# Some questions about lambars?



## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

So instead of hand bottle feeding our kids next year I'm thinking of getting a lambar. I'm guessing you have to individually feed them up to a week old so they get the hang of it and are strong enough to get in there? Do any of you guys use lambars? Thanks!


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I bought one one year cause I had like 8+ bottle kids at the time...thought it would be easier using one. It didn't work very well at all. I had just a couple kids figure it out, the rest couldn't figure out if they just keep sucking long enough the milk will come. I tried filling it up to the top so the milk would be easier to come through the tube, but it really didn't seem to work and I ended up wasting a lot of milk. 

I also don't really like it because some kids will figure it out and drink to their hearts desire when really they should get a certain amount per feeding and if you have a number of kids on the lambar you can't really tell how much each kid is getting. Some kids don't pick it up as well and won't get what they need.

Another issue I have with it is cleaning...it needs to be cleaned every feeding and there are a lot of little places that take awhile to get completely cleaned. Much harder than just rinsing out a bottle and nipple.

I think the lambar may be better for larger breed kids because they can reach the nipples a little better and suck harder than the nigerians. All in all, I rather just do individual bottle feedings. It didn't work very well for me.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

my thoughts and experiences are exactly as stated above


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I have not used a Lambar feeder but when I worked on my aunts farm we used these. My job was to take care of the kids and when you have thousands of kids to feed you need something that works. It does not have the long tubes like the other so they don't have to suck as long to get milk. The only real problem I noticed was the nipple holes wore out fairly quickly and started leaking so if you could make your own and use the Lambar nipples with shorter tubes you would have a nearly perfect product. The kids are put on it after about a day of bottle feeding for colostrum proposes. Most took pretty much instantly but seeing as we fed only twice a day they were pretty hungry. As stated above it also does not let you know how much each is getting so you really gotta watch bellies and make sure they are full and supplement by hand in an as needed basis.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

I believe that the picture is a lambar  Atleast that was what I thought it was :shrug: Thanks gals for the advice


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

i would call that a lambar also but the confusion here may be that there is an actual 'lambar' brand. for all intents and purposes i call any multi kid feeder such as the one pictured a lambar.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

The one xymenah posted is the kind of lambar I had in mind.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

That one may work better than the other kind http://www.jefferslivestock.com/lambar-feeding-outfit/camid/LIV/cp/16743/ the kind xymenah posted seams like it is gravity fed so the kids don't have to wait sucking for the supply to come. 
I haven't used either.

I am thinking that you could also make some sort of rack that holds multiple bottles. More cleaning but you could monitor them drinking and making sure each kid stays at the same bottle know how much was consumed by each.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

yes I agree the gravity fed ones are much much better. 

I also agree regarding the bottle rack. My preference when feeding a large group of kids or lambs is bottles either hand held or in a bottle rack. To make it easier to manage, keep them in pens of small groups (I have learnt to hold six bottles at a time so I will sometimes keep them in groups of up to six) OR if you keep them in a larger group have a collar on each, and clip them to the fence for bottle time - just like you would when feeding adults. Teaches them to learn to tie from a young age. 

I have maintained up to about 40 lambs/kids on individual bottles, each bottle is named so I know how much each individual is drinking and quickly spot problems. But as mentioned earlier for larger groups the only feasible thing would be to do the lambar/group feeding. You can also just have them drink from buckets/troughs (easier to clean) for big groups - some people prefer them to suck. Another option would be the floating teats in an open trough - again easier to clean but they still suck. I would like to try feeding cold milk free choice/ad lib from a lambar but havent a big enough number to really try it. I've heard good things about it.


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## SkyesRanch (Nov 11, 2010)

Who needs a lambar when you can get this.... http://www.hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/NU ... EEDER.html


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Oh my goodness...now that is one spendy little feeder!


