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Lambing Management
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Introduction

Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) was

established in April 2003 and is the strategic body for the
promotion and development of the Welsh red meat industry.
Its mission is to develop profitable and sustainable markets
for the benefit of all stakeholders in the supply chain.

It brought together the red meat activities of three

organisations, namely the Meat and Livestock Commission
in Wales (MLC Cymru), Welsh Development Agency and
Welsh Lamb and Beef Promotions Ltd. Each organisation
was responsible for different aspects of red meat activity,
which have now been integrated into HCC’s work.

HCC is now the sole body for the promotion and

development of red meat in Wales.

This booklet forms part of a series of publications produced

by HCC’s Industry Development Team.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any

means without the prior written consent of the proprietor. Whilst all reasonable care
has been taken in the preparation, no warranty is given as to its accuracy, not liability
accepted for any loss or damage caused by reliance upon any statement in or
omission from this publication.

Technical content ©MLC 2004

Design ©Hybu Cig Cymru 2004
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Management at lambing for the grazing and housed ewe

This booklet summarises the latest methods of managing ewes at lambing. The
emphasis is on working with the ewe to maximise productivity, efficiency and welfare.
Recommendations are based on research into animal behaviour, nutrition and
discussions with farmers practising the systems described. Lambing practices vary
widely; this booklet will be a success if just a few of the ideas are taken up.

Invited author - Dr John Vipond, Beef and Sheep Services, Scottish Agricultural
College, Sir Stephen Watson Building, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0PH

John is the Senior Sheep Specialist with SAC at Edinburgh and has been active in
research, teaching and consultancy to the UK sheep industry for many years.

Lambing outdoors

Hill sheep have always lambed outside but now significant numbers of large lowland
flocks also lamb outside to save feed and labour costs. Hill flocks may have one
person to 1000 ewes or more lambing outside, lowland outdoor flocks average
around one person per 600 ewes lambing compared to one person per 250-350
lambing indoors. Studies in Ireland have shown that lambing outdoors reduces the
time spent on the component tasks associated with lambing to around 30%. Most
of the reduction in time being saved at feeding, strawing pens, working in individual
pens with lambs and also less time spent on supervision, as this is restricted to
daylight hours. For lowland farms, lambing outside has to be delayed until the grass
is growing strongly enough to support feed requirements.

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Following the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) it is likely flocks will
get larger and farmers will look to lambing outdoors for efficiency but concerns about
animal welfare must be also addressed. Therefore it is encouraging to find that on
the right systems, lamb mortality can actually be reduced compared to average
intensive indoor systems. Key points in achieving this are:

• The weather is good, (sheltered fields, lamb later)

• The right breeds are used -
Terminal sires leaving vigorous lambs at birth
Ewe breeds with easy care attributes
• The management system allows ewes to express natural behaviour.
Lambing outdoors is particularly beneficial to organic producers, reducing the
risk of watery mouth and need for antibiotics.

Better ewe and lamb bonding to reduce lamb mortality

The establishment of strong mother/offspring bonding, adequate shelter and good
supervision ensures high lamb survival rates in flocks lambing outdoors and
minimises workload and stress.

Survival of lambs outdoors is achieved by working with natural ewe and lamb
behaviour, so it is important to have lambs with a high ‘get up and go’ factor, much of
which is genetic. Lambs that are quickly on their feet and sucking have ‘full-belly
weather-proofing’ - a more important trait to breed for than a thick skin or woolly birth
coat, but one which pedigree breeders who generally lamb indoors have not
selected for. Farmers moving to outdoor lowland lambing need to reassess the
breeding objectives in terminal sires, insisting on strains within breeds that produce
lambs with the ‘get up and go’ factor. In this respect most outdoor lambing flocks
choose Texel and Charollais sires over the Suffolk although it must be stressed that
there is more variation within breeds than between them, studies in Ireland
concluded all the genotypes they studied including Suffolk X Cheviots were
suitable for outdoor lambing.

