While the lamb is tumbling about and attempting to rise--the ewe,
meanwhile, licking it dry--it is well to be in no haste to interfere. A
lamb that gets at the teat without help, and procures even a small
quantity of milk, knows how to help itself afterward, and rarely
perishes. If helped, it sometimes continues to expect it, and will do
little for itself for two or three days. The same is true where lambs
are fed from a spoon or bottle.
But if the lamb ceases to make efforts to rise--especially if the ewe
has left off licking it while it is wet and chilly--it is time to render
assistance. It is not advisable to throw the ewe down--as is frequently
practised--in order to suckle the lamb; because instinct teaches the
latter to point its nose _upward_ in search of the teats. It is,
therefore, doubly difficult to teach it to suck from the bag of the
prostrate ewe; and when it is taught to do this, by being so suckled
several times, it is awkward about finding the teat in the natural
position, when it begins to stand and help itself. Carefully disengaging
the ewe from her companions, with his crook--which useful article will
be hereafter described--the assistant should place one hand before the
neck and the other behind the buttocks of the ewe, and then, pressing
her against his knees, he should hold her firmly and still, so that she
will not be constantly crowding away from the shepherd, who should set
the lamb on its feet, inducing it to stand, if possible; if not,
supporting it _on its feet_ by placing one hand under its body; put its
mouth to the teat, and encourage it to suck by tickling it about the
roots of the tail, flanks, etc., with a finger. The lamb, mistaking this
last for the caresses of its dam, will redouble its efforts to suck.
Sometimes it will manifest great dullness, and even apparent obstinacy,
in refusing for a long time to attempt to assist itself, crowding
backward, etc.; but the kind and gentle shepherd, who will not sink
himself to the level of brute, by resenting the stupidity of a brute,
will generally carry the point by perseverance. Sometimes milking a
little into the lamb's mouth, holding the latter close to the teat, will
induce it to take hold.
If the ewe has no milk, the lamb should be fed, until the natural supply
commences, with small quantities of the milk of a _new-milch_ cow. This
should be mixed, say half and half, with water, with enough molasses to
give it the purgative effect of the first milk, gently warmed to the
natural heat--not scalded and suffered to cool--and then fed through a
bottle with a sponge in the opening of it, which the lamb should _suck_,
if it can be induced so to do. If the milk is poured in its mouth from a
spoon or bottle, it is frequently difficult, as before stated, to induce
it to suck. Moreover, unless milk is poured into the mouth slowly and
with care--no faster than the lamb can swallow--a speedy wheezing, the
infallible precursor of death, will show that a portion of the fluid
has been forced into the lungs. Lambs have been frequently killed in
this way.
If a lamb becomes chilled, it should be wrapped in a woollen blanket,
placed in a warm room, and given a little milk as soon as it will
swallow. A trifle of pepper is sometimes placed in the milk, and
with good effect, for the purpose of rousing the cold and torpid
stomach into action. In New England, under such circumstances, the lamb
is sometimes "baked," as it is called--that is, put in a blanket in a
moderately-heated oven, until warmth and animation are restored; others
immerse it in tepid water, and subsequently rub it dry, which is said to
be an excellent method where the lamb is nearly frozen. A good blanket
however, a warm room, and sometimes, perhaps, a little gentle friction
will generally suffice.
If a strong ewe, with a good bag of milk, chance to lose her lamb, she
should be required to bring up one of some other ewe's twins, or the
lamb of some feeble or young ewe, having an inadequate supply of milk.
Her own lamb should be skinned as soon as possible after death, and the
skin sewed over the lamb which she is to foster. She will sometimes be a
little suspicious for a day or two; and if so, she should be kept in a
small pen with the lamb, and occasionally looked to. After she has taken
well to it, the false skin may be removed in three or four days. If no
lamb is placed on a ewe which lost her lamb, and which has a full bag of
milk, the milk should be drawn from the bag once or twice, or garget may
ensue; even if this is not the result, permanent indurations, or other
results of inflammatory action, will take place, injuring the subsequent
nursing properties of the animal. When milked, it is well to wash the
bag for some time in cold water, since it checks the subsequent
secretions of milk, as well as allays inflammation.
