Tag Archives: lambing

Lambing for the First Time

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Frelsi Farm Icelandics

Your Icelandic Sheep: Lambing for the first time

 

Recently a shepherd who will have lambs for the first time emailed me about advice for lambing season, supplies and some advice to help him be ready. After writing back to him, I thought there might be some help in that email for other new and not so new shepherds.

 

It is getting on to the time to think about lambing. Attached is my “lambing supply list” (click here). I always have my well worn copy of Laura Lawson’s Managing Your Ewe and Her Newborn Lamb, the blue book, in the barn with me. Even though this will be our 23rd lambing it is my favorite reference and it has saved many lambs over the years. A good source of supplies is Pipestone Vet supply, they are online and the paper catalogue is a great source of information as well as supplies. I am a “hands on” sort of shepherd at lambing time. I like to be in the barn with the ewes and check on them frequently when I know they are due. I make night barn checks at least every 3 hours; it is not that they can’t lamb without me, I just like to be around. You will find many shepherds with much more “let them just do it alone” sort of attitude, but if my ewes need a hand I want to be there, especially for first-timers.

 

We have a hanging scale and a lamb sling to weigh the lambs, it is useful information. After the lambs have been licked off and gotten to nurse (they need to nurse soon or they get cold and can’t nurse, *read and re-read the information about hypothermia it is critical*) they get the navel trimmed and dipped in iodine and weighed and given two squirts of Pipestone’s Baby Lamb Strength. It is my favorite source of vitamins and a bit of energy calories. Never ever hesitate to take a lamb’s rectal temperature…it tells you more about that lamb’s status than any other piece of information. When folks call me for advice the first thing I will ask is “what is the temperature?”

 

You will want a good lubricant for when you need to “check” a ewe internally to see what is going on….I really like J-lube. I use the powder and reconstitute it in a squeeze bottle of some sort,a dish detergent or shampoo bottle works well. I don’t use gloves, but that is an option. Read and re-read the information of lamb presentations…they can get tangled or be coming backwards etc. Catch one of your friendlier ewes and note how the hooves in front are positioned, bottom of feet down if legs are stretched out in from of her and the bottom of the back hooves are facing up when the back legs are straightened out behind her, feel how the knees flex in the front leg and the back leg…so if you have to feel a lamb in the uterus you will recognize front legs and back legs…a tip * if you have to do an internal examination, close your eyes while you are doing it, you can feel things better and visualize things better. Have a portable catch pen, I use two “premier panels” tied together that I can tie to a fence or gate and trap the ewe in there and close it making a sort of triangle pen that is small, that way if I am alone I can do an internal exam if needed. It isn’t often but if you need to know what is going on, being clean and gentle and doing an exam is far better than a dead lamb. You have first time horned ewes..ram lambs can have very big horn buds that get hung up on the pelvic bones and need help…or tangles twins or tight vulva tissues that the ewe is having trouble getting the first lamb out…if she has feet and nose showing and just pushing and pushing, giving her a little help with the first lamb is fine..she doesn’t have to be heroic and has nothing to prove, she will be a fine mom and the next lamb will come out easier!! No need to have an exhausted ewe. Most of the time things are just fine…..

 

Frelsi Farm IcelandicsIf it is cold I dry the lambs off with a towel after mom has had a chance to lick it…the licking stimulates lots of maternal responses and uterine contractions so she can deliver the twin if there is one. I wait for her to have a chance to nurse the lamb but sometimes they are obsessed with licking the lamb and keep turning around as the lamb just about gets to a teat…I give them 15 minutes, then take the lamb, milk a bit out of each teat to be sure the plug is removed and try to get it on a teat, even if I have to pin mom against a wall..not very graceful and usually they are fine, but a lamb with no milk is a dead lamb! Once they get a few good drinks it usually dawns on mom what this is all about. Some ewes are just great…they seem to have read the book..others need a little help to figure out the whole thing…first timers are just learning , just like first time human moms.

 

I make little pens—“jugs” for my moms and lambs—picking up the lambs and walking backwards slowly holding the lambs close to the ground so mom can see them, and lead her to the jug…she will want to go back to where she lambed if you go too fast…if she runs back, just bring the lambs back and start again. I do not pen up a ewe until after she lambs, they need to pick their place to lamb and have room to pace and dig. In the jug mom gets a bucket of warm water and Karo syrup or molasses and nice hay … do not give her a bunch of grain, she may bloat. Then I attend to the lambs as I described above and let them be. I will check them in an hour to be sure the lambs are full and warm if I have any doubts about mom or a lamb. To check to see if a lamb has nursed, put your thumbs on it’s spine and your fingers under the belly and jiggle the belly with your fingers…it should feel like a little water balloon if it is full…if in doubt check the lamb’s temperature. Little lambs sleep a lot…when they wake up…healthy warm lambs will stretch when they stand up.

Mentoring is important. I tell all the folks that have sheep from us…if you are worried, if you have a problem, call me…I am probably up anyway..it’s lambing season…call my cell phone, or message me. 

