My Calf Club Diary Name: Age: Address: School:
Lamb Details Lambs Name: Lambs Birth Date: It is a (ewe/ram lamb): We found my lamb/ I got my lamb from another farm: My lamb was a single, twin or triplet: Draw a picture or stick a photo of your lamb here.
Vet & Treatment Diary 1st 5 in 1 Vaccination Date Vaccine Name 2nd 5 in 1 Vaccination Date Vaccine Name 5 in 1 vaccines protect against clostridial diseases such as tetanus, pulpy kidney, black leg, black disease & malignant odema that can cause sudden death. Tetanus - A bacteria that lives in the soil and infects lambs and calves through open wounds. Pulpy Kidney - Often caused by a sudden increase or change in nutrition. Black Disease - This bacteria lives in the soil and is picked up by the lamb or calf by eating the pasture. The bacteria produces toxins in the liver. Black disease can be associated with a liver fluke infestation. Black Leg - This bacteria also lives in the soil. It enters the blood stream and lodges most commonly in the leg muscle, the growth of the bacteria in the muscle leads to poisoning. Malignant Odema - A rapidly fatal wound infection. Docking Date 1st Drench Date Drench Name Lambs need to be drenched so they don t get round worms. Round worms are parasites that live in the lamb s intestines. These worms damage the stomach lining and can give lambs diarrhoea. Talk to your VetEnt vet about when to drench and what to use.
Common Lamb Diseases Most lambs are very healthy and never get sick, but there are some diseases that can effect them. Clostridial Diseases (clos-trid-i-al) These diseases are caused by various kinds of bacteria in the soil. The bacteria are eaten accidentally by lambs and if the lambs haven t been vaccinated the bacteria cankill them. Navel Infections Sometimes if lambs are born onto wet and muddy ground they can get an infection in their umbilical cord (the cord that attaches the ewe and the lamb before it is born). Make sure you spray their umbilical cord with iodine and alcohol mix until it is dried up. Bloat Bloat happens when bugs in the stomach produce too much gas. The lamb cannot get rid of this gas and so it gets a bloated stomach. Bloat is life threatening and if your lamb develops a swollen stomach and is not happy you need to get it to your VetEnt clinic as soon as possible. Bloat can be prevented by making your milk into yoghurt before your feed the lamb. To do this: 1) Make up 2 feeds worth of milk in a bucket with a lid (big enough that the milk only fills to half way) using warmer water than normal, but not boiling 2) Add a 1L container of unsweetened natural yoghurt to the bucket and mix in well 3) Put the bucket in the hot water cupboard for 6-12 hours, until the mixture thickens, the mixture can look like crusty cream cheese, bubbly milkshake, or thick yoghurt 4) When feeding the lamb/s, whisk the mixture and remove as much as the lamb needs. You can add a small amount of water if the yoghurt is too thick 5) Make up an equal volume of milk replacer to what you have removed and whisk it into the bucket. The mixture can be cleaned out and started again as needed. Scours There are a lot of reasons your lamb can get scours or diarrhoea. One comon reason is drinking too much milk. They can also get infections from licking and chewing dirty things. The most important thing to do is give them lots of fluids so they don t get dehydrated. If your lamb is due for a feed and it s not hungry, it is always a good idea to ask somebody to check it over, get your parents to call the VetEnt clinic. Not wanting to drink is the first sign of sickness.
Feeding Diary Your lamb needs to be fed milk regularly as it is growing every day and only has a small tummy to fill. Make sure your lamb also has lots of fresh clean water to drink and grass available as it gets older to nibble on, you can give it meal to help your lamb adapt to eating grass and to grow big and strong after 7 days old. Make sure your lamb doesn t drink too fast and gets bloated as this is bad for them, if you tip the bottle upside down and the milk drips out that is good, if it runs out very fast you need to get a new teat. You can get these from your VetEnt clinic. Get your Mum & Dad to help you mix the milk powder at a ratio of 200g/litre, below is a good guide to use when feeding your lamb milk replacer. Age of Lamb (days) Number of feeds per day Volume per feed (mls) Number of 40g scoops required per feed 1 day 6 100 colostrum 2-4 days 6 150 less than 1/2 5-7 days 4 250 1 1/4 8-21 days 4 350 1 3/4 21 day to weaning 2 500 2 1/2 Date Lamb age Number of feeds per day What is your Lamb eating? How much are you feeding your lamb?
