| Here Come the Lambs |
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Three Experts Offer Tips on Having a Successful Lambing Season By Chet Parsons I have spent many years lambing on pasture;and,in my opinion,it is the best place for ewes to lamb.However,there are some disadvantages to lambing on pasture. First,you have to wait until May before you lamb.It has been my experience that lambs do better on pasture if they are a little older and their rumen has had a chance to develop.Second, to check on the ewes,you have to walk the entire paddock in which they are lambing.Enjoyable if you have nothing else to do,but a bit time consuming.And third,if you do not catch and tag the lambs in the first six or 12 hours,it turns into a small rodeo.Great fun,but again,time consuming.Oh yeah,if the weather turns nasty -a wet,blowing rain -you may end up bringing mother and babies into the barn to keep them alive.
Guess what? Now I lamb in the barn.Usually,by the end of March,the weather has moderated enough so that hypothermia is not a real problem.And this gives the lambs a chance to grow a month or more so they can utilize the grass as soon as it starts growing.It also means that the ewes and lambs are con fined so that I can check on them with just a quick look around the barn. Just lazy you say?Well maybe! When it is time to lamb,I con fine my ewes in a rather large area that is bedded with sawdust or shavings and covered with straw.The sawdust and shavings soak up liquids,e.g.,urine and amnionic fluid;and the straw provides a dry,relatively clean place for the lambs to “land.” I set up lambing pens or “jugs ” and move the ewe and her lambs into one as soon as I find them. If I see a ewe starting to lamb,in the jug she goes. If things appear to be going normally, I leave well enough alone until the lambs are cleaned off,up and nursing. Because the umbilical cord is a great path for unwanted organisms to get into the lamb,dipping it in 7 percent tincture of iodine ASAP is important.If it is dragging on the ground,you might want to clip it off;leaving about 2 inches. A good mother will already have done this for you! It is important that it is saturated with iodine. I use a small container,like a 35 mm film container,hold it tight to the lamb ʼs abdomen and shake it around a bit.If it is a male,be a little sensitive as to what else you get iodine on.The stuff really burns.If you don ʼt want your fingers to look like you smoke a lot of Camels,you may want to use rubber gloves!!!! I always check the ewe ʼs udder and strip out a little colostrum to make sure there is milk and that it is normal. Normal colos- turm is thick and yellow and it contains antibodies that can be passed on to the lamb. So it is important that the lambs nurse as soon after birth as possible. If a lamb is looking a little weak and I am not sure if it has nursed,I will strip a little colostrum into a small syringe (hold your little finger on the bottom so it doesn ʼt run out),put the plunger back in and squirt it slowly into the lamb ʼs mouth.This usually starts the sucking re flex and the lamb is good to go. If this doesn ʼt work,then the lamb probably needs to be fed with a stomach tube.I would recommend that you attend a lambing workshop and get some “hands-on ” experience tubing lambs. Lambs that are born in really cold weather usually do okay if the mother gets them cleaned off,and up and nursing.It is a good idea to have a source of heat available just in case.A heat lamp at the end of a lambing jug,contained so the ewe cannot get to it,will work.Be sure that it is not too close to the lamb and is securely fastened.Lamps can start a fire and that is not good. I have also used two,2-liter soda bottles filled with warm (100 degree)water with some success.I put one on each side of the lamb and cover the lamb with straw.If I can,I prefer to warm the lamb up in the jug.I have had ewes reject a lamb that has been taken out to warm up.But,sometimes it can ʼt be helped.Immersing a lamb up to its neck in warm water will warm it up. If you put it in a plastic bag first,it will help to maintain the smell and not get it wet.Once it is warmed up,you can tube it with some warm colostrum.However,if the lamb is over five hours old and looks like a goner,it is probably hypoglycemic as well as hypothermic.It is then necessary to inject a 20 percent dextrose solution into the abdominal cavity to insure that it has some energy before warming it up.At this point it would probably be advisable to call your vet. I usually leave the lambs in the jug two or three days.Some lambs and ewes bond soon,others take more time.Before I turn them out of the jug,I tag them and record the numbers with the ewe in a lambing booklet.I check their eyes for inverted eyelid (entropion).By just pull- ing down on the eyelid with your thumb,you will often correct a minor problem. I also dock tails before they leave the jug.My preference is an electric, heated,tail docker.It is not pleasant doing it,but it is over and done within just a few seconds. By docking lambs before they leave the jug,I am sure they get docked in a timely manner;and it makes it easier to pick out the newborn lambs.They have tails. Lambing is a busy time,but a rewarding time.It is great to see a group of healthy lambs running around and kicking up their heels.Paying at- tention at lambing time will ensure that you are on your way to produc- ing a great crop of lambs.
Chet Parsons is a livestock specialist with the University of Vermont Extension in St.Albans,Vt. |
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