Subject: Lambing FAQ [6.1]

From: Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 05:15:05 GMT

Archive-name: rural/lambing-faq
Last-modified: 29 Jan 1996

	       Frequently Asked Questions About Lambing
               ----------------------------------------

Changes since <[email-masked]>: 
	heat lamp precautions
	repeated tube feedings	
	lighting
	lime for the maternity warde and lambing pens
	testing ventilation in the barn
	antibodies in aged ewes

Contents:

   1.  Care of the Ewe Before Lambing
   2.  Gestation Problems
   3.  Equipment and Supplies
   4.  Signs of Readiness
   5.  Normal Procedures
   6.  Twins & Triplets
   7.  Rejected Lambs
   8.  Nursing Problems
   9.  Problem Births
   10. Timing Births
   11. Aged Ewes
   12. Drying Off Ewes
   13. Prolapses
   14. Medications
   15. Lambing Pens
   16. Orphans
   17. Care of Lactating Ewes
   18. Human Health Concerns
   19. Pasture Lambing
   20. Are Sheep Wild Animals
   21. Credits
   22. Copyright

This FAQ is organized as a digest.  You can move to the next question
with the digest commands in most newsreaders, or search for subjects
listed in the contents.

-------------------------------
Subject: Care of the Ewe Before Lambing

1.  What special care do ewes require before lambing?

    If you use a marking harness on your ram(s) during breeding, or if
    you have been very observant and recorded breeding dates, you can
    add five months to the date when the ewe was last bred to predict
    when she will lamb.  The exact gestation period varies by breed,
    from 142-154 days.  For our Cotswolds, we use 150 days to predict
    lambing.

    For the first three and a half months of gestation, fetal lamb
    growth is slow.  A generous ration of nutritious and palatable hay
    like alfalfa, clover or timothy, or a less-nutritious hay with a
    small supplement of protein-rich grain, is sufficient nutrition
    for the ewe.  Feeding ewes too much during early gestation may get
    them over-conditioned, which is uneconomical and can be unhealthy
    for the ewe when the lambs begin their growth spurt.  If you can
    feel a heavy layer of fat along the backs of your ewes, they are
    probably over-conditioned.

    The last six weeks of gestation is the period of rapid growth of
    the fetal lambs.  If you are feeding timothy or alfalfa hay
    free-choice, start giving the ewes approximately 1/2 pound of
    grain per day; with less-nutritious hays you may need to feed more
    grain.  4-6 weeks before lambing is a good time for vaccinations:
    a CD/T booster, and BO-SE or a vitamin-E supplement if you have
    had problems with white-muscle disease or if your hay is grown on
    selenium-deficient soils.  If you have had problems with
    abortions, or if the problem is common in your area, your vet may
    recommend that you vaccinate against enzootic and/or vibrionic
    abortion.

    One month before lambing is a good time to shear ewes.  With the
    fleece out of the way, lambing is easier for the shepherd, the
    barn is roomier and warmer (all that body heat is shared instead
    of being held in by the fleece), nursing is easier for the lambs,
    and the ewes require smaller lambing pens.  If the ewes are not
    shorn before lambing, crutch the vulva and udder areas, and watch
    out for breaks in the wool from nutritional deficiencies late in
    gestation.

    Make sure the barn or lambing area is clean and well-ventilated.
    Test the ventilation by smelling on your hands and knees.  Often
    barns that smell fine five feet up have a strong ammonia buildup
    at the level of sheep and especially lambs.  If you have a bedding
    pack built up, it is a good idea to spread hydrated lime and clean
    straw in what will become the maternity ward and lambing pen area.

