Lamb Rearing Equipment
Warmers, stomach tubes, milk warmers, automatic feeders and milk powder for the lambs the ewe cannot rear — stocked at Ayr, Kinross, Lanark & Stirling, with the order to use them in.
Warming and Feeding Are Not Interchangeable
A cold lamb and a hungry lamb look the same at four in the morning, and the wrong order of treatment can kill one that would otherwise have lived.
Warming a lamb that has no energy left to burn is the classic mistake, and how you handle it depends on the lamb’s age, whether it can still hold its head up and whether it can swallow. That is a protocol, not a product feature, and it is worth agreeing with your vet or an SQP before lambing starts rather than working it out at the time. There are SQPs in every store and all eight reps are SQPs. Ask, write it on the shed wall, and have the kit ready beside it.
PYON Frisky Lamb Warmer
A warming box that moves a constant flow of warm air around the lamb rather than heating it from above.
The body is plastic, so it washes and disinfects properly between lambs and between seasons, and the floor is wire mesh so muck and urine drop through instead of sitting under the lamb. It is temperature regulated, has a thermometer and a viewing panel so you can watch without opening it, and takes two or three lambs at a time.
The target temperature is on the unit, and it is worth checking at lamb level rather than at the heater — too hot is as much of a problem as too cold. If you want the figure confirmed for your model, ask at the counter; we would rather tell you than have you work off a number from a website.
Antahi Trusti Tuber
A vet-designed stomach tube for lambs and kid goats, built for one-handed use, which is the whole point when you are on your own in a pen.
It holds 240ml, feeds by gravity, and the tube is transparent so you can see the colostrum moving. The tip is rounded, the base is stable so it will stand while you position the lamb, and the tube carries depth markings so you can see how far in it is. The starter kit and the spare 240ml tube are both on the lambing list.
Tubing is a technique, and getting it wrong puts colostrum in the lung. This page will not teach you how. If you have not been shown, ask your vet or an SQP to show you once, on a live lamb, before the season starts. The depth markings help someone who knows what they are doing; they do not replace being shown.
When There Are More Than a Bottle Can Manage
Two machines for the flock that rears a lot of lambs off the ewe, and the milk powders that go in them.
Heatwave Milk Warmer and the Forster-Technik Feeder
Bottle feeding stops being practical somewhere around the tenth pet lamb. These two do the warming and the mixing so you do not.
PYON Heatwave milk warmer
Cold milk sits in an insulated box and is warmed as the lambs drink, by heat exchange, so it is — in Pyon’s words — heated on demand and available at a consistent temperature, and the milk is stored cold rather than sitting warm all day. Ad-lib, through teats. Pyon rate it for up to 50 lambs or kids, or up to 30 calves, and supply lamb and calf teats with it.
Forster-Technik Eco lamb feeder
An automatic feeder that, in Forster-Technik’s words, mixes powdered milk replacer in small portions so the feed is fresh, warm and available around the clock, with an adjustable milk-to-water ratio that suits different powders. It needs mains power and a water supply where it stands, which is worth sorting before lambing rather than during it.
Both are sold and delivered through the store or your rep, not fitted. The fitted, computer-controlled lamb feeder — Urban’s Alma Pro L, installed and serviced by McCaskie Engineering — is a different proposition for a different scale of flock, on its own page.
Lamb Force and Lamlac
Which powder is as much about how you feed as what you feed.
Downland Lamb Force milk powder comes in 10 and 20 kilo bags, with Lamb Force Free Flow for automatic machines. Volac Lamlac is stocked alongside it: Instant Lamlac, which Volac describe as suited to bottle feeding, ad-lib systems and some machines and which mixes in cold or warm water, and Lamlac Free Flow, made for automatic machine feeding systems that need a free-flowing powder. Volac introduced Lamlac as the first commercially available ewe milk replacer more than forty years ago.
Mix it as the bag says. Pet lambs are lost to milk mixed strong or thin as often as to anything else, and the rate on the bag is the rate the powder was made for. If you are running a machine, tell the counter which one, and the right powder for it comes off the shelf.
Bottles, Teats and Feeders
For the two or three that need a bottle, and the pen that needs a feeder.
Bottles and teats
Lamb feeding bottles, the non-vac bottle rack and its teats, Pritchard screw teats, pull-on teats, Hiko soft and firm lamb teats, the Milkbar lamb teat, and the mini-suckler with its non return valve.
Feeders
The Shepherdess lamb feeder and the five-teat lamb feeder bucket for the pen, and the colostrum feeder with tube for the first feed.
Colostrum and a lift
Downland lamb colostrum in 10, 20, 40 and 80 dose packs, Downland Lamb Force Boost, Downland Perk-Up spray and glucose. What each is for is a counter conversation with the SQP.
The whole lambing cupboard, grouped by the moment you reach for it, is on the lambing page, with the order form.
Lamb Rearing Questions
Should a hypothermic lamb be warmed or fed first?
It depends on the lamb's age and whether it can still swallow, and getting the order wrong can be fatal. It is a protocol worth agreeing with your vet or an SQP before lambing starts rather than deciding at the time. There are SQPs in every McCaskie store.
What is a lamb warmer and how does it work?
A warming box that circulates warm air around the lamb rather than radiating heat down onto it. The PYON Frisky has a plastic body for cleaning, a wire mesh floor so muck drops through, temperature regulation, a thermometer and a viewing panel, and takes two or three lambs.
How does the Heatwave milk warmer work?
Cold milk is kept in an insulated box and warmed by heat exchange as the lambs drink through the teats, so it is heated on demand rather than kept warm. Pyon rate it for up to 50 lambs or kids, or up to 30 calves.
What does an automatic lamb feeder do?
The Forster-Technik Eco feeder mixes milk powder and water in small portions as the lambs drink, so the feed is fresh and warm around the clock. It needs mains power and a water supply, and a free-flow powder made for machines.
Which milk powder do I need for a lamb feeding machine?
A free-flow powder: Downland Lamb Force Free Flow or Volac Lamlac Free Flow. Instant Lamlac suits bottles, ad-lib feeders and some machines. Tell the counter which machine you run and mix as the bag says.
How much does a Trusti Tuber hold?
240ml. It is a vet-designed gravity feeder for lambs and kid goats, made for one-handed use, with a transparent tube, a rounded tip, a stable base and depth markings.
Can I be shown how to tube a lamb?
Ask your vet, or an SQP at any of the four stores. Tubing wrongly puts colostrum into the lung, so being shown once on a live lamb is worth far more than reading about it.
Do McCaskie install lamb feeders?
The Heatwave and the Forster-Technik Eco feeder are sold and delivered, not fitted. The fitted lamb feeder McCaskie Engineering install and service is Urban's Alma Pro L, which has its own page.