[jacob and Georgina]

just a quick one, when lambing indoors what size pen do you recommend for each ewe and her lams? trying to work out how much space i will need to allocate? thanks in advance

[Moleskins]

My farmer friend has his ewes in a large pen and as they lamb he transfers them to smaller pens for 24 hrs then out into the field unless there are circumstances which mean they need to stay in a bit longer.
The large pen has plenty of room for each ewe and enough room that they can be seen easily, to see what's going on with them. The smaller pens are only really just about large enough for the ewe to turn round and lie down comfortably. HTH

[Brucklay]

I set up 6' x 6' pens for Jacob's last year and actually they were too big - so it's a bit on the size of the ewe - shetlands small and texals larger

[dyedinthewool]

Does depend on the size/type of sheep you have, and how long you intend to keep them penned.

I have a variety of sized ewes from a small 'Clun' to a big Herdwick. 

Herdy had a 6' x 6' at the start but I had to make it bigger as she had twins and I was worried she would lie on them - not that she did, but I'm sure she appreciated the extra room.  Shaggy the Clun also had twins but she was okay in a 6' x 4' pen.

As we have foxes galore I let them out during the day for a few hours and penned them at night for a fortnight or until I thought they were big enough to stay out full time.

[Brucklay]

Absolutely right Dyedinthewool - depend on the sheep size - I think with my shetland's this year - I will be after a few smaller hurdles - please don't tell OH!!!

[shep53]

4' x 4' , 3' high is about right for  cross ewes,smaller breeds you can scale down eg 3' or 3'6''x4' . The height depends how how tall/wild the ewe, for swales i used  39'' high ryelands maybe 32'' or34''

[VSS]

Don't make the mistake of giving them too much space in the small pens - a good mother will not flatten her lambs regadless of how tightly you pen them. I have seen ewes lie on their lambs in the middle of fields so that is more about mothering ability than pen size.

Also bear in mind that if you have a ewe that is a bit nervous of her lambs or rather flighty, giving her more space can make her worse. Penning quite tightly can actually make them feel more secure.

Our lambing pens are iro 3' x 5'. We do also have a couple of 5'x5' pens for any "long stay" cases or for anything with triplets.

[dyedinthewool]

Absolutely right Dyedinthewool - depend on the sheep size - I think with my shetland's this year - I will be after a few smaller hurdles - please don't tell OH!!!

I see VSS has posted a reply - I was about to say we (as in OH) made pens like the ones VSS had in his book - they are very good - only we used metal rods instead of bamboo's.  OH made them to fit down one side of the barn so they varied slightly in size.
VSS - Herdy had a smallish pen (though it was the biggest one being the last OH constructed - think his measurements went slightly awry and the last one ended up bigger) she mothered okay - but as her babies were very small for such a big ewe I felt she need a bit more room as the weather was bad at the time and i kept her in for the first few days.