Lambing is in full swing, and I thought I’d share a trick we now use on all lambs. I milk a bit of colostrum into a syringe case. Ken uses his finger to entice the lamb to nurse, then he squirts the milk into the size of the lamb’s mouth. This does several things: it allows us to give the lamb a jump-start. They don’t use up all of their brown fat trying to get up and nurse. We get a quick evaluation of the strength of the suck reflex and whether the lamb has sharp teeth. We know that the lamb gets a good dose of colostrum. It’s quick, simple, and makes a big difference in the overall health of the new lambs.
