself. I will investigate the selenium deficiency and get her what she needs for that.Thank you, again
April 9, 2014 at 6:56 pm
Beckie, I have also had lambs born with really wonky, crooked legs from being crowded in the womb. Depending on when you look at them, it’s more noticeable sometimes than others. But they straighten out as the muscles and tendons firm up. So maybe that is all you’re seeing.
April 12, 2014 at 1:55 am
Michelle, I sure hope so. She goes back and forth, one leg, then the other one, both, I pick her up which straightens her legs, I hold her awhile, put her down and she walks normal, for longer each time. She is limited in her movement while she is crated, and when she comes out, she walks normally for also longer each time, so I am hopeful.
April 12, 2014 at 3:05 pm
Beckie- one other thing that jogged in my memory is how important potassium is for muscle flexibility. Apple cider vinegar is an easy source of it to feed, diluted in the water source (and is often cited as having all sorts of other miracle health properties). I add it to the water tanks of my pregnant ewes, to help make sure that the ewes and lamb fetuses will have good muscle pliability to make birthing go smoothly.
April 15, 2014 at 7:01 am
Hi Michelle, first off, I gotta say thank you again. I have hand fed many critters, but never a lamb. It’s one thing to see a mom in the pasture/pen with her baby, it’s another to watch a hand fed who’s being raised in your kitchen! She is jumping and bouncing all over the place, with normal legs!! She is so funny, she follows me better than my dogs. Anyway, as much as I am enjoying her antics, I now must figure out how to eventually integrate her with her brother, mother and grandma. I have been “walking” her, in the back yard, pasture, front lawn, anywhere I go. When the other sheep were in the pen, I went in there with her and they all dispersed to the far side of the pen. The next day, when I walked her out in the pasture, where they all were, the grandma led the stampeed toward the baby and me. I picked her up, they just stopped when I turned to see them. Not sure what the intentions were, but I will keep doing it…baby steps…until she’s weaned and they accept her. Other than that, do you have any ideas?
April 16, 2014 at 5:11 am
Beckie, that’s awesome that she’s improved. Nothing cuter than a bottle lamb. When they’ve been in the house, integrating them into the flock is a bit of a pain, but do-able. It helps if you can do some fenceline intro’s first. Bottle babies often annoy the other sheep, and get butted, until they learn not to behave inappropriately, so they are at some risk…
It helps to wean them onto a teat bucket asap, so you can start to divorce them from the notion that they need you for eating. Then, at some point, you have to just ditch them with the flock- walk fast, don’t look back, and don’t say anything, just try to disappear quick. It’s like leaving a toddler at daycare. They will beller and cry and try desperately to follow, and make your heart break with guilt! But, they get over it. :-P It’s worse if you talk to them (which will be your impulse, to try to reassure them verbally), because they perceive that as calling them to come to you (like a ewe would), so you have to stay silent!
Because this is difficult, I try to keep orphan lambs with the flock as much as is feasible, but of course that’s not always do-able if they are really sick and take days to recover.
Good luck!
April 17, 2014 at 6:12 am
Michelle, she eats so little at this point, a bucket would be too much. What age should this be done? When I take her out in the pasture with the others, they are curious, her brother approached her, then she moved, he bolted to the comfort of his mother’s teat. It was too funny! I intend on putting an x-pen (dog exercise pen) in the pasture so she can be there without them being able to touch her when I must leave her there alone. She is still small, although she is asserting her independence to some extent. I guess I’ll just have to do it in baby steps, as I said before. I won’t like it when she cries for me, when I have to leave her alone, but she does that when she’s in my kitchen, in her crate, so maybe she’ll understand better?? We’ll just have to see. Thanks again.