-------------------------------
Subject: Gestation Problems

2.  What problems should I watch for during gestation?

    The commonest risk to pregnant ewes is Pregnancy Toxemia (twin
    lamb disease, ketosis), which typically manifests itself in older
    ewes carrying multiple lambs, or extremely thin or fat ewes.  The
    symptoms are dullness, lagging behind the flock, teeth grinding,
    frequent urination, and unsteadiness; in later stages of the
    disease, the ewe goes down, and her breath smells like acetone
    (nail polish remover).  Pregnancy Toxemia is caused by a diet
    deficient in energy late in pregnancy; the ewe uses up her sugar
    reserves, turns to her body fat, and the resulting metabolism
    releases ketones, which accumulate in the bloodstream.
    Overfeeding early in pregnancy can aggravate the condition.
    Pregnancy toxemia can sometimes be treated by administration of
    intravenous glucose and oral glycerin or propylene glycol, but is
    frequently fatal.  It can be avoided with a proper feeding
    program.

    Chlamydiosis, which produces enzootic abortions in ewes, is highly
    contagious.  If it is a risk in your area -- your vet will know --
    there are vaccines available.  Because of the contagious
    potential, including transmission to humans, exercise extreme care
    with aborted fetuses and tissues.  The incubation period is 60-90
    days after infection.  Vibriosis, which has similar symptoms, is
    difficult to distinguish from Chlamydiosis except in the
    laboratory.  The vaccine is different, so it is important to
    carefully transport a fresh or frozen aborted fetus to a qualified
    pathology lab for diagnosis.

    Hypocalcemia (milk fever) is caused by the huge demands for
    calcium a near-term lamb makes on the ewe.  The usual symptoms are
    that the ewe goes off her food, her ears are ice cold, her muscles
    stiffen, she goes down, and bloat may set in.  The condition
    responds spectacularly to subcutaneous injection of 50-100 cc of
    calcium borogluconate solution.  Hypocalcemia can be prevented by
    adequate liming of pastures and hayfields, and by avoiding sudden
    changes in feed.

-------------------------------
Subject: Equipment and Supplies

3.  What equipment and supplies do I need for lambing?

    If everything goes right, and it does most of the time, you need
    nothing more than:

      - a pair of surgical scissors, available from a drug store or
	vet supply;

      - a wide-mouthed bottle of 7% iodine solution;

      - a clean, dry, bedded pen for the ewe and her lamb(s).  The
	dimensions can range from 4x4 feet for smaller breeds to 5x5
	feet for larger breeds, with a water bucket and a hay feeder
	for each pen.  For a small flock, plan on one pen for every
	five ewes; a larger flock can get by with one pen for every
	seven ewes.

    It's a good idea to have the following available, just in case:

      - a baby bottle (4 or 8 oz.); use a heated needle to expand the
	hole in the nipple;

      - a tube feeder; vet supply houses sell them, or you can buy a
	rubber catheter and large syringe from a drug store;

      - a hair-dryer and/or a heat lamp;

      - 60cc. syringes, 20ga. needles, and a sterile solution of
	electrolytes with 5-10% glucose added;

      - shoulder-length plastic examining gloves;

      - a rubber or plastic bowl and Ivory liquid soap or an
	obstetric/vaginal lubricant;

      - Penicillin & syringes, or antibiotic vaginal boluses;

      - frozen colostrum from an earlier birth, from a goat or cow,
	or an artificial colostrum mix; the easiest source is to
	milk out and freeze extra colostrum from a ewe with a single
	lamb;  

      - warm, dry towels.

-------------------------------
Subject: Signs of Readiness

4.  How do I know when a ewe is ready to lamb?

    No two ewes manifest the same signs.  Some wander off to a far
    corner of a pasture, or find a corner of the barn where they can
    be alone.  Some will go off food.  Most will `drop': as the
    position of the uterus shifts lower in their bodies and hollow
    areas appear in their flanks; this is sometimes hard to see in
    older ewes, who are dropped most of the time.  Ewes usually `bag
    out' as milk develops in the udder a day or two before lambing.
    When the ewe goes into labor, she may paw the ground as if digging
    a nest, and is often restless, getting up, circling or moving to a
    new spot, lying down, and repeating the cycle.  As she moves
    further into labor, you can see contractions, the water (amnion)
    will often break, and she may grit her teeth.