More lambs die through poor ewe to lamb bonding than lambing difficulty. Greater
attention paid to improving maternal bonding will have a better pay off than time
spent attending to lambing ewes. Ewes with good maternal behaviour stay with
lambs and lick them vigorously making low rumbling noises. Good lamb behaviour is
vigorous udder seeking activity.
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Research into causes of lambing difficulty

Whether an ewe needs help at lambing is mainly due to the lamb(s) she is carrying,
however first parity animals are often assisted - often not because they actually need
more help but because things just progress slower. The graph below shows the
variation in percentage of ewes requiring assistance depending on the sire of the
lambs they were carrying. Within a breed the sire of the lamb had an important
influence on whether his offspring needed to be assisted, unrelated to the average
birth weight of his lambs. Sire effects on lambing difficulty work through the shape of
the lamb and effects of placental development on lamb vigour at birth. When lambing
ewes it’s more a case of assisting lambs to be born than assisting ewes to lamb.

Average % assistance needed by lambs from different sires

60 Blackface
Suffolk
50
% lambs assisted

40

30

20

10

0 Bl1 Bl2 Bl3 Bl4 Bl5 Bl6 Bl7 Bl8 Bl9 Bl10 Bl11 Bl12Bl13 Bl14 Bl15 Su1 Su2 Su3 Su4 Su5 Su6 Su7 Su8 Su9

Sire Identities

Similar variation between sires in time taken for lambs to stand and suck have been
found. Closed flocks lambing naturally outside that select rams that have not
received help at lambing make faster progress in reducing the need for intervention
at lambing than flocks buying in rams where the intervention at lambing may be high.

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Ewe and lamb behaviour before and after parturition

The majority of ewes actively seek isolation for lambing. It is felt important that the
ewe knows the lambing area and where the isolated parts are. Access should be 14
days before lambing; a longer period than this is fine and saves winter-feed costs.
The advantages of isolation to the ewe include less interference from other ewes
close to lambing that will try to steal lambs or, if they have lambed, may attack
‘foreign’ lambs. The advantage to the lamb, is that it is less likely to bond to a foreign
ewe since, after birth, it will seek the nearest moving object.

Isolation aids bonding, the chosen birth site gets soaked in amniotic fluid and helps
the ewe identify its lamb/s by smell. This effect is transient as the ewe and offspring
soon learn to recognise each other’s bleats. On some fields ewes and lambs will
remain on the birth site for a long time and it is thought leaving them there may
ensure even better bonding. On other fields, which have, a limited number of
preferred birth sites, ewes move off the area after lambing. Ewes lambing outside
are less confused by human scent contamination due to handling, or disinfectants
etc. and may therefore bond better to lambs as a result. This improves lamb
performance allowing triplet ewes with sufficient milk to rear their lambs.

Choice of site
Lambing fields should be chosen with natural isolation sites provided by rushes,
nettles, bushes and odd corners, these are preferred by ewes and are more
sheltered. Lambing ewes often ignore artificial shelters. Ewes seek natural shelter
before lambing, particularly if wind speed is over 11 km/hour. The lambing fields
should ideally be sheltered from several wind directions well drained and where
possible well rested from grazing, with a sward height of 6-8 cm. at turnout. This will
give a reserve of around 2 weeks grass if, in the event of cold weather, there is
minimal grass growth. During lambing a sward height of 4 cm. is adequate as grass
intake is low pre-lambing and excess grass increases the incidents of prolapse and
difficult lambing, however, at sward heights below 3-4 cm and in bad weather ewes
will need supplementation. Most outdoor lambers prefer to avoid this at all costs as
it causes mismothering and disturbs the birth process creating more work. Lambing
date in relation to grass supply is critical. Roots spread on the field are useful
grazing supplements.
Close proximity to buildings or handling pens is an advantage for dealing with ewes
carrying singles or triplets. Ewes scanned with twins and triplets should create the
least lambing problems and can lamb on more remote fields.
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Management

Ewes can be visited every 3-4 hours by ATV for observation during daylight hours.
Only those ewes having difficulty (after 2 hours) should be caught and lambed. If
cross-fostering or other attention is needed and the weather is good, ewes can be
temporarily tethered or put in a field pen made from hurdles. Alternatively they can
be transported back to individual pens inside if weather is bad, or where a specific
cross-fostering unit has been established.