April 19, 2014 at 5:23 am
Beckie, I use Premier’s bucket design, tho I’m sure there are other good ones out there too. I can fill it with as little as 2 c of milk, and they can drink it over time during the day. I just fill it 2x/day, and clean it out once a week. Definitely small steps are key to them learning the new routine…
June 14, 2014 at 8:40 am
G’day Michelle, I can’t believe I have only just discovered this post as I have been searching for a long time for a formula that I can feed our organic lambs. In the past we have used powdered milk replacer but are then unable to sell them as organic. This looks to be just what I have been looking for as we have an organic dairy near by.
Would I still need to include cream in the recipe if the milk was full cream straight from the cow?
Thankyou so much for this info. We are lambing next month so I am keen to give it a try.
June 14, 2014 at 3:28 pm
Hi Colin- glad I could help! This post definitely gets a lot of traffic, it seems that many people are seeking an alternative to powdered replacer! I suspect if you feed true whole cow’s milk, you don’t need to add back the cream. Since the egg is adding some more fat and protein, I am guessing that’s what brings it closer to the composition of sheep’s milk, which is richer. I find that the recipe is pretty flexible, and you can always tinker with it. If I have a lamb that needs a boost, I might increase the cream, or add two eggs.
I think there is a wide range of “tolerable” for bottle lambs; so even though they’re probably not getting the ideal ratio of nutrients, fat and protein, they can roll with it pretty well. It seems to me that a laboratory-formulated, artificial MR, despite maybe having the “correct” mix on paper, just bothers their gut; whereas the whole-food option, even if it’s not as much of a match to sheep’s milk, is just easier on their gut. Not to mention, taste has a big impact on whether they eat just enough to survive, or eat a lot and grow….
The only other thing to keep in the back of your mind when using raw cow’s milk is the potential for transmission of Jonhe’s disease; so if this is a concern for you, you could inquire if the cow dairy tests for it. Or, take other precautions to limit the risk that it could infect your herd (heat the milk, isolate the lambs from breeding stock, etc).
September 8, 2014 at 8:03 am
thanku so much im going to try this I lost a gorgeous little lamb 2 days ago and now have another which is in its first 24 hours I would say. he has just got dirreah today and as most pple in my locality use yogurt im doing that right now til the shop is open tomorrow. I am going to get the ingredients for your recipie and hope I never lose another lamb . we are hobbie farers with only 20 sheep and we successfully rared a lamb who is now 4 weeks old and the yogurt worked for her when she got scours… by whole milk im guessing u mean full cream milk and do u use powdered form or supermarket ready milk
September 9, 2014 at 3:25 am
Kim, I’m not sure if milk is labeled the same way in AU as here- but here, “whole” milk on the grocery store shelf is just milk that has more cream in it than 2% or non-fat. But it’s still not truly “whole” milk straight out of the cow… When I buy from the supermarket, I just get the cheapest brand that comes in a plastic jug. I think powdered milk here is always more expensive than fresh. (?) The last 2 years, I have been able to buy fresh milk from a cow dairy, which is even better, but not something one can always get!
September 9, 2014 at 5:28 am
michelle u and ur friend that created this formula have saved my lamb. a credit to u for printing the formula for us don’t know anything farmers. seriously I put the formula up to the lamb and overnight the lamb has lost all dirreah and was happy as .. I only wish I could have had this formula a few days ago to save my little black face baby girl. at least next year I will have the knowledge to do something for these little babies. thanku soooooo much.. I also used a doggie coat for the lamb to keep him warm as well as the open fire as it snows here and this worked a treat as well……:)
September 10, 2014 at 3:48 am
Glad it worked for you Kim!
October 12, 2014 at 9:28 am
Our baby lamb, Daphne, had diarrhoea for the first 4 weeks of life. One day she wagged her little tail and diarrhoea just shot out and sprayed around. We had her on milk replacer. We were meticulous with cleaning bottles, we tried reducing the strength, but nothing helped. Thankfully she was always hungry and although she was putting on a little bit of weight she just wasn’t getting enough nutrition. We found your recipe and changed her over immediately. Over the next couple of days, no diarrhoea, no nothing. Then we started to worry she had constipation but then nicely formed little sheep droppings appeared. Daphne has been thriving on your recipe for the past 4 weeks and we are just starting to think about weaning her. Daphne and her family would like to give you a big thank you for posting your recipe.
