[Jadeward121]

Hi, I’m a first time lamber and so are my 4 ewes. Their due date is anytime after the 7th May to my calculations. They are now in the lambing barn close to my house. How often do I check on them starting now ? And any advice for a first time lamber? I am unfortunately on my own in my job so very nervous ! I have vets and lambing friends on the phone if needs be but want to do everything I can on my end. Any help and advice is welcome, thank you

[twizzel]

I start checking every 4-6 hrs about a week before the first is due. Advice to a first time lamber is read as much as you can before hand, don't panic and know the limits of your ability and when to call for help. Have everything on hand that you may need so you haven't got to find it or buy it when you desperately need it. Good luck

[Black Sheep]

This year was also our first time with our own sheep, prior experience being three evenings at the local agricultural college lambing courses and a 24h session on a farm. All in all probably delivered about 20 lambs between the two of us with a mixture of normal and malpresentations. However, the courses were very interventional - most got pulled, which is good for learning what you are feeling and getting some confidence with correcting issues and doing the manual stuff, but not so good for learning about how long to wait and how an unassisted birth will proceed - or, as we realised doing our own, what happens next and how that should happen, how long it should take etc.

For what our very limited experience is worth we brought them in only about 10 days before the due date (but they are Hebrideans so don't like being in so much). Had all the equipment etc on site well before that, but it was boxed up in labelled, task-specific tubs (maybe overkill!) by the door 3 days before the due date (they were sponged).

We started checks on the Friday (due Monday) and as it happened there was a lamb out late on the Friday night. So we began checking every 2 hours from there - but looking at other threads on this question this is very frequent compared to others, so probably overkill. It also isn't going to be sustainable for one person. The one ewe that needed assistance lambed in the early afternoon, the rest mostly sorted themselves but I did release a couple from what seemed like quite rubbery bags - would the ewe have sorted it quickly enough if I wasn't there? Don't know.

Have a look through the other recent thread on this and I'm sure there are some other older ones too. Good luck!

[pharnorth]

You will get lots of different answers to the 'how often' question. For a one or two person operation a factor has to be not wearing yourself out too early with unnecessary checks. We tend to check around 11 and again about 7am from a couple of weeks before. My nerves increase as we get three or four days off due date, then a 3am check feels more natural because you wake up worrying about them anyway!

After 2 or 3 years we found we were getting pretty good at spotting the 'next 48 hours' signs and that helps conserve energy for when you need it.

Main advice I have for a first time lambed (and first time ewe) is make sure the airway is clear and the lamb breathing then step back for half hour at least to give the ewe time to bond.

[Marches Farmer]

We start checking at 2.00 a.m. a week before the first lamb is due.  I recommend Tim Tyne's book as a clear crib for first-time lambing.  My primary hookover bucket contains antibiotic wash, lubricant, elbow-length disposable gloves and six sterilised lambing ropes knotted into thin sandwich bags that can be torn open in a hurry plus Ritchey lamb resuscitator.  Vet is on speed dial on my mobile.  Second hookover bucket contains 10% iodine solution in a wide-necked juice bottle and dairy wipes for wiping the ewe's teats before testing for milk. Lidded plastic storage boxes contain old towels (boiled) and lamb jackets made from old jacket linings, etc., for small lambs born on cold nights.  Old feed bags are kept handy in case of dead lambs and afterbirths.  All lambs on our farm get powdered colostrum within 20 minutes of birth

[shep53]

  All lambs on our farm get powdered colostrum within 20 minutes of birth

  You say many times that you cull for anything  and yet the above statement says to me that you are masking a vital trait , how fast a lamb stands and suckles .  For  a long time Suffolks were treated in the same way as they were valuable, but getting pure or x lambs to get up and suckle eventually became  a big problem for the breed .

[twizzel]

  All lambs on our farm get powdered colostrum within 20 minutes of birth

Agree with colostrum within half hour of birth but why powdered if the ewe has plenty. If the lamb hasn't stood up and sucked itself within 30 mins my first move would be to milk the ewe off and tube the lamb with her colostrum. Only use powdered to top up lambs where there isn't enough natural colostrum to go around.

[Marches Farmer]

Yes, we used to do it the usual way of waiting for the lamb and ewe to get their act together but, with a growing flock and the same labour force, we decided to try giving one dose of colostrum immediately after birth, to allow us to move onto the next new arrival or go to bed without having to worry about the lamb.  A long delivery process, first-time Mama that needs to calm down after the stress of lambing or long wait for the second twin to arrive isn't the lamb's fault but could seriously impede its ability to survive.  One dose of colostrum per lamb made a consistent, positive difference, to the extent that for many years our scanning to weaning survival rate has usually been 100%.