-------------------------------
Subject: Normal Procedures

5.  What do I have to do for a `normal' birth?

    Most ewes can handle things pretty well; patience is often more
    productive than intervention if nothing looks awry.  Within four
    hours of the onset of labor, the ewe will deliver a lamb and set
    to cleaning and mothering it.  The vigorous licking is important
    stimulation to the lamb, and helps trigger hormones that
    accelerate the development of milk, contractions for remaining
    twins or triplets, and the expulsion of the afterbirth.  If you're
    there when the lamb is born -- and you should try to be -- clear
    any mucus from the lamb's nose and make sure it is breathing.  If
    it isn't, tickle the nostrils with a piece of straw.  If that
    doesn't work, pick the lamb up by both back legs and gently swing
    it in a vertical circle over your head; the up and down movement
    of the diaphragm as the lamb swings is an efficient artificial
    respiration.  Some shepherds use oxygen or even mouth-to-nose
    respiration to start a lamb.  

    Most lambs need little help beyond a tickle with straw.  Then,
    allow the mother a few minutes to mother her lamb, before you
    CLIP, DIP, and STRIP.

    - CLIP the lamb's umbilical cord within an inch of the lamb's
      navel.
    - DIP the umbilical cord in the iodine solution, making sure it it
      thoroughly covered with iodine.  Some shepherds use a Terramycin
      spray instead of the iodine dip.
    - STRIP the ewe's teats, to make sure the wax plug is gone and
      milk (actually colostrum) comes out.

    You may want to weigh the lamb, and on a very cold night, a
    hair-dryer on the lamb's ears, or a heat lamp, can help a chilled
    lamb get up to speed.  Be careful with heat lamps: use only
    porcelain sockets and heavy duty cords, and keep them at least 36
    inches from bedding or other flammable materials.  Even with every
    precaution, ewes knock lamps over, starting barn fires, and too
    much time under the heat lamp can encourage pneumonia.  For a
    really chilled lamb, some shepherds use a heat box with a hole for
    a hair-dryer, or a bucket of warm water to submerge the lamb
    (except the head, of course).  Try not to wash or dry the lamb too
    much; letting the ewe do the work stimulates the lamb and
    encourages bonding between them.

    When the ewe is finished lambing, which can take a while for twins
    or triplets, gently drag the lambs into the lambing pen.  The ewe
    will follow the trail of smells in the bedding.  She will want a
    bucket of water (warm if possible, adding a few tablespoons of
    molasses will encourage her to drink) and a nice tab of hay.  She
    won't need grain for a day or two, but should have free choice hay
    and plenty of water.  When you spot the afterbirth, usually from
    an hour to eight hours after birth, remove it from the pen.

-------------------------------
Subject: Twins & Triplets

6.  How do I know if the ewe is going to have twins or triplets?

    Sometimes you can tell in advance from the size and shape of the
    ewe.  If another lamb is coming, the ewe may get restless again,
    walking away from her lamb, or lying down with contractions.  The
    second (or third) amnion may break with another flood of fluid.
    If a bag of reddish fluid and a white worm-like tissue, or the
    afterbirth itself, appears, it probably means she is not going to
    have any more lambs that year.  Sometimes the only way to be sure
    whether there is another lamb is to physically examine the ewe
    with a glove and lubricant.  Unless something seems to be awry,
    it's best not to interfere.

-------------------------------
Subject: Rejected Lambs

7.  What do I do if the ewe rejects her lamb?

    Some rookie mothers don't know what to do; they drop a lamb and
    walk away as if they had just pooped.  Putting the lamb in front
    of their noses, or putting them into a pen with the lamb is
    usually enough.  You may have to help the lamb nurse the first
    time.  It usually works better to nudge the lamb from behind, the
    way a ewe does, than to drag it to a teat.  Tickling the lamb's
    bottom when it has the teat in its mouth is often enough to get it
    sucking.  A wagging tail on the lamb, or the belly going in and
    out, is generally a reliable sign the lamb is getting milk
    (actually colostrum the first day).