Installing bike ramps is cost effective in time and labour when lambing large flocks
outdoors

Over the lambing period lambs from the same litter are given a common mark to help
avoid mix-ups – particularly important at the last visit before nightfall to avoid
problems in the morning. Numbering the ewe is not necessary. If things are not too
busy, and weather is good, lambs can be caught, castrated and tailed if they have a
full belly. In busy times and in bad weather castration or tailing may be temporarily
suspended. Management tasks at lambing include dipping navels, checking udders
and teats, suckling weak lambs, cross fostering or removal of ewes to individual pens
indoors for handling other problems, e.g. ewes with prolapse/milk fever/staggers or
pregnancy toxaemia. Lambs are normally tagged later on leaving the farm. A few
strategically placed field pens can be very useful to put ewes having difficulties in.
Light sheep hurdles can be kept in the lambing field or on an ATV trailer, alternatively

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flighty ewes may be caught and tied to a fence with a halter allowing sufficient room
for her to react naturally with her lamb.
Generally triplets should be left with their mother unless a lamb is needed for
fostering. Triplet lambs can be removed from the ewe after two to three days, by
which time they will have received colostrum and can be fostered onto singles (wet
foster) or onto a ewe which has lost one of a pair (skinned lamb foster).

Extra contract shepherds may be brought in for peak lambing periods (first 3 weeks).
Once this is over the unlambed ewes can be drifted out into handy fields for attention.

Easy care

The degree of routine handling required for ewes varies with the easy care attributes
of the ewe, where this is moderate e.g., with terminal sire cross ewes, outdoor
lambing of ewes may be restricted to those fit ewes scanned as carrying twins only.
Troublesome ewes such as maiden gimmers, ewe hoggets, broken mouthed/thin
ewes, triplet bearing ewes and single bearing ewes may be either housed
(particularly hoggets/single bearing ewes needing cross fostering) or run outside
(particularly broken mouthed ewes/ewes carrying triplets). In both cases they should
receive the best pasture/most shelter, but concentrate feeding is not usually needed
for flocks lambing on grass.

Any breed of sheep can develop easy care traits for lambing, e.g., Lleyn. Culling
heavily for at least 5 years by removing ewes that have to be handled for any reason
and breeding replacements using rams similarly reared is effective but at current ewe
values this is expensive. Many farmers prefer the simplicity of buying in replacements.
Most crossbreds out of hill ewes are sufficiently easy care for one man to handle
600 ewes provided the right terminal sires are used. Specific breeds with easy care
where one man can lamb 1000+ ewes include the New Zealand Romney and the
Easycare, which also does not require shearing.

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Specialist easy care breeds requiring less labour input

Viewfield Romney
• Uses NZ genetics
• Suits lowland /upland farms
• Heavy wool yields (4-5kg)
• Lambing assistance not routinely needed
• 75Kg ewes , lambs 19 Kg off grass
• Scanning % 160 –175%
• Bred by Marcus Maxwell, Viewfield,
New Galloway Castle Douglas. Viewfield Romney
01644420328
http://www.romneysheep.co.uk

Easycare
• Derived from the Wiltshire horn
• Suits upland / hill farms
• No shearing required
• Selected for 30 yrs on easy care traits
Easycare • 60 kg ewes
• Scanning % 160-175%
• Easycare sheep society Sec Iolo Owen
Glantraeth Bordorgan Anglesey.
01407840250
http://www.ateal.co.uk/easycare

Integration of buildings

If possible, choose fresh fields for lambing each year, but this is not essential.
Consider dividing very large fields (over 15-20 hectares) into two, using one half for
the first three weeks of lambing and the other half for later lambing ewes. This will
minimise the risk of infection of later born lambs contacting bugs that have built up
over the lambing period.

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Many farmers lambing ewes outside prefer not to use buildings at all because of the
extra work associated with them, however on some farms it can be advantageous to
have a building where ewes with singles are housed overnight. By housing the
singles over night this helps reduce the incidence of hung lambs and the shepherd
doing a nightshift can be kept busy cross fostering lambs lifted from triplet lambs
during the day onto ewes lambing during the night.

