Catheter Tip Syringes
Use to stomach tube weak lambs and kids. You will also need a stomach tube to tube feed a lamb. Using the 140cc syringe is our choice because it's so much easier to milk into the large syringe.
Syringes can be used as a drencher as well.
Instructions/Diagrams:
Stomach Tuber Instructions 
Specs
140cc Syringe
- 8.25" long, 1.75" diameter
- Catheter tip
- Marked up to 5 oz
- Marked with a line (every 10 mL) from 1-140 mL and in numbers from 10-140 mL
- Brands vary
60cc Syringe
- 7.25" long, 1.25" diameter
- Catheter tip
- Marked up to 2 oz
- Marked with a line (every 5 mL) from 1-60 mL and in numbers from 5-60 mL
- Brands vary
How to Use
- Be very careful to gently extend the animal's chin so that its neck is straight before carefully inserting the stomach tube. If the light is good you can visually observe the bulge of the tube sliding down the neck. In bad light, we use our fingers to feel its presence. If you can neither feel nor see the tube, it may well be in the animal's hard hollow trachea and thus the lungs. Be cautious of this. If the tube enters the lungs instead of the stomach, pneumonia and starvation could result.
- Pull the tube out gently and restart it. The chance of wrongly inserting the tube is not as great as it may appear. Simply be sure that the tube is inserted in a straight line from the animal's mouth to its stomach.
- Continue to pass the tube into the stomach. The usual distance is 11 or 12 inches. You cannot pass the tube too far, but it is very important to pass the tube far enough. If it is in the correct position you will hear a gurgling sound through the empty syringe.
- Should the solution not run, the cause could be an airlock or possibly with older animals, the teeth could be clamped on the upper part of the tube. If an airlock occurs, slide tube in and out about 1/2 inch.
- Do not ram the milk into the stomach. We usually do not actually insert the plunger unless using thick colostrum which will not flow on its own. If the plunger is used, gently push the milk into the animals stomach.
Shepherd’s Choice® Management Tip
On many farms during lambing time, one tube gets used over and over again without being cleaned or disinfected. Lambs that are being treated for scours or pneumonia should not be tube fed with a common tube. If you tube feed a sick lamb with a tube, wash it, disinfect it and let it dry before using it again. Keep plenty of tubes on hand.Also see Stomach Tuber Instructions above.
Tips
Precautions
Clear plastic tubes are a little easier to insert because they’re less flexible. However, when it’s cold (Midwest USA cold), plastic tubes are stiff and may cause injury during insertion (a greater concern with goat kids). Red rubber tubes are the most flexible.
Producers should NOT tube lambs that cannot hold their heads upright. In most cases these are hypothermic lambs. They need glucose (IP) and warming first. Once the animal has been revived and can hold its head up, then you can use the various stomach tube devices to deliver nourishment.
Read all warnings and cautions on label. For livestock use only.
Listed below are recommended optional components or related items. Your particular situation may require alternative recommendations. Please call and talk to our consultants if there are any questions at 800-282-6631.
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Equipment
Red Rubber Tube, 6.0mm dia
Item #553200 -A safe, easy method for feeding weak lambs and goat kids. Attach to syringe to dispense milk or colostrum.
$1.75 -
Equipment
Clear Plastic Tube, 6.0mm dia
Item #553400 -A safe, easy method for feeding weak lambs and goat kids. Attach to syringe to dispense milk or colostrum.
$1.75
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Carol H from Colorado
This is a must have for lambing and kidding. Big enough to milk into and then tube a couple of lambs or kids in the barn. My problem is they don't last the whole season. The rubber gets stiff and won't slide easily. Makes tubing impossible - so I replace them once they get like that. Have tried spraying pam on it or putting butter on the rubber. Helps a little, but they still get stiff after a while. Can't live without these!