October 12, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Wow Susan, it’s interesting to hear the consistent them from many where switching from powdered MR to natural does the trick in treating diarrhea. It just seems like there is nothing like whole foods… Thanks for your comment, I continue to enjoy hearing of others’ successes!
October 27, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Do you feed this from birth? also this is silly question but how tall do lambs grow? (need to know for a shed for the lambs)
October 28, 2014 at 1:51 am
Jane, yes, milk replacer can be fed from birth; tho it’s important to get colostrum in the lamb in the first 8 hours. Ideally colostrum from his own dam, or a dam local to he herd. But secondary sources, like cow’s or goat’s colosrum from a regional farm can be a stand-in, or the powdered stuff. The goal is to try to capture immunity from local animals which will have had exposure to bacteria and viruses most likely to show up on your farm. If I had access to nothing other than powdered colostrum, I might be tempted to just make a souped-up version of the homemade, with lots of eggs and cream for the first couple of days (because the powdered stuff doesn’t have any antibodies, only extra calories & fat to match colostrum’s high energy).
Lamb height- that would depend a lot on breed, whether they are creep-fed, and how long you want them to be able to get into the shed and stand up straight before they get too big. A 3′ tall shed would last most lambs quite a a long time; and even if it were short, they’d probably still crawl in to bed down.
November 13, 2014 at 4:30 am
Hi I have followed your mixture but my lamb is not getting fat he is a week and a half old. I have increased the egg and cream, is it ok to add powered milk to the mixture?
November 13, 2014 at 5:29 am
Jennie, there aren’t really any “rules”- I would say, keep trying things until you find what works for that individual. But, I’m not sure what you mean by “fat”- especially only at a week old. Lambs don’t really add fat for quite some time, in their early weeks, they stay lean and just grow, grow, grow. The most important thing is that the lamb is gaining some scale weight each day-even just a little bit is fine. I just don’t like them to lose weight, or stay at the same weight for a string of days.
When orphan-rearing lambs, there is a lot of risk of over-feeding them, which creates its own set of problems; so it’s actually ideal to curtail their intake to give them “just enough” to survive to weaning, but not over-do it. For myself, I judge their progress by 1) consistent weight gain, 2) cheerful demeanor, alert, showing some play behaviors when awake, stretching casually when rising and 3) good poop. If those are happening, I’m happy. Fattening can come later, once they are weaned and are grazing!
November 13, 2014 at 5:42 am
Thank you so much fr ur help, he’s doing fine then, I have ticked all the boxes. He’s a tall boy and I have compared him to the others in the yard,which I shouldn’t do, his Mum rejected him just after he was born. I will keep on keeping on, I see it’s 5.30am there and it’s 4.40pm here Lol. Take care and thanks again fr ur help Michelle :>)
November 14, 2014 at 4:58 am
Jennie, cool, sounds like he is doing fine. Often orphan rears aren’t competitive with their dam-raised peers in weight gain, but I think sometimes this reflects that they either took a hit in not getting enough colostrum in the first 8 hours, or there is truly something “weak” about them (which is possibly why sometimes they are rejected). But a lot of times they can make it up, especially if you do offer them creep feed, so they can start loading on protein and maximizing their early growth window.
The other thing to remember is, if the dam is 7 years old, her lambs will be smaller than her mature peers’ lambs inherently, and also smaller than single births, if he was a twin, etc. So it can be really unfair to compare them visually if they have all had a different start in life.
February 5, 2015 at 3:52 am
[…] your package on that if you’re using one. You can also find a homemade lamb milk replacer recipe here. I cannot vouch for […]
February 12, 2015 at 7:58 am
Guys I need a Help! I have a young male lamb (almost 3 months). He had diarrhea from at least last 9 days and he is still not well. The diarrhea was initially thick like cow dung (day 1) but later it started to be very thin just like water (yellow water – No blood however). Right now he can’t even stand on his feet. I gave him couple of medicines e.g., “Pencicilin-S” and “Full Stop – Stop non-stop diarrhea (Powder)” as prescribed by local vet.