Crossfostering

Typically this would be done as a wet foster, i.e. the foster lamb is soaked in water
and then rubbed on the fluids and placenta of the new born lamb before both lambs
are introduced to the newly lambed ewe for licking. The ewe’s maternal responses
are triggered by release of oxytocin in the brain although undernutrition or a prolonged
labour can reduce this. When fostering lambs cervical dilation with a gloved hand
encourages release of oxytocin in the brain and aids lamb acceptance. This only
works well if the ewe has given birth herself within a day or 2 of the attempted foster,
since maternal behaviour is dependent not only on oxytocin but also relative levels of
oestradiol and progesterone and these fall rapidly after birth. It works best 6 hours or
so after birth, as the cervix will have contracted by then and is easy to stretch.

Stocking rate at lambing

The lambing system adopted by an individual sheep producer will depend on farm
circumstances. Setting an initial stocking rate (fixed number of ewes per field) has
become the most widely practised method. Drift lambing is used less, although within a
set stocked system many farmers will drift unlambed ewes out of the lambing group after
half the ewes have lambed. This makes ewes left to lamb easier and more quickly seen.

Stocking rates of about 11-15 ewes + multiples/ha are typical with a sward height of
6 cm at turnout (pasture not grazed since January). With higher stocking rates than
this mismothering is more likely, but singles have been stocked at up to 35-40/ha to
keep swards short and reduce birthweight and hence lambing difficulty. Wet weather
causing high concentration in sheltered areas can increase mismothering. Ewes should
not be separated on basis of lambing date as indicated by raddle marks as this increases
mismothering with too many lambing at the same time. However if ewes are scanned
they can be separated on the basis of expected litter size and potential management
problems, with the singles and first parity ewes being handled separately.

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Problems: lambing difficulty/losses /predation

The major difficulty reported has been oversize lambs creating birth difficulty. For
those flocks practising lambing after turnout in early/mid April, most ewes have about
four weeks on grass before lambing, and can put on condition during this time before
they lamb. If they start at Condition Score 22 they end up as 3 or more and this
leads to lambing problems. Ewes are better turned out in Condition Score 2 when
they have four weeks grass before lambing. Another major problem with outdoor
lambing can be severe weather, where possible ewes should be housed overnight
without feeding. Fox predation can be a local issue, but is no worse than in other
systems and 5 wire electric boundary fences are useful. Outdoor lambed sheep are
more likely to face worm and fluke challenge, which should be monitored using
faecal egg counts.

Advantages of outdoor set stock lambing

Advantages
1. Maximum numbers of ewes to be maintained per shepherd. In good weather
with easy care ewes, low mortality rates.
2. Lower costs due to reduced need for facilities e.g., pens/transport/housing and
lower costs for feed, lambing requisites /antibiotics etc.
3. Most suitable where lambing percentage is around 175% with ewes having
easy care attributes.

Disadvantages
1. Needs sheltered paddocks.
2. Requires skilled personnel
3. Lambs born later, finish later and may miss best market or require specialised
finishing crop, lower scanning % - can be up to 20% lower owing to later
mating under worse feed and weather conditions.
4. In drier areas lambs can run out of grass before they are finished

Management of the housed ewe

Many ewes are housed at lambing; this provides shelter for the shepherd, a rest from
grazing for the pasture and reduces time spent travelling around the sheep. It rarely

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reduces lamb mortality to the target of 5-10% of lambs born – lambs in houses still
get hypothermia as sheep sheds need to be well ventilated and lambs are more likely
to get infectious diseases when housed. By lambing time sheep houses are usually
heavily stocked, as room has to be found for all the individual lamb pens (1 pen per
8-10 ewes lambing). This heavy stocking rate makes it harder to keep bedding dry
particularly where the silage is the forage used. Wet bedding leads to build up of E.
Coli bacteria and increased problems with coccidiosis and foot problems after turnout.