    Some mothers will reject a lamb, often one of twins or triplets.
    If you hold the ewe so the lamb can nurse, either manually or by
    putting the ewe in a stanchion, after several days the ewe will
    usually begin to accept the lamb.  The key for the ewe is the
    smell of the back end of the lamb; after a few days, the ewe will
    detect her own milk in the lamb's feces.  Another trick is to
    bring a dog into the barn.  Often, the instinct to protect the
    lamb from the dog is strong enough to reestablish the bond of ewe
    and lamb.  If the mother bashes the lamb as well as not allowing
    it to nurse, you may have to take it away and bottle feed it.

    Grafting a lamb to another mother, because the first mother lacks
    milk or has too many lambs, is tricky.  Some techniques include:
    bathing the graftee in amniotic fluids from the new mother, a
    stanchion for forced nursing, tying the feet of an older lamb so
    it won't seem too active, skinning a dead lamb (the way you skin a
    rabbit) and placing the skin over the lamb you want to graft.
    Some shepherds have had luck inflating a balloon in the adopting
    ewe's vagina, which apparently tricks her into thinking she is
    giving birth again.  Whatever the technique, it takes patience and
    luck.  Sometimes a ewe will initially allow the lamb to nurse,
    then later figure out that it isn't her lamb and reject it.

    If there is any chance a lamb may end up a bottle baby, it is a
    good idea to give it a bottle or two fairly early.  Lambs that
    have known only a ewe's teat sometimes are tough to train to a
    bottle.

-------------------------------
Subject: Nursing Problems

8.  What if the lamb can't or won't nurse?

    Make sure the ewe has colostrum by milking each teat.  If the ewe
    wasn't shorn or crutched before lambing, you may need to use hand
    shears to clear some of the dung locks away so the lambs can find
    the teats.  Lambs aren't the brightest little creatures, and will
    often suck away on a tag of wet fleece instead of the teat.

    The lamb may be too small, too cold, or too weak to nurse.  Put
    your finger in the lamb's mouth to see if it is strong enough to
    suck.  If it sucks on the finger, milk 2-4 ounces of colostrum
    from the mother into a baby bottle.  Then, using a nipple that has
    had the hole widened with a hot needle, feed the lamb two ounces
    at a time.  One or two feedings of colostrum may be enough to jump
    start the lamb.

    If the lamb is too weak to suck on your finger, and especially if
    the lamb's mouth is cold, tube feed two ounces of colostrum.  You
    can buy ready-made tube feeders from vet supply houses, or make
    your own from a surgical catheter and a large syringe.  Lubricate
    the tube with a little mineral oil or warm water, measure how much
    tube it takes to reach the lamb's rumen, and slide it down gently.
    Stop frequently and hold a wet finger over the end of the tube; if
    you feel air coming out, you're in the trachea or lungs; pull out
    and start again.  A really weak lamb may also be dehydrated.  You
    can inject 30-50 ml. of 5-10% dextrose solution subcutaneously, in
    three or four spots (10 ml. each) along the back and sides to
    rehydrate the lamb.  You may need to tube feed at 2 or 3 hour
    intervals until the lamb is strong enough to nurse.

    Whatever procedure or combination of procedures you follow, the
    lamb needs feedings of colostrum for the first eight to twelve
    hours.  If the mother doesn't have any, use frozen colostrum saved
    from a ewe with a single lamb, colostrum from a goat or cow, or an
    artificial colostrum.  Frozen colostrum should be heated in a
    double-boiler, or by putting the bottle in a pan of heated water;
    avoid the microwave, which will kill the useful microbodies.

-------------------------------
Subject: Problem Births

9.  How can I tell if a birth isn't going right?

    If a ewe has been in labor for four hours without dilating enough
    to deliver a lamb, if the lamb appears in an unbroken amnion, or
    if you see indications of a presentation other than the normal two
    front feet and the nose of the lamb together, the ewe may need
    help.

