[Jon Feather]

Shetlands.  These will be our first ever lambs from our first ever sheep.  As the time draws nearer I've started asking myself a few questions: do we castrate the ram lambs? and when should we do it? do we need any special meds? Do we need to get any other emergency bits and pieces in?

If you have any advice please let me know.  We got Shetlands simple self reliant nature, but it can't be that simple.

[Hugo]

Hi,

I castrate my ram lambs as it makes life easier to keep your flock together and you don't need to worry about covering there mother or sisters. I over the years have decided that engemycin 10% dd is the best as it can by used for pneumonia, mastitis, foot rot etc and is not expensive. Betamox is also good for ewe you have to assist lambing.
I would recommend having a lambing rope at hand and castration pliers and rings.

I have welsh sheep and they are good at lambing by themselves but it never is that simple with sheep. Just patience and be calm is always the best technique at lambing. Do you have any farming friends local to you that you can ask for help if a problem? That is always very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Hugo

[Marches Farmer]

Tim Tyne's lambing course - too late for this year, alas.  Hibiscrub, lubricant, 10% iodine for navels, Spectam if lambing indoors, old towels, bottles, colostrum powder in case ewe's milk doesn't come in straight away, or frozen colostrum from two-crop single-bearers milking well.  Disposable gloves and an old feed bag for collecting up cleanse or the occasional dead lamb.  High energy drench for ailing ewe or twin lamb disease.

[harmony]

Agree with MF's suggested list. Would add stomach tube and bottle ready with teat. Also read instructions on things now so you know how to use them if you need them.


Also agree with Hugo's that it is good to have an experienced neighbour you can call if you are unsure of anything.

[Daleswoman]

I agree with everything on MF's list, but if you've no experience and haven't got neighbours you can call on I would make sure you are registered with your local farm vet and have their emergency number at hand.

Oh, and a camera!

Good luck!

[Hellybee]

Wynsstay carry a great paste colostrum, melts in the mouth called nutrilamb. we use orojet to prevent watery mouth. Each lamb has a squirt of this when we iodine navels.  But we lamb and house. That's a whole extra list that is. Like today liming sheds, shavings bedding, rounding anything up that resembles a suitable partition      tis a magical time, enjoy and never be scared to ask questions 

[Rosemary]

Easy meals in the freezer, a good thermos, chocolate (for consumption any time of the day) plus all of the above.

[SallyintNorth]

Your Shetlands will probably do a perfectly fine job; in fact, for the most part, you can leave them to it, and admire the new, licked, fed lambs once they're born  .  Sometimes a first-timer might need some guidance; sometimes they don't like the lamb under them, and need penning and holding for the first feed, and sometimes a first-timer doesn't realise she's got two lambs (if she has) so needs penning with both to bond with both - but most won't even need that. 

Castrating the teeny tiny testicles is an issue.  By the time the testes are big enough to be held by the ring, the lambs are far too fleet of foot to get caught!  If you're thinking to keep male lambs on past the end of the summer, then it probably is best to castrate, I'd say.  So either get the ewe-and-lambs penned up when the lambs are 6 days old, and castrate the boys then, if you can, or book the vet to come and castrate the lot (with a knife, or bloodless castrator if they use one) when the lambs are all about one month old.

What's the first due date?

[Fleecewife]

Cross posted with Sally but I'll send anyway.

How many ewes are you lambing Jon?  Will they be lambing in the field or indoors?  When are they due to start? Are they first time lambers, or just you?

It's a good idea to do a 'wheel arch' trim on the ewes now to make it easier for lambs to find the teat on a woolly ewe, plus a dagging around the bums if they're at all mucky.
Straw up any shelters, with chopped straw if possible, as the long stuff will get tangled around the ewe's legs as she turns and turns just before she lambs.

Read up plenty before you lamb, not the obscure things which could go wrong, because that's what vets are for, but to discover what a routine birth looks like, and how quickly or otherwise it proceeds, then how long before the afterbirth should appear (and what to do if it doesn't)

Unless you're desperate to go that route, the lambs shouldn't need any meds at birth if they're outdoors, except immediate 10% iodine to the cord, dip is better than spray (mint sauce jars are perfect  ).  You might want to worm the ewes while you have hold of them, and do a foot trim (once the ewe and lambs have bonded and fed).

If you have more than a handful of lambs and you intend to register them, you may want to put in temporary mini eartags so you can tell them apart.  The permanent tags are far too heavy for baby Shetlands. Poultry wing tags are perfect, and don't require an applicator.
You don't have to castrate any males unless they will have to stay with females beyond 4 or 5 months.  If you do castrate, you must do it within 7 days of birth - Shetland lambs have tiny testicles so you are unlikely to be able to get them trapped inside the ring in the first few days.  Whatever, make sure you have tried this out, or at the very least watched it being done several times, before you try it yourself.  Have a sharp penknife with scissors (SAK) at hand for when you get it wrong so you can remove the ring promptly.

I really wouldn't bother with birthing ropes - we got some for our first lambing, over 20 years ago, and we have never used them.  Again, that's what vets are for.  Ditto stomach tube - dangerous to use if you don't know how.

So for my working list of lambing stuff:
10% iodine
rings and applicator
Latex gloves for general hygiene
Ready to use colostrum in a feeding bottle (from agric store)  If you do need to use it, remember to cut a small hole in the end of the teat. If you don't it will last a couple of years unopened.
Antibiotic plus syringes and needles - our vets stock one lambing AntiB each year, so all shepherds in the area would be using the same, then change it next year.  They would want to know you know how and when to use it.
Old towels etc for holding lambs which can be remarkably slippery.
Baby wipes for all sorts of stuff
Binoculars if lambing outside
A bucket to carry everything
Notepad in a ziplock bag (for when it's raining) to take notes of each birth, date, sex of lambs, eartag number, tick for lamb has fed, etc
Patience so you don't go barging in too soon
Alertness so you can spot if something has gone wrong straight off so you can react quickly

[Jon Feather]

Waw! thanks peeps.  I was quite calm and relaxed before. lol.

We are registered with the local farm vets and they are good.  Known them for years because they have looked after all our dogs.  We have the blue spray and antibiotic already but will get the colostrum etc.  Our neighbours are all life long sheep farmers too. 

The tup went in at the beginning of November (and promptly buggered off next door the very next day to sort out 200 of our neighbours yews  .  I spent all day pushing him round the field in the most awful weather so he could mount any, while the farmer came to help me catch him: in about 30 seconds flat) but I don't know exactly when they are due.  Must be some time soon?

There are only 4 inlamb yews and they have all had twin lambs before which is a relief.  I suppose there is a risk that the 4 yew lambs from last year might also be in lamb but we hope not.  We did have them in a separate field but it was really exposed to the awful wet weather in Nov and Dec with no chance of shelter so we had no choice but to put them back in with their mothers and the tup. We took that decision after losing a really bonny yew lamb to pneumonia.

We will be lambing outside. 

[OhLaLa]

My first thought: having an experienced lamb owning neighbour/friend is worth their weight in gold (and unfortunately in my case as rare as hens teeth). Any hands on experience you can get with them will be invaluable.


My second thought: a good, reliable prompt vet (we don't have one of those either).


Third thought: take a lambing course (you guessed it, none of those in my region either....)

[Anke]

If you haven't boostered the ewes (and lambs and tup) with Heptavac I would do it asap.