Essential to indoor lambing is planning – sufficient initial space is needed and all the
necessary equipment has to be on hand. Good husbandry skills to help ewes with
lambing problems and patience to get lambs to suck are a priority. Mechanised
moving of sheep from the lambing shed to the field reduces stress and labour.

Management

Typically for indoor lambing, ewes are drawn as they lamb into individual pens where
delivery is assisted in up to 50% of the ewes (on many farms this is usually so that
jobs can be got on with rather than from necessity). Individual pens must be easily
accessed from the lambing shed area. Following isolation in individual pens, and
having sucked, lambs are tailed and castrated. They are then moved to group pens
for 2-3 days containing 10-20 ewes plus their lambs before going out to their
summer grazing area. Problems arise when bad weather stops lambs being moved
outside and when communications between staff break down on the larger farms. A
simple chronological record of progress of lambs in individual pens helps e.g.,
moving a rotating disc nailed to the pen front so the number uppermost indicates
progress with a code of:

1. One navel – treated with strong iodine solution

2. Two teats - checked for colostrum
3. Three square meals – lambs have sucked successfully
4. Four legs ready to travel -tailed, castrated, navel checked and not hypothermic.

Benchmarking
Benchmarking provides a useful means of highlighting where your flock performance
is good or where action needs to be taken to improve results.
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Very few losses of lambs should occur in healthy housed flocks between scanning
and lambing. Typically losses during this period will result in an abortion or mummified
foetus visible at lambing and losses should be within the error margin of the scanner
(1-2%). Where ewes have contact with an abortion-causing agent, most likely to be
enzootic abortion or toxoplasmosis, or possibly bacterial diseases such as
salmonella/campylobacter or listeriosis, then abortion rates can vary from 5-30%.

Ewe deaths between tupping and lambing should be confined to the odd incidence
of pneumonia and the total should be under 2%. Most ewes deaths that occur close
to lambing are due to metabolic problems associated with lambing –
hypomagnesaemia (staggers), pregnancy toxaemia (twin lamb disease) or
hypocalcaemia (milk fever). Some ewes are also lost during the birth process. In a
good year losses totalling fewer than 2% can be achieved around lambing. Higher
levels than this can occur in flocks of draft ewes. Where long-term illnesses are
present in the flock, such as Jaagsiekte or Johne’s disease or, less commonly, Maedi
Visna, then the overall ewe death rate will be well over 5%.

Benchmarking shows a clear relationship between gross margin and reproductive

performance in lowland flocks.

Recorded lowland flocks

-mainly Mules crossed to terminal sires (average flock size 600 ewes)

Per 100 ewes to the ram

Ranked in gross margin/ha Top third Average Bottom third

Barren 3 5 3
Ewes died 5 6 7
Ewes lambed 94 92 95
Lambs scanned 196 184 182
Lambs reared 163 149 150
% lambs survived
from scanning to rearing 83 81 82
Total lamb losses were higher in lowland flocks than upland ones as more ewes carried
twins and triplets. Losses of lambs during the critical period during and immediately
after birth are inevitable, very few farmers being able to keep this at less than 10
lambs/100 ewes to the ram. Ewe nutrition has a big effect on how heavy lambs are
at birth and the availability of colostrum. Target birth weights for terminal sire
crossed lambs out of crossbred ewes are: singles 5 kg, twins 4 kg and triplets 3kg.

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Underfed ewes will have lambs half a kilo lighter. Overfeeding can also cause
problems due to oversize lambs often seen towards the end of lambing with birth
weights 0.5 kg higher than normal.

It is a good idea to monitor lamb deaths around the lambing period using a diary or
calendar. Simply record lambs as they go into the dead pile as marked (numbers on
the side indicate that the lamb was a potential live lamb) or unmarked (lambs that
really never got to their feet). This helps in later analysis to identify problems that
were weather related (clusters of marked lambs over a period of bad weather) or due
to management/disease problems.

Exposure and starvation

Exposure and starvation are the biggest causes of neonatal lamb loss. Hypothermia
(chilling due to exposure) occurs when the newborn lamb loses heat more quickly
than it can produce it, even though energy reserves are present. The unlicked lamb in
a blizzard is the extreme example.