    If the cervix of the ewe remains tight after prolonged labor,
    careful manual massage of the vulva may help, or the ewe may need
    an injection of Oxytocsin to induce contractions and to relax the
    cervix.  If the lamb seems to be coming, and the presentation is
    correct, rolling the ewe on her side, or onto the other side, can
    sometimes tip things enough to ease the birth.

    If a lamb appears in an unbroken amnion, use a fingernail to
    gently break the the sack AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.  The danger is
    that the lamb will take a breath inside the sack and drown.

    If the presentation of the lamb is wrong, you will need to help.
    Make sure your fingernails are cut short, put on one or two long
    obstetric examining gloves, and lubricate your gloved hand and arm
    in warm water with dissolved Ivory soap, or with an obstetric
    lubricant.  The ewe should be on her back or her side, with an
    assistant holding her back legs up.  If you're alone, you can tie
    a length of baling twine to her back legs and loop it over your
    neck, or loop a rope over a beam in the barn.  Even ewes who are
    normally shy are often cooperative when you're helping them with
    lambing, but you want to hold her still.  Ease up when she has a
    contraction, so you aren't fighting her; the contractions are
    strong enough to clamp hard on your arm.  You will be working by
    feel, so try to imagine what is connected with what as you GENTLY
    work your fingers into the vaginal canal.  If you don't have an
    assistant to hold a light for you, try to arrange adequate
    lighting.  In a dark barn it is easy to confuse hooves and noses.

    Some presentations are relatively easy.  If one leg and the head
    are in the birth canal, you can usually turn the lamb slightly and
    ease one shoulder out.  If the lamb is in breech position (fanny
    first), pull it out quickly so it doesn't drown in amniotic fluids
    when the cord breaks.  If the presentation is head first without
    the front legs, don't try to pull the lamb out.  Instead, gently
    push the head back in and sort out the hooves so they come out the
    canal with the head.  Sometimes twins are tangled.  Gently sort
    the head and hooves of the twin closest to the cervix into a
    proper presentation.  It's a good idea for a person with a
    relatively small hand to do the job.  It often helps to close your
    eyes and imagine the lamb(s) inside the uterus; once you have a
    clear image of what goes where, you can figure out how to get one
    lamb at a time down the birth canal.  Above all, be GENTLE; the
    tissues are delicate, and perforation of the uterus or birth canal
    is almost certainly fatal to the ewe.  Some presentations, like a
    transverse lamb at the cervix, are jobs for an experienced vet.

    Even with complex presentations, unless the lamb is in breech
    position, patience is often rewarded.  Excessive or premature
    intervention can cause or aggravate problems that would otherwise
    work themselves out in time.  

    If you have intervened, even with a sterile glove, you probably
    want to give the ewe either a uterine antibiotic bolus or an
    injection of Penicillin afterwards.

-------------------------------
Subject: Timing Births

10. I can't be home in the daytime (or don't want to stay up all
    night).  Is there a way to get the ewes to lamb when I want them
    to instead of at all hours of the day and night?

    Maybe.  Ewes are creatures of habit.  Recent experiments suggest
    that shepherds can take advantage of the ewe's conditioned diurnal
    cycle to concentrate lambing at a convenient period of the day or
    night.  There are two parts to the program: 1) feeding the ewes at
    a consistent time every day; and 2) not providing any stimuli
    during the night that will confuse the cycle.  The latter means no
    unnecessary noise and no bright lights in the barn at night; all
    checking of the flock is done with a flashlight and quietly.  Ron
    Parker, in Minnesota, feeds his flock in the morning, follows the
    quiet regime at night, and reports that 85% of his ewes lamb in
    the daytime.  At Maple Lawn Farm we feed hay in the morning, grain
    at 5pm, follow the quiet regime in nighttime barn checks, and 90%
    of our lambs are born in the daytime or early evening.  With
    different feeds, breeds, climate, or barn setup, your mileage may
    vary.