[Foobar]

+1 for what [member=9755]shep53[/member] said.  I suppose there are two ways to lamb - maximum involvement (pull everything, tube everything, fuss over everything), or minimal involvement (leave them alone to do their thing and only help when necessary).  I would opt for the latter.  Time and space is what they need - consider this when housing your sheep, the more space they have the less problems you will have with mismothering etc.

As for the OP, look in on them every 6 hours, from 3 days before their first due date.  As a first timer you would be wise to just sit and watch them - give it a good 15mins+ each time.  You are going to need to learn how to spot a ewe that is thinking about giving birth, and that only comes with practice.  You will need to learn what is their normal day to day behaviour and then you will spot what is abnormal, i.e. signs they are restless, uncomfortable, pawing at the ground (although some will do this just before they sit down anyway), sniffing the ground, licking lips, isolating themselves from the others etc.

Read the lambing docs here: http://www.nadis.org.uk/livestock/sheep.aspx  (scroll down to L for lambing).  Make a note of the time it takes for each stage of labour - and when your sheep start, make a note of the time, and then watch and be patient.

[Marches Farmer]

For  a long time Suffolks were treated in the same way as they were valuable, but getting pure or x lambs to get up and suckle eventually became  a big problem for the breed .

The problem that some Suffolks had was the show type were bred for big heads and chunky legs, which made the birth process lengthy and exhausting for both ewe and lambs.  For a while some folks described them as "too posh to push" but they were actually too tired to do so. 

[twizzel]

As for the OP, look in on them every 6 hours, from 3 days before their first due date.  As a first timer you would be wise to just sit and watch them - give it a good 15mins+ each time.  You are going to need to learn how to spot a ewe that is thinking about giving birth, and that only comes with practice.  You will need to learn what is their normal day to day behaviour and then you will spot what is abnormal, i.e. signs they are restless, uncomfortable, pawing at the ground (although some will do this just before they sit down anyway), sniffing the ground, licking lips, isolating themselves from the others etc.

The biggest teller that a ewe is going to lamb within the next 12 hours is the flanks dropping/hollowing. Just in front of their hips between the last rib and the hip, they will hollow as the lamb moves into the birth canal. It took me a while to get the hang of this, but seemed to be more confident this year in spotting it to the point at feeding time in the evening I could tell OH which ewes would probably lamb that evening/night. He was quite impressed  

[Anke]

You don't say what breed they are - I lamb my Shetlands outside and then the ewe and lamb(s) go in a bonding pen at the side of the field.


I don't check during the night, and may last check is usually around 8 pm, almost all of them lamb first thing in the morning, some at teatime, well before dark. Makes it much easier, and I check the field (next to my goats anyway, so can watch a ewe lambing while milking...) a few times per day. I also write large numbers on the side of the ewe just before tupping, the tup has raddle paint over his chest, and then I check daily on who has ben tupped. Makes it so much easier to then be able focus on the ewe you know must be due. Works very well. (Note: not necessary if they are sponged)


When I lambed under cover, I found they lambed more during the night, even though I turned the light off and had a camera with infrared up and could check on them that way.


If a lamb born in the evening is a bit slow I will usually tube 100ml of goat colostrum into it and then can go to bed knowing that it will be fine in the morning.

[SallyintNorth]

  All lambs on our farm get powdered colostrum within 20 minutes of birth

  You say many times that you cull for anything  and yet the above statement says to be that you are masking a vital trait , how fast a lamb stands and suckles .  For  a long time Suffolks were treated in the same way as they were valuable, but getting pure or x lambs to get up and suckle eventually became  a big problem for the breed .

If actually checked that statement five times, and that it was really Marches Farmer another twice.  .  I was literally speechless. So thanks for voicing what I couldn’t find the words to say, shep53!

[Marches Farmer]

I cull the ewes.  The lambs are what pay the bills so the more lambs that thrive the more money I have to support rare native breed conservation.  Never been a fan of the "our Welsh Mountain ewes lamb outdoors in January with no shelter or additional feed and we expect to lose 20% of 'em" school of shepherding. 

[twizzel]

Are your ewes vaccinated? What do you do with regards to passive immunisation through the colostrum if so? If a lamb’s first feed is powdered and it doesn’t then properly feed off the ewe until 6 hours later will it have taken the antibodies in    hence why I always try to make the first feed of colostrum (either by tube, bottle or off the ewe) natural not powdered. I don’t think anyone is doubting the time allowed to get up but automatically giving powdered colostrum over natural is what I’m struggling with. There’s a big difference between topping up with powdered and the first feed being powdered.