As far as medications are concerned , ask your vet for prescriptions or for the meds…oxytocin, (it can be really important if there is no vet near you) and Bo-Se (here in New England there is no selenium in the soil). You will want some penicillin on hand. You will want to get some CD&T vaccine (Pipetstone or other vet supply) and be sure your ewes are vaccinated 4 weeks or so before lambing …you can vaccinate mid March and again at the end of March to be sure they are current..they need to make antibodies in the colostrum. The lambs are born with no immunities…they can absorb antibodies from the colostrum through their stomach lining in the first 12-24 hours of life.

Save that colostrum! Just a little reminder…when you have a ewe with plenty of colostrum, be sure to milk some into a container and freeze it. Colostrum is only produced for the first 24 hours after lambing, but is getting more dilute as each hour goes by. A mature ewe with a single lamb is a good choice for a colostrum source. After the ewe’s lamb has had a good belly full, milk off some for your freezer stash. I save the colostrum in small yogurt cups or small ziplock bags, or breast milk ziplock bags, labeled with the year. I have an “Udderly EZ “ milker…it is easy to use and really helpful if you have to get milk to feed a lamb, to save colostrum or later to milk the ewes for your own use. You can buy them online…well worth the money in my opinion. But it is not difficult to hand milk, into a container. Just easy for the ewe to kick it or knock you or the container over.

If you need colostrum for a lamb, you can simple defrost it and feed it by bottle or tube feeding, if necessary.  Defrost the colostrum in its container in a bowl of warm water.  Never microwave or boil the colostrum, as that will kill the antibodies in it that are so vital for a new lamb.  You can save the colostrum for at least a year in a good freezer. Having some stashed away makes it less chaotic if you find you suddenly need some for a new babe.

A newborn lamb needs at least 80 cc’s (ml’s) per pound of body weight in the first 18 hours of life under fairly warm dry conditions, and about 90 cc’s per pound if it is cold, wet or windy and the lamb is outside.  This means that an 8 pound lamb will need at least 20 ounces of colostrum in 18 hours. You want to divide the feedings so that the lamb is fed every 3-4 hours.  If you are tube feeding, give only 20 cc’s per pound of body weight at each feeding.

So, save that colostrum! You can use up quite a lot on just one lamb.

Lots of stuff to think about,…email with questions, anytime. And, do know that you can always call me during lambing, in the day if is it not an emergency or anytime in an emergency. that is the mentoring part of the price of our lambs…you need a mentor, I did too.

 

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Lambing Supplies–The List

Updated on date by author
Frelsi Farm Icelandics
The List: Supplies for Lambing

 

Laura Lawson’s Book, Managing your Ewe: online or Frelsi Farm often has a few.

Digital Rectal Thermometer-must have: baby thermometer available at any pharmacy

Scissors to cut cord: small and sharp 

Iodine for naval 7% or “gentle ” iodine: feed store or pharmacy

“Iodine Naval cup”, “Naval Dipper” yogurt cup: feed store, online or just a small jar

Clean old towels: ask friends and family for old towels 

Baby Lamb Strength or NutriDrench: Baby lamb Strength from Pipestone vet supply (my favorite)

Colostrum or Colostrx or Kid ‘n Lamb Kolostral: or your own frozen supply is best

Lamb Milk replacer: feed store (make sure it is for lambs)

Emery board or small nail pumice stone: pharmacy (for sharp lamb teeth)

Feeding tubes: online, Pipestone, PBS animal health, feedstore

Catheter tip syringes 20 cc & 60cc: Pipestone, PBS, other online vet supply, pharmacy

Pritchard Teat nipples (these need to be cut, they have no opening when new) or other lamb nipple: Feed store or online (fits soda but not water bottles)

Soda bottle or other bottle that fits nipple: grocery or friend (Coke bottles work very well)

Scale (handy but not necessary): vet supply online 

Lamb sling for weighing in hanging scale: online, Pipestone, PBS animal health, feedstore

Obstetric Lubricant “superlube” or J-Lube: Pipestone or other online vet supply

Clean nitrile gloves-optional: pharmacy or online supply feed store

Lambing ropes-make your own: see Laura Lawson Book

Antimicrobial soap: grocery or pharmacy

Clean bucket for soapy water 

Soft small bulb syringe: Pharmacy in baby section, small rubber not with plastic tip

Hair dryer for warming cold lambs

Syringes and needles: feed store , online, PBS, etc. check your state regs

Penicillin: feed store or online

BO-SE: prescription

Lamb ear tags: Premier animal supply

Veterinarian’s phone number

Sheep mentor phone# 

Karo syrup or molasses for ewe in warm water: grocery or feed store.

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Barn/Jug System

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Frelsi Farm Icelandics
Using the Barn/Jug system of lambing … and why it works for us

 

This April of 2016 will be our 20th lambing here at Frelsi Farm. Our first lambing produced 13 lambs and our total live lambs born here so far is now 905. We have used the barn and jug system of lambing each year. Our ewes have 24 hour a day access to the barn from breeding season through lambing. In most years, weather and snow permitting, they can be outside when ever they want, in fenced paddocks each about a ¼- ½ acre in area. The paddocks are protected by electro-net and plastic deer mesh fence inside the high tensile perimeter fencing. Inside the barn is a heated water tank and the feeders, outside are the mineral salt/kelp meal feeders.