-------------------------------
Subject: Aged Ewes

11. When is a ewe too old to keep?

    There is no fixed age for retirement.  Older ewes can be wonderful
    mothers and raise healthy, fast-growing lambs: the ewes will have
    built up a broad range of antibodies which they pass on, and the
    mothering instinct seems to grow stronger with time.  Eventually,
    old ewes get tired.  The uterus loses elasticity, the udder may
    lose capacity either through a bout with mastitis or just aging of
    the plumbing, and sometimes the muscle tissues of the abdomen get
    so weak that the weight of a lamb or lambs stretches the
    musculature beyond its ability to retension.  Some older ewes may
    not be able to deliver lamb(s) unaided, even with a normal
    presentation.  If an older ewe has trouble producing colostrum
    right after birth, giving her warm water with molasses and a
    little grain to build up her energy may help; kneading and
    massaging the udder, or banging it the way a lamb does, may also
    encourage the milk to drop down.  A loss of elasticity in the
    uterus, a permanent drop of the abdominal tissues, or an inability
    to produce colostrum or milk means it's time to cull the ewe.

-------------------------------
Subject: Drying Off Ewes

13. What do I do if the lamb(s) die?

    If a ewe loses her lambs, and you don't have another lamb to graft
    onto her, it is important to gradually reduce her production of
    milk.  The easiest procedure is to keep her in a pen, feeding her
    small rations of the lowest nutrition hay you have, and holding
    down her water intake.  Don't feed her any grain.  It may help to
    milk her out a few times.  If it is early enough, milk out and
    save her colostrum in the freezer for emergency use in future
    years.  When her bag is soft, you can put her onto a pasture, but
    avoid lush pasturage for a while.

-------------------------------
Subject: Prolapses

14. What do I do if the ewe prolapses?

    There are three kinds of prolapse that can affect a ewe.  During
    gestation, the growth of lambs can cause the vagina or rectum to
    prolapse, an unfortunate consequence of large lambs and good
    nutritional programs.  An occasional bulge of pink flesh that
    emerges from the vulva when the ewe lies down and retracts when
    she gets up and walks around may not be cause for concern, but
    keep an eye on her.  If a grapefruit-sized mass of red flash
    protrudes and stays out, the ewe needs immediate attention.

    To treat vaginal prolapse, pen the ewe and raise her rear legs
    (standing her back legs on a bale of hay works) to relieve the
    pressure.  Wash the protruding flesh with mild soap and water and
    replace it gently, watching out that your fingernails don't tear
    the tender flesh.  There are three options for holding the
    prolapse in place.  You can take stitches in the top and bottom of
    the vulva, using a quick-release knot that can be pulled out at
    birth.  _The TV Vet Sheep Book_ (Farming Press Ltd.) recommends
    this technique and shows how to do it.  Another choice is the
    plastic prolapse retainers sold by the vet supply houses; the
    instructions say to tie twine from the ends of the retainer to the
    ewe's wool, but it is easier and more secure to put a bell collar
    on the ewe and run tight twine ties from the collar to the
    prolapse retainer.  A third option is a twine harness for the ewe,
    a procedure described in Ron Parker, _The Sheep Book_ (Ballantine,
    1984).  Many shepherds believe the tendency toward vaginal
    prolapse is hereditary and a good reason to cull the ewe and her
    lambs.

    A ewe can prolapse the entire uterus after birth.  This is a
    situation for a vet, but in a pinch you can carefully wash the
    protruding uterus, sprinkle it with sugar to make it shrink, and
    carefully replace it.  The ewe should be treated with antibiotics
    afterward.  A partially expelled afterbirth looks much like the
    inside of the uterus.  Be careful not to confuse them.

-------------------------------
Subject: Medications

15. What medications do the ewe and lamb need after birth?

    Ewes are susceptible to a rise in worms after lambing, and should
    be given a dose of wormer the next day.  If you had to intervene
    to assist with the birth, the ewe may need an antibiotic series.
    If the afterbirth isn't expelled within twelve hours, you may want
    to give the ewe an injection of Oxytocsin.