Hypothermia due to starvation (hypoglycaemia - shortage of blood glucose) occurs

in lambs over 12 hours of age where reserves have been used up and have not been
renewed from colostrum. This happens after mismothering even in good weather,
although bad weather conditions will hasten the lamb’s death. It is vital that the lamb
receives colostrum within the first two hours of birth if starvation is to be prevented. It
is both a rich source of food, in particular energy, and a source of antibodies
protecting the lamb from disease.

Where there is doubt about whether a lamb has sucked or how much it has taken,
colostrum should be given by stomach tube. Lambs showing signs of diarrhoea or
watery mouth cannot digest milk or colostrum and should be fed electrolyte
replacement solution containing 10% glucose by stomach tube.

A stomach tube is less useful with older severely chilled (hypothermic and
hypoglycaemic) lambs. These lambs are often weak or semi-conscious and can not
raise their heads. Unless used with care and experience the tube can be passed into
the windpipe and the animal drowned. Even if the feed is successfully placed in the
stomach, absorption of the milk is very slow (glucose is faster) and there is a risk of
regurgitation and inhalation of the feed into the lungs. Such lambs with a temperature
below 37oC can be revived by use of intraperitoneal glucose.

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Yoghurt - health food for lambs

Adequate colostrum intake is vital for the health and survival of newborn lambs. As a
general rule lambs born inside require 230-240 ml/kg body weight, and lambs born
outside require 280 ml/kg (divided between several feeds) during the first 24 hours
of life. Colostrum intake boosts the lamb’s ability to generate heat by 40%, provides
antibody protection both locally within the gut and systemically within the blood, and
acts as a laxative helping to expel meconium (the first dark brown dung), the
retention of which has been associated with watery mouth.

Colostrum requirements of lambs

Size of lamb Example rearing type Colostrum Requirement
Large lamb Average single (5kg) 250 ml/feed 3 x daily
Medium lamb Average twin (4kg) 200 ml/feed 3 x daily
Small lamb Average triplet (3kg) 100 ml/feed 4 x daily

The bacterium, which causes watery mouth (E.coli), is a common inhabitant of the
sheep’s environment and numbers build up over the lambing period. Newborn lambs
inevitably ingest E.coli but adequate colostrum intake can help prevent their
establishment by acidifying the stomach contents. The risk of enteric disease is
increased where colostrum intake is inadequate and lambs ingesting large numbers
of bacteria may appear depressed and/or bloated at 2-3 days of age. Around 30 ml
of natural yogurt, given by stomach tube at 24hrs of age is beneficial in helping to
acidify the lambs stomach contents and thereby preventing/treating these symptoms.

Avoiding watery mouth due to wet bedding

Watery mouth often builds up towards the end of lambing when routine treatment of
all lambs with antibiotic may be needed. In very good weather ewes with twins and
triplets are best turned out as soon as possible as individual pens are often a source
of infection. Outside pens with top, back and side protection from the weather may
be warmer than pens erected indoors, which are often draughty and poorly drained.
Farmers are often recommended to avoid the re-use of pens where lambs have died
or scoured, at least until the pen has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, but
cleaning and strawing individual pens is time consuming and there are alternatives to
straw. Fine pine shavings have much better water absorption properties and can be
bought for around £5 plus delivery for a 20-kg pre-pack. Used as an alternative to
straw in individual pens, usage is about 1.5 kg (37p) per ewe. Over the lambing
period a shavings /dung build-up of around an inch per week is normal.
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Shavings at £250/t may look expensive but savings appear justified:

• Dry bedding
• Saving antibiotic cost for scours Potential saving 25p/lamb
• No cleaning out of pen needed 5p/lamb
• Time saved administrating antibiotic 5p/lamb
• Reduced lamb mortality Up to 50p/lamb

Management involves removal of afterbirths from the pen after each lambing, the ewe
remaining in the pen for around 24 hours. After each ewe is removed, three large handfuls
of shavings are spread on the floor to give a dry surface. Ewes need access to water in
pails fixed to pen sides in the pen and concentrate feed from a hopper (beet pulp nuts).
On some farms using this method no prophylactic antibiotics have been needed. An
alternative to wet disinfectant usage for individual pens is to use Stalosan F powder.