 

We separate the ewe lambs from the adults and yearlings, to allow the ewe lambs to have all the feed they want and not be pushed aside by the big girls. The set up will vary depending on the number of ewe lambs and adults/yearlings. The water tank is available to both groups of ewes. We have found that they drink far more water if it is warm and available 24 hours a day (and I hate dealing with frozen water buckets). Our barn has an open southern exposure with woven wire doors, and the northern side has woven wire doors, inside sliding wooden doors. The siding on the barn was going to be board and batten, but we did not get the battens on before winter our first year. We found that the air that moved through the barn through those ¼- ½ inch spaces between the boards was actually good, keeping the air quality good and keeping the moisture down, so we have left it like that. There are large windows on the east and west sides so the barn is light and pleasant inside. The floor is packed dirt and reprocessed (ground up ) concrete. The waste hay is bedding with added straw as needed.

 

 

Before lambing, the barn is completely cleaned out and the manure and hay is composted, so that the lambs are born in clean areas.As lambing becomes imminent, we assemble “Jugs” in the barn. We built a warm room, a heated insulated space, in the southwest corner of the barn. Along that wall, inside the barn area, we build 3 jugs, each about 4×5-6 feet. We use Premier panels or cattle panels cut to length, tied together with bailing twine or wire.two panels “hinged” together this way are easy to store and move. They set up along the wall like letter “L”,each jug sharing one side, ie, LLL, the final side is a corner of the barn or another panel.If the ewes are bothered by the other family wil put a piece of ply wood between the jugs. You do not want the lamb sticking it’s head through the panel and getting bopped by the other mother! We add more jugs as needed along the other walls. When we did LAI (laparoscopic artificial insemination) we needed more jugs because many adults would be lambing in a 2-3 day period. With the VAI (vaginal artificial insemination)and natural breeding, the lambing is spread out more evenly over a few weeks, so fewer jugs re needed. Each jug has a hay feeder, a water bucket, and clean deep bedding. The jugs are cleaned and limed and re-bedded between families. Our ewes decide where to have their lambs. About 80-90 % choose to have their lambs in a protected area inside the barn. If it is nice weather, there seems to be more lambing out in the grassy areas of the paddocks, closer to the 20% figure. In a cold rainy spring it is closer to 1 in 10. Our pastures are so full of rocks and boulders, it would be impossible to find the ewes and newborns if they were to lamb out in the pastures. And, I like the hands-on lambing, watching the lambs being born and pampering mom for a little while. The ewes are moved from the birthing area to a clean jug. I just pick up the lambs and holding them in front of me, walk backwards to the jug and mom follows along. Most of the time, if I walk slowly and hold the lambs close to the ground, mom comes right along. Once in the jug, mom gets a few flakes of our best hay and a bucket of warm water with Karo syrup or molasses added for quick energy. The lambs are weighed and the navels are clipped and dipped, and they get a few squirts of “Baby Lamb Strength”, we call it candy. It is a Pipestone nutritional supplement similar to “Nutri-Drench”. We make sure each lamb gets a good bellyful of colostrum, check mom’s udder, and, if all is well, leave the family to rest and bond. An experienced ewe with twins may spend just a few hours in a jug if all is well and the space is needed, but usually has at least 24 hours to rest and eat and drink in peace. Triplets get a longer time, so that I can be sure all are getting enough milk, especially if one is smaller than the siblings. First time moms get at least a day and, preferably, two or three. I want to see that the lambs are nursing well, that mom is accepting all the lambs and that she has passed her placenta. Within the first 24 hours, the lambs get BO-SE and Vitamin E injections and an ear tag. Mom gets a dose of dewormer . When that is done the family moves to a “Mothering –on pen” or nursery. She will stay in this larger area for a few days, get her hooves trimmed if needed, then out to the pasture behind the barn. This intermediate pen is good for the first-timers, they get to have the lambs running around and yet they are still contained. I check the udders daily and watch the lambs for any signs of being under-fed or out of sorts.When the ewes are in labor, I will often watch from the loft stairs or from the hayloft. I like to be around for the births, not because I have to be, just because I really like to be there. It is thrilling to see the lambs being born. Our warm room is very cozy and I have been known to there at night on the cot, with a few good books and a radio during the peak of lambing time. I found that putting a few red light bulbs in the barn lets me do a barn check at night without disturbing anyone. In the warm room I have my “lambing kit” and a few buckets of warm water. We have had a very low lamb mortality rate. I like not being out in the elements, April can be very cold and rainy and even snowy here…no fun trying to find moms and lambs in between the incredible number of rocks and boulders. The ewes seem to like to lamb in the barn, they choose it most often. I like “hands-on” lambing, it suits my nature. Our flock is small enough to know each ewe well, and being there for the birth of her lambs feels right to me. There is no right or wrong way to manage your lambing. It is important to be comfortable with what you choose and to make your decisions based on what works best for you and your flock. Best wishes for a great lambing season!

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