Sometimes a young ewe, though exhibiting sufficient fondness for her
lamb, will not stand for it to suck; and in this case, if the lamb is
not very strong and persevering, and particularly if the weather is
cold, it soon grows weak, and perishes. The conduct of the dam, in such
instances, is occasioned by inflammatory action about the bag or teats,
and perhaps somewhat by the novelty of her position. In this case, the
sheep should be caught and held until the lamb has exhausted her bag,
and there will not often be any trouble afterward; though it may be well
enough to keep them in a pen together until the fact is determined.
Such pens--necessary in a variety of cases other than those
mentioned--need not exceed eight or ten feet square, and should be built
of light materials, and fastened together at the corners, so that they
can be readily moved by one man, or, at the most, two, from place to
place, where they are wanted. Their position should be daily shifted,
when sheep are in them, for cleanliness and fresh feed. Light pine poles
laid up like a fence, and each nailed and pegged to the lower ones at
the corners, or laid on, are quite serviceable. Two or three sides of a
few of them should be wattled with twigs, and the tops partly covered,
in order to shield feeble lambs from cold rains, piercing winds, and the
like.
Young lambs are subject to what is commonly known as "pinning"--that is,
their first excrements are so adhesive and tenacious that the orifice of
the anus is closed, and subsequent evacuations prevented. The adhering
matter, in such cases, should be entirely removed, and the part rubbed
with a little dry clay, to prevent subsequent adhesion. Lambs will
frequently perish from this cause, if not looked to for the first few
days.
The ewes and their young ought to be divided into small flocks, and have
a frequent change of pasture. Some careful shepherds adopt the plan of
confining their lambs, allowing them to suck two or three times a day.
By this method they suffer no fatigue, and thrive much faster. It is,
however, troublesome as well as injurious, since the exercise is
essential to the health and constitution of the lamb intended for
rearing. It is admissible only when they are wanted for an early market;
and with those who rear them for this purpose it is a common practice.
Where there are orphans or supernumeraries in the flock, the deserted
lambs must be brought up by hand. Such animals, called pet lambs, are
supported on cow's milk, which they receive warm from the cows each time
they are milked, and as much as they can drink. In the intervals of
meals, in bad weather, they are kept under cover; in good weather they
are put into a grass enclosure during the day, and sheltered at night
until the nights become warm. They are fed by hand out of a small
vessel, which should contain as much milk as it is known each can drink.
They are first taught to drink out of the vessel with the fingers, like
a calf, and as soon as they can hold a finger steady in the mouth, a
small tin tube, about three inches in length, and of the thickness of a
goose-quill, should be covered with several folds of linen, sewed
tightly on, to use as a substitute for a teat, by means of which they
will drink their allowance of milk with great ease and quickness. A
goose-quill would answer the same purpose, were it not easily squeezed
together by the mouth. When the same person feeds the lambs--and this
should be the dairy-maid--they soon become attached to her, and desire
to follow her everywhere; but to prevent their bleating, and to make
them contented, an apron or a piece of cloth, hung on a stake or bush in
the inclosure, will keep them together.
It is much better for the lambs and for their dams that they be _weaned_
from three and a half to four months old. When taken away, they should
be put for several days in a field distant from the ewes, that they may
not hear each other's bleatings, as the lambs, when in hearing of their
dams, continue restless much longer, and make constant and, frequently,
successful efforts to crawl through the fences which separate them. One
or two tame old ewes are turned into the field with them, to teach them
to come at the call, find salt when thrown to them, and eat out of
troughs when winter approaches.
When weaned, the lambs should be put on the freshest and tenderest
grass--rich, sweet food, but not too luxuriant. The grass and clover,
sown the preceding spring, on grain-fields seeded down, is often
reserved for them. The dams, on the contrary, should be put for a
fortnight on short, dry feed, to stop the flow of milk. They should be
looked to after a day or two, and if the bags of any are found much
distended, the milk should be drawn away, and the bags washed for a
little time in cold water. On short feed, they rarely give much trouble
in this respect. When thoroughly dried off, they should have the best
fare, to enable them to recover condition for subsequent breeding and
wintering. The fall is a critical period in which to lose flesh, either
for sheep or lambs; and if any are found deficient, they should at once
be provided with extra feed and attention. If cold weather overtake
them, poor or in ill health, they will scarcely outlive it; or if by
chance they survive, their emaciated carcass, impaired constitution, and
scant fleece will ill repay the food and attention they will have cost.