    Local conditions will determine what, if any, medication the lambs
    need.  If you didn't dip the navel in iodine immediately after
    birth, you may want to give the lambs a precautionary injection of
    Penicillin.  If your pastures and feed are selenium-deficient, and
    you've had lambs develop white-muscle disease, you may want to
    inject lambs with BOSE (selenium & vitamin E supplement); the
    minimum recommended dose of 2ml. may be too much for a newborn;
    try 0.5ml.  If you've had pneumonia problems with lambs, you may
    want to administer PI-3, a nasal vaccine approved for cows, at
    birth.  If the ewes weren't vaccinated with CD/T before lambing,
    you should vaccinate the lambs early; otherwise, wait until the
    lambs are at least a month old before their first vaccination with
    CD/T.  The tetanus part of CD/T may only be necessary if you have
    equines on your farm or other indications of tetanus.

    Watch for entropion, a turned-in eyelash (usually the lower) that
    irritates the lamb's eye and produces profuse tearing.  Some
    shepherds recommend injecting 0.5ml of Penicillin into the lower
    eyelid to force the lash away from the eye.  An less-intrusive
    procedure is to manually roll the eyelash out several times a day
    while the lambs are in the pens.

    A few days after birth, and before the lambs are out of the
    lambing pens, you will want to band or cut the tails, apply ear
    tags or tattoos, and possibly castrate ram lambs that are not
    going to be bred.

-------------------------------
Subject: Lambing Pens

15. How long should the lambs and mothers stay in the lambing pens?

    A veteran with a strong single lamb could come out after
    twenty-four hours.  Rookies, and ewes with multiple lambs, should
    stay in for two or three days, until the ewes have thoroughly
    bonded with their lambs.  Sometimes, if you let them out early,
    the lambs can get lost, or ewes can forget their lambs in the rush
    for feeders.  You might have to put them back for another day or
    two.  If you have a large flock of rambunctious ewes, you may want
    to move new mothers and lambs to a calm nursery area for a few
    days before they rejoin the flock.

    After the ewe and lambs leave the pen, clean it out as much as
    possible, lime thoroughly with hydrated lime, and rebed with fresh
    straw before the next tenants move in.

-------------------------------
Subject: Orphans

16. What do I do with orphans (bummers)?

    Lambs without mothers, or whose mothers don't have enough milk for
    them, can be raised on milk-replacer.  For the first twelve hours,
    the lambs should have only colostrum.  Then, one option is to put
    them in a pen with free-choice cold milk-replacer from a bucket
    with nipples.  The other choice is to feed warm milk-replacer from
    a bottle, which will allow the lamb to stay with its mother, who
    may have some milk.  The lamb will probably learn to sneak milk
    from other mothers too.  For the first few days, the lamb
    shouldn't get more than four ounces per feeding, six times a day.
    You can then gradually increase the amount and decrease the number
    of feedings per day.  After two weeks, two or three bottles a day
    is plenty.  Baby bottles work best for little lambs.  Later, beer
    or soda bottles with lamb nipples are fine.  More than 12-16
    ounces in a feeding is likely to induce scours.  Unless you like
    chasing lambs all hours of the night with a bottle, encourage
    bottle babies to eat grain and leafy alfalfa in the creep as young
    as possible, so you can wean them early.

    Some lambs need a little help but not a complete bottle regimen.
    The runt of triplets, or even of twins, may need a bottle or two a
    day to keep up.  You can usually see when one lamb isn't getting a
    fair share: hungry lambs are often hunched up; they cry; if
    they're really hungry, their mouths will be cold.  Sometimes a
    bottle or two will get them going again, or they may need a bottle
    or two a day to supplement the mother's milk production.

