Here is what I keep on hand for the just-in-case times that occur from year to year:

In the freezer I have Merrick’s Super Lamb instant milk replacer as well as colostrum which I get from a neighboring organic dairy farm.

Among other items in my lambing-time bucket I have up-to-the-shoulder OB gloves and OB gel so I can always have a clean, slippery hand if I need to straighten-out an unborn lamb (still in the uterus) .  These are available from most livestock supply catalogs .   I also keep   Betadine scrub in a squeeze bottle which could be used with warm water and a soft cloth if there is a prolapse (after the lambs are weaned I’d cull that ewe but that’s my management).

For the every-lamb needs:  nutri-drench (a brownish vitamin & mineral goo that I give from a pump-bottle), sharp scissors and chlorhexadine in a teat-dipper (livestock supply catalog again) for cutting and dipping the lamb’s umbilical cord.  [I don’t use 7% iodine solution because it ‘burns,’ but that is my management practice and other opinions differ.]

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 12th, 2009 at 9:43 am and is filed under Advice.