Procedure for reviving chilled lambs

Temperature Age of animal Treatment
37-39ºC
(99% - 102ºF) Any age Dry the lamb
Feed by stomach tub
Give shelter with ewe
and other lambs.
Below 37ºC (99ºF) 0-5 hours Dry the lamb
Warm lamb until temperature
returns to 37ºC.
Feed by stomach tube
Return to the ewe or
transfer to the weak lamb unit
Below 37ºC (99ºF) More than 5 hours and Dry the lamb
able to hold up it’s head Feed by stomach tube
Warm until temperature
returns to 37ºC
Return to the ewe or
transfer to the weak lamb unit.
Below 37ºC (99ºF) More than 5 hours and Dry the lamb
not able to hold its head up Give intraperitoneal injection
of glucose
Warm lamb until temperature
returns to 37°C
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Notes on table:
1. Transport:
If treatment of the lamb has to be delayed, e.g. for reasons of distance, it may be
wrapped in tinfoil to reduce heat loss.

2. Drying:
Drying speeds up warming by reducing heat loss. It also ensures that the lamb will
come to no harm in the warmer.

3. Feeding:
Ensure that the lamb gets a feed of ewe’s or cow’s colostrum at least three times a
day if it cannot be returned to the ewe, in quantities as described earlier. This should
be given by stomach tube attached to a 50ml hypodermic syringe. Ewe milk replacer
may be used if necessary for lambs over 2 days of age. Lambs being tube fed for an
extended period are more susceptible to gastro-intestinal infections, especially if
colostrum has been given too late or in insufficient quantity. Administration of oral
antibiotics to the lamb may help to reduce the risk - ask your veterinary surgeon’s advice.

4. Mothering:
If the lamb is one of twins or triplets remove the other lamb or lambs from the ewe at
the same time. The pair or trio should then be mixed thoroughly for a time to re-
establish smell before going back to the ewe.

5. Lamb warmer:
Lambs are warmed in a chamber maintained at 35-40°C. The lamb should be left in
the warmer until its temperature reaches 37°C. The warmer temperature must not
exceed 40°C. Dry the lamb before placing in the warmer; otherwise evaporation of
water will cause further chilling.

6. Glucose injection:
Starved lambs over 5 hours of age can have very low blood glucose levels and may
develop fit-like behaviour and die during warming. The most effective way of raising
blood glucose is to inject glucose solution into the abdomen, i.e. an intraperitoneal
injection. Your veterinary surgeon will show you how to do this simply and safely.
Glucose solution is supplied at a strength of 40% and has to be diluted 50:50 with
recently boiled water to obtain the required 20% solution. This procedure
conveniently produces a solution for injection at approximately the correct
temperature (blood heat ~ 39°C). As there is a risk of introducing infection when
giving the glucose injection, the injection site should be pre-sterilised with strong

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iodine solution and an injection of long-acting antibiotic given at the same time -
consult your veterinary surgeon on this matter. If a glucose injection is not possible,
some benefit may be derived from feeding the lamb by stomach tube provided it is
not too weak. However, it is more difficult for such lambs to recover.

Aftercare

Lambs should be returned to their dams as soon as possible after warming, but it is
essential to ensure the link is strong before turning out. The lambs must be well fed -
if in doubt about its welfare check its temperature.

If a lamb cannot be quickly returned to a ewe, perhaps because it is weak, it should

be isolated in an individual cardboard box lined with newspaper and under an infra-
red lamp suspended at a height of about 1-2m (4ft). After use, the box and
newspapers should be burned. The lamb should be fed at regular intervals by
stomach tube until returned to a ewe.

Further information

Please contact HCC’s Industry Development Team

Tel: 01970 625050 or email: enquiries@hccmpw.org.uk

For further information on this brochure or the work of HCC please visit
www.hccmpw.org.uk

16 Lambing Management