Training Diary You will need to train your lamb to walk forward beside you, to turn, and to stop to get ready for pet day. Coming to your Call When teaching your pet lamb to come to you teach it with treats, each time you call it to come either give it is normal milk or give it another treat like bread or carrots and give it lots of pats. Leading Put a small dog collar on your lamb s neck (you can get these from the VetEnt clinic) and attach a dog lead. When you want your lamb to move forwards with you start walking and pull softly on the lead, when your lamb takes a step forward give it a treat. Repeat doing this until your lamb understands what you are trying to do. Stopping When you want to stop your lamb gently pull on the lead rope and remember to practice standing still as well. Make sure you don t yank on the lead too hard as this will scare your lamb and will hurt its neck. Tying Up You can also teach your lamb how to tie up. Just tie the lead around a post, when your lamb stands there quietly reward it with a treat or take it away for a walk or back to its pen. Be careful not to leave your lamb alone too long when tied up as it might get itself tangeled up in the lead rope. Keep it Fun Remember to keep training fun, praise and pat your lamb lots and give it treats when it does things right, keep training short so you both don t get tired and bored. Put a photo, or draw a picture of you leading your lamb here.
Training Diary Week 1: What have you called your lamb? Make sure it has had colostrum from its mother, if not you will either need to buy some or get from a dairy farmer. Before your lamb gets home, make sure you have a safe pen with shelter, clean water, fresh grass, milk and a bottle & teat. Week 2: Is your lamb feeding well? Put a collar on your lamb and start teaching it to lead for a short time after school each day. Make sure you pat it lots and brush it so it becomes your friend. Week 3: Can your lamb lead and tie up yet? Check its collar isn t too tight now it has grown - you can get new ones from the VetEnt clinic.
Training Diary Week 4: Are you leading your lamb everyday and walking in different patterns? Can you stand still with your lamb? Get Mum & Dad to come and pat your lamb and pretend to be the judge at pet day for you to practice. Week 5: Are you getting pretty good at leading now? Make sure you only brush your lamb or wash with water, don t ever use shampoo on your lamb as this will make its coat no longer waterproof. Week 6:
Week 7 & 8: Poisonous Plants to beware of! Rhododendrons Common garden plants with leathery green long leaves and large flowers in spring. Rhododendrons can grow into big bushes, animals like eating their leaves but get badly upset tummies (vomiting and diarrhea) and can die. Daphne Small shrubs with shiny bright green leaves and clusters of very sweet smelling pink or white flowers. Tutu A native bush with very shiny dark green leaves that grows on bush edges and sometimes on road sides. Every part of this plant (stems, berries, leaves) is VERY poisonous. Oleander Another garden plant with leathery dark green leaves and very pretty pink flowers. It grows into a large bush, you often see oleander planted in gardens at the beach. Animals that eat oleander die soon afterwards. Nightshade There are a few species of nightshade. These weeds are related to potatoes and look similar, they have bright orange or red berries which are very poisonous. The best idea to keep your lamb safe from eating poisonous plants is to make sure it can only eat grass in its paddock, make sure there are no other plants or bushes in there it can chew on, and don t let it loose in Mum s garden. Bailing Twine & Sileage Wrap Remember to also keep bailing twine or silage wrap away from your lamb, if you see any on your lamb s paddock fence or lying around where your lamb can chew it remove it immediately and throw it in the rubbish as this can choke your lamb. Tree, Hedge & Grass Clippings Make sure that your lamb s paddock has none of these in it and don t feed these to them, they are not good for them and may make your lamb sick.
VetEnt Clinics For emergencies and supplies contact your local clinic: North Island VetEnt Te Awamutu 49 Benson Rd P: 07 872 0240 VetEnt Otorohanga 18 Tuhoro St P: 07 873 8275 VetEnt Te Kuiti 6 Seddon St P: 07 878 0020 VetEnt Turangi 7 Tautahanga Rd P: 07 386 0220 VetEnt Gisborne 281 Gladstone Rd P: 06 868 5151 VetEnt King Country Turaki St P: 07 895 7585 Otago VetEnt Mosgiel 78 Gordon Road P: 03 489 4770 VetEnt Cromwell 6 Kawarau Gorge Road P: 03 445 1229 VetEnt Alexandra Clyde-Alexandra Highway P: 03 440 2277 VetEnt Aspiring 42c Anderson Road, Wanaka P: 03 443 7262 VetEnt Ranfurly Stuart Road P: 03 444 9615 VetEnt Queenstown 1092 Frankton Road P: 03 442 9977 Canterbury VetEnt Darfield 48 South Tce P: 03 318 8611 Riverside 1 Smallbone Dr, Ashburton P: 03 308 2321 VetEnt Rakaia 74 Elizabeth Ave P: 03 302 7931 VetEnt Lincoln 55 James St P: 03 325 2808 VetEnt Timaru 138 Hilton Highway P: 03 687 4445 VetEnt Ferrymead 2 Waterman Place P: 03 384 3070 VetEnt Leeston 65 Station St P: 03 324 3575 VetEnt Mayfield 1984 Arundel Rakaia Gorge Rd P: 03 303 6042 VetEnt Rangiora West 10 Oxford Road P: 03 313 5555