Also I am giving him electrolytes ORS plus Rice Water (water extracted from boiled rice). In food was giving him dry grass, hay, chickpea husk, wheat husk etc. (only today).
At day times he is relatively active in sun (moderate temperature around 18 C to 23 C). However during morning hours after night he has always shown weaker symptoms day by day.
Please I need help to stop his diarrhea and get him back to normal.
Also if I serve him food when should i give him electrolytes (before or after)? and what should be the temperature? normal or a little warmer?
I shall really appreciate your experience in saving the life of this lamb.
February 12, 2015 at 3:40 pm
Oh, no, Usman, that doesn’t sound good! My first thought from the description is it’s e. coli scours. I believe e. coli is a gram negative-bacteria; and penicillin treats gram-positive bacteria. So, the first thing would be to try a broad-spectrum antibiotic. I’m not sure of your location or what’s available to you. But the label should tell you if it’s broad-spectrum or not. A lot of people use the brand SpectoGuard Scour-Chek that’s made for pigs. It’s extra-label for sheep, so technically you have to have a vet prescribe it.
The electrolyte solution should help replace his lost fluids, maybe feed it after milk, so he has enough appetite for milk. I’d feed all liquids at room temperature. Warm milk tends to make them over-eat, which will just make his gut irritation worse. Some people recommend taking them off milk altogether for about a day; but that requires some judgement of whether the lamb has enough fat and energy stores to handle that.
February 13, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Thanks Michelle… Let’s hope the Sheep makes it through …. his diarrhea has improved though but he is very weak and can’t even lift his head/body now. His the skin under his eye is white now which does not suggest anything good. I continue giving him milk and electrolytes (hoping he regain some energy). But so far he is has not shown improvement from day one. Yesterday morning he showed good signs when he was re-chewing his gut food but not anymore.
We don’t have good vets here nearby or vet institutes available, so there are limitations… (really shameful)
A big thanks once again….I have bookmarked your page for any future help regarding sheep & goats help.
February 15, 2015 at 6:31 am
can you really use pasteurized or even ultrapasteurized milk from the store? I thought it had to be unpasteurized right out of the cow.
February 15, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Maria, sure- of course powdered milk replacer has been pasteurized as well. It is my belief that unpasteurized is better, but if it’s not available, then pasteurized works. You could always add probiotics, digestive enzymes or yogurt if you wanted to boost its digestibility.
February 20, 2015 at 1:51 am
Started raising Dorper sheep a couple of years ago and have looked to the internet for help. Your blog is a god send and want to thank you for taking the time to help is beginners! Thanks again from Cherokee Texas
February 20, 2015 at 2:17 am
Glad it’s of help Al!
February 20, 2015 at 6:35 pm
I agree with Al FEnter. I dont live on a farm or have sheep. And this blog is very helpful. :)
February 21, 2015 at 2:51 am
Thanks Jane!
March 2, 2015 at 11:46 pm
Thanks for a great blog. I was looking for your recipe or something like it. I had seen something like it a few years ago but could not find it. I have sheep but have not had any bottle babies for a number of years since my ewes seem to handle the situation well. I recently found some lost/escaped sheep and eventually found the owner. He was happy to get his sheep back but when he went to pay me for my time and feed I refused money and asked for some ewe lambs instead. He was more than happy with the deal as it was a win-win. So I am expecting a delivery of some ewe lambs, most likely bottle babies. Therefore I was looking for your formula. Since I make yogurt and other cultured milk products I am considering either adding yogurt or actually culturing the formula itself. That should allow it to be more like raw milk. What do you think?
March 3, 2015 at 12:50 am
sbriles, glad to be of help. I definitely think adding yogurt is a good idea!