Our beloved little ewe has just not taken to nursing like her two brothers, and we’re dancing on a thin line as we try to coax her to nurse but know that we have to supplement her diet so that she will thrive. It started out with a few shots of colostrum (from our goats, frozen from previous seasons) and some strong suggestions on our part (holding her head straight to Gabby’s teat, placing it in her mouth). Unfortunately, Gabby isn’t thrilled about our meddling and doesn’t like to nurse under pressure, and the lamb is not at all enthusiastic about being forced. She loves the colostrum, and now associates people with food. We have tried for a week now in our nursing campaign, to very little avail.
We bought goat milk today, and are still attempting to get the lamb to nurse by feeding her with a syringe instead of a bottle. If she doesn’t become serious about nursing within a day or so we are going to have to switch to bottle feeding the lamb, a necessity that we would all rather avoid…
