Collecting colostrum

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Can anyone tell me a tried and true method of milking out enough colostrum to save a baby? I have never been successful at milking ewes and can't figure out what I do wrong. I can get it going but only ever get a tablespoonful at a single milking.

 

Later I can get plenty of milk out of a well-started ewe, but I wonder whether I'm getting everthing the ewe has the first few hours or whether I'm doing it wrong.

[concrete]

I'll try but it's one of those things that's easier to demonstrate . I first punch ( not hard) the bag like a lamb does to get the milk to let down. Then when the tit is full I squeeze the top shut with index finger and thumb then squeeze the milk out with my middle finger. Colostrum is much thicker and slow steady pressure seems to work best for me. You can push the milk back up into the bag if you try to express it to fast.I usually milk into a zip lock sandwich bag (because I'm usually saving the milk in this situation) and get an inch or two each time. If there is a lamb with hypothermia then I take the milk and tube the lamb otherwise I will hold the ewe and make it let the lamb nurse if at all possible. I don't like bottle lambs.

 

Kevin

[kajarrel]

The amount of colostrum available varies from ewe to ewe in my experience. Some produce lots (cups), some just a little (1/2 cup or so). I like to give colostrum to weak lambs because it seems to give the lambs the best chance of staying with mom (i.e., perking up so that they can nurse on their own). BUT . . . I don't count on colostrum alone to save my bottle lambs. A couple of years ago I was loosing *every* bottle lamb I tried to raise to E. coli scours AND spending a lot of time collecting colostrum. Now I give what colostrum I can, use a milk replacer with colostrum (Advance lamb milk replacer) and treat with Spectam Scour-Halt. Since using Spectam, I haven't lost a lamb to E. coli.

 

Method - Wash hands and then proceed same as concrete. Some times I find that if I wet my finger tips and gently massage the end of the teet that it helps to dislodge the little plug.

 

Kim

[NancyO]

Rebecca,

 

I also have had a hard time milking a ewe for colostrum (didn't help that I have a friend that can milk a stone!). Last year I went to a two handed method because I was so frustrated and then kinda of got the feel of things. I had the ewe tied and pushed up against a fence, usually using my head to hold her there (wasn't there a discussion about sheep keds and lice recently :eek: ). I usually milk from the right side of the ewe. Because of using 2 hands I had a bucket under the ewe to catch the colostrum. I used my right hand to gently grasp about 3" above the teat, as much of the udder as I can and gently push upwards slightly, I continued to hold the udder with my right hand. I then used my left hand with thumb and second finger to grasp above the teat and this would fill the teat, and the rest of my fingers to express the teat. Once I got the feel for it, I was able to express quite a bit and now I can do it one handed and hold a syringe or a bottle with the other. I still milk from the right and use my left hand to milk with.

 

One handed I grasp with thumb and first finger above the teat and then use other fingers to express the teat. If I am having trouble getting things started, I go back and start the milking with using 2 hands and then switch to one hand.

 

Nancy O

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I had two lambs that I really had a hard time saving last week, that probably would have been fine if they had even an ounce or two of farm-specific colostrum. They started out strong but came down with a clostridium I have here and it was a real battle keeping them alive for a few days (but well worth it, they will be foundation ewes).

 

I've got another lamb whose mother dropped her on the other side of a feeder and then had another twin and forgot to look for the first. Yes, this was another set of twins from the one that just walked off for no apparent reason - both first time mothers! Anyway, she was hypothermic and I wanted to get some colostrum from her mother to make sure we didn't have a repeat of the blackleg near-disaster. I was frustrated when yet again I seemed to be doing something wrong. The other twin is fine so she's got plenty even with me stripping what I can.

 

Well, I put that tablespoon in her and will get some more from her and another ewe tonight, and I'm crossing my fingers. She now has colostrum replacer in her but the ewe of course will have nothing to do with her now that we've cleaned her up. She's still to weak to survive without either a lot of love from mom or more care inside.

 

I actually like bottle babies better than stanchioning ewes, but I've actually only ever had one bottle baby before versus about half a dozen head-restrained ewes. It just makes more sense, of course.