Spring Lambing Checklist

With many mid-way through lambing season and others just about to start we’ve put together a few tips that will have you more than prepared.

 

Assemble your team

It is vital that you have a sufficient amount of labour in relation to the amount of ewes you will be lambing. Brief your team in advance of the season and make sure that everybody is aware of their roles and responsibilities. This way breakdowns in communication can be avoided and the whole process should be able to run more efficiently. Have emergency contacts available to everybody.

 

Keep Record

By keeping track of incidents during lambing it ensures smooth shift changing between the team. It also highlights where you can improve your process for the future. Try to keep track of the amount of lambs that were born and the amount of ewes that did not lamb or had to abort, and take notes of causes of deaths.

 

Prepare housing/equipment

Ensure all areas that will be involved in the lambing process are properly cleaned and disinfected. Your shed should be properly ventilated but make sure there isn’t a draught.

Leave plenty of pen space for your ewes and have feed, water and bedding accessible in each pen. Keep lambs or ewes that need treatment separate to the main lambing area in an intensive care unit.

Stock up on lambing equipment, and make sure it is all clean. Replace disposable gloves regularly. Keeping plenty of colostrum in reserve will greatly help if a ewe is carrying multiple lambs and can’t provide enough colostrum.

For new-borns it’s a good idea to have on-hand:

  • Bulb Syringe- Clears a newborn’s nostrils to help them breathe.
  • Iodine solution dries and disinfects a lamb’s naval to prevent infection.
  • Hairdryer or heat lamp Can prevent hypothermia in young or weak lambs.
  • Elastrator Used for docking the tale of your lamb. Can also castrate male lambs.
  • Lubrication Handy for the easy insertion of a thermometer, and for helping a ewe along if she needs any assistance during the lambing process!
  • Stomach tube and syringe Vital for a lamb who is too weak to suckle on their own.
  • Stockmarkers-Red and blue stockmarkers can be useful for sorting, grading and pairing newborn lambs with their ewes. Ideally, try to invest in durable stockmarkers that won’t fade in wet weather.

 

First Published 18 March 2020

Tagged with: Other animals

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