Bottle feeding lambs

[Jenny1997]

I am 19 weeks pregnant and my partner and I acquired 5 orphaned lambs yesterday, we are bottle feeding them and have 4 kept in a barn away from the house but 1 a little worse for wear is now in the house. Should I be feeding/handling them or is this putting me at risk?

No you shouldn't go near sheep or lambs during pregnancy due to the toxoplasmosis risk. I didn't follow many guidelines but I did stick to that one.

I'd steer well clear without expert advice. I know pregnant ewes are dangerous.

I think the risk is more from the sheep and lambing fluids themselves if toxo is present, rather than the lambs. As long as you practise good hand hygiene and are sensible just like pregnant people with cats have to do you should be ok. Are the lambs actually orphaned or are they spare/cade?

You can be tested to see if you already have immunity, you could ask for it to be added to the blood tests at your 20 week appointment.

They were triplets the farmer always gets rid of one to have better results with the two so not actually orphaned no. I've been feeding with gloves disinfecting regularly and washing clothes as soon as we get home?
I've my 20 week scan on Friday so was hoping for them to test then.
I had no contact with them while wet in afterbirth and no contact with any ewes

If the sheep has had healthy triplets then there is probably a lower risk that she has been carrying toxo as it causes abortion in sheep too.

It's very unlikely that you are going to get toxo if you carry on taking the precautions that you are. That's on top of it being unlikely anyway because you are handling dry lambs and not pregnant/lambing ewes.

I've spent my entire life around lambing sheep, with one or two toxo abortion storms during that time and I still haven't got immunity from it. thats not to say that it's not a very real risk, it is, however I believe there is quite a bit of risk from unwashed fruit and veg and that most of the transmission to humans in the U.K are via this route rather than from sheep/cats.

I think I'm going to take the risk just keep taking precautions to minanize it can't have poor lambs dying when they have a good chance of survival