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

I didnt look at the recent link that closely (I've had too much bourban today - celebrating a belated new years) but they make automatic feeders for calves and I always figured that if I went into dairying in a commercial way ie. hundreds or thousands of kids I'd invest in several of these. The calf ones have a teat and the are able to work off electronic ear tags. So you tag the calves, when they step into the feeder it reads their electronic tag and you can program each individual calf with how much milk it is allowed to drink per day, per feeding etc. It will mix fresh milk powder or warm whole milk and deliver the correct amount for that individual calf. It can also give you read outs of how much each has drunk. I think they are about $AU 18 K for the calf ones, I always wondered if they made lamb/kid ones or if you could adapt it for a smaller teat. They really are great machines, pricey but I reckon they would be well worth it.


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

I LOVE my multi-kid feeders! They really make things much easier when feeding large numbers of kids. My set-up is a graduated one that I have worked out through trial and error.

For the first 2 to 3 weeks I leave the babies with their momma because my work schedule makes it difficult for me to do more than 2 feedings per day and they really need smaller, more frequent feedings in the beginning. Now I know another breeder who very successfully uses a multi-feeder/cooler set up to raise kids from birth so that can work too.

At about 3 weeks I pull the kids and hand-bottle feed for a few days to get them used to the bottle nipples. I then graduate them to the pritchard teat bucket which is the same teat I use for the bottles. By the time I do this, they have usually figured out that the red pritchard teat is FOOD and they take to the bucket with no problem. The issue with that bucket is that the gravity-fed system leaks badly and wastes milk, plus it can only feed 6 kids at a time. Sooo...

When they have that bucket totally figured out, I switch to the larger multi-kid feeder from Hoegger that has the larger nipples with tubes. No leaking, can hold much more milk, and can feed 10 kids at once. Plus it comes with its own stand that I have welded to a tire rim so I can put it in and not worry about them knocking it over.

I have raised all my nigerian kids this way for a while with great results. They catch on quickly, grow well, and are just as tame as the ones I bottle raised individually.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks guys  We are going to get one when the kids start arriving. I think they will be worth as it would save so much time. I'm still going to hand bottle feed them for the first week so they can get nice and strong before moving them out to the lambar. And that way they don't have to be in the house after the first week :leap: :leap: :leap: This is the one I was thinking about since the nipples are smaller.http://www.hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/Th ... eeder.html


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

We have one of those pritchard teat buckets. They are easy to train them to use, but they do have the drawback of leaking. When it arrives, you need to use a hot glue gun to squirt glue into the vent holes on each of the teats, that helps with the leaking. The more milk you put in the worse it will drip. I usually wait to put the milk in until I am out at the kid pen rather than filling it in the house and then walking it outside. Once the kids start drinking you don't have to worry about leaking.

The other one that Hoegger carries with the grey nipples and hoses is what we use when the kids get a little older. It is a little harder for them to learn but once they do it works great because no leaks and it can hold a lot of milk and feed more kids at a time.

A friend of ours built her own feeder using a large cooler. She drilled holes in one side, put in the grey lambar nipples with hoses going down inside. She fills it with milk and throws in a couple of freezer packs to keep the milk cool. She sits it outside the kid pen with the nipples poking through the fence and her kids eat free choice through the day.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

cyanne, if you dont mind me asking, what age does your friend put her kids onto the free choice cold milk?

I am curious to try this system; if I can get it working for me it would be great as I am really only able to feed bottles twice a day at the moment due to work, I was going to look to pay someone to feed during the day.


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

She starts them from day one with bottles using the same nipples that are on the feeder, then she puts them in the kid pen with the other kids that are already using the feeder. After a few days they have it figured out enough that she can stop giving hand bottles and just fills the cooler twice a day. 

She doesn't always use ice packs, either. Only if it is hot outside. Seems to be working really well for her, and she's no new-comer, either, this is one of the show herds in our area who does pretty darn well in the show-ring...even up against the likes of Twin Creeks, Piddlin Acres, Lost Valley, etc.

I have been thinking of trying her system if I ever get a really large batch of kids. Right now, my own system works pretty well, but it is a bit of a hassle training and re-training kids to use the different buckets. It would probably be easier if I used the lambar nipples on their first bottles instead of the pritchard teats. Then there would be no learning curve jumping from the one type of nipple to the other.


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