The Shepherd's Handbook: Colostrum

As every livestock owner knows, colostrum, the milk first produced by a new mother, is vital to the immediate and future survival of kids and lambs. We try our best to see that everything goes smoothly: Mamma gives birth, cleans up, and within the hour the baby is nursing happily, filling its tummy with that vital colostrum. But sometimes, things don’t go smoothly. Perhaps a lamb was chilled; you come out to the barn and find a newborn, weak and shivering. Has it eaten? Does it need to eat immediately, or is there time to give it other care before feeding? Must you milk the mother? Or can you use the stuff you’ve saved? Too many important questions arise, at a time when you really can’t come inside and Google it, or ask your friends. You need immediate answers so you can take immediate action. Well, here are the answers to those questions.

Your first priority, when you find a weak newborn, should be to feed it. Help it nurse its mother if possible; if not, tube-feed it. That baby should have eaten some colostrum within half an hour of being born, and if it hasn’t eaten within eighteen hours it’s toast. The mother will continue to produce colostrum for up to twenty-four hours after giving birth; during that time, a lamb needs to consume ten percent of its body weight. The milk from the baby’s own mother is best, but if you can’t get it, some colostrum from another new mother in the same herd is next best. Stored colostrum, whether frozen or fresh, comes third. Fresh milk can be refrigerated for up to a week before it begins to lose its virtue; frozen it loses nothing, whether by freezing or thawing, unless exposed to direct heat. Don’t microwave or boil it—bathing the container in hot water is best.

Colostrum serves many purposes for a newborn’s system, but they all, more or less, boil down to one: giving that baby a jump-start in life. Without that crucial first feeding, with its nutrients, immune system boost, and more, a lamb or kid has a drastically reduced hope for survival. As flockmasters, it’s our job to give them the best chance possible at life. I hope this helps.