-------------------------------
Subject: Care of Lactating Ewes

17. What care do lactating ewes need?

    A good ewe pours so much of the nutrition she consumes into
    producing milk that it is difficult for her to maintain her
    weight.  You want to give her energy-rich grain, a pound a day for
    ewes with singles, as much as two pounds per day for ewes with
    twins and triplets, along with free-choice of the highest protein
    hay you have, such as good leafy alfalfa or early-cut timothy, and
    plenty of clean fresh water.  If you're lambing in late spring,
    the ewes may do fine on fresh pasture.  Try to check the udders of
    the ewes daily, watching for signs of mastitis.  A hot red bag, or
    a cold blue bag, are bad signs.  If you detect mastitis, treat as
    soon as possible with antibiotics, both systemic and applied
    directly by teat infusion.  It may help to milk out a bad teat.

-------------------------------
Subject: Human Health Concerns

18. Are there any human health concerns related to lambing?

    Pregnant ewes fed on silage are susceptible to listeriosis, also
    called `circling disease,' which can cause abortions.  The
    organism which causes listeriosis is transmissible to humans.  The
    UK Department of Health recommends that pregnant women avoid
    contact with pregnant ewes, lambing, newborn lambs, milking, and
    afterbirths in sheep flocks susceptible to listeriosis.

    Toxoplasmosis, a coccidial organism carried by domestic cats, can
    cause late abortion in ewes or result in dead or weak lambs.  The
    coccidia can cause encephalitis in pre-natal children. Pregnant
    women should avoid contact with the aborted lambs and with cats
    that might carry toxoplasmosis.

    There is also risk for pregnant women from Chlamydia psittaci,
    an abortive agent for ewes which has an affinity for the human
    placenta and can prompt abortion or stillbirths.  Pregnant women
    should avoid any contact with an aborted lamb fetus.

    Salmonella typyhimurium (Salmonellosis), cryptosporidia, a
    protozoan disease which affects lambs and humans, and orf (sore
    mouth) are potential health dangers from sheep.  Appropriate
    hygiene -- keeping children away from lamb feces and sore mouth
    lesions -- is generally sufficient to prevent any problems.

-------------------------------
Subject: Pasture Lambing

19. Do I need a barn for lambing?  What about lambing in the pasture?

    Pasture lambing, with the potential savings of equipment and
    labor, is more and more popular, now that the demise of the Wool
    Incentive Act has lowered the margins for sheep farming.  A
    pasture is a clean environment, and except in the most extreme
    weather, a well-fed ewe can take care of her lambs on a pasture.
    You should check on newborn lambs to make sure they're nursing,
    and perhaps to dip their navels in iodine.  You may want to erect
    a temporary lambing pen for the ewe and lamb(s), or bring the ewe
    and lambs into a shelter for the first few days.  Other ewes who
    have not yet lambed may try to `adopt' the new lambs, and fighting
    marauders off can exhaust a ewe who has just delivered.  Newborn
    lambs are also prime prey for coyotes.  A temporary shelter or pen
    also gives you a chance to watch for nursing problems, scours or
    other neonatal concerns, and keeps the lambs nearby for
    injections, tail docking, castration, and ear tagging.

-------------------------------
Subject: Are Sheep Wild Animals

20. Why do ewes need help lambing?  Wild animals do it without help.

    Sheep aren't wild animals anymore.  The sheep we raise have been
    bred to produce multiple-births and big, fast-growing lambs.
    Usually, they can give birth without help, and do a marvelous job
    of taking care of their lambs.  When the lambs are too big, or if
    there are more lambs than the mother's milk can support, we help
    out.  In return, we get the pleasure of watching the miracle of
    birth and one of the strongest and loveliest bonds in nature.

-------------------------------
Subject: Credits

21. Who wrote this FAQ?

    The author is Ronald Florence <[email-masked]>, who raises
    Cotswold sheep in Stonington, Connecticut.  Additional material
    was contributed by Warner Granade <[email-masked]> and Paul
    Isaac <[email-masked]>.

-------------------------------
Subject: Copyright

22. May I use this FAQ in my homepage, book, talk, or article?

    This document is copyright 1994-96 by Ronald Florence.  Permission
    is granted to copy this document in electronic form, or to print
    it for personal use, provided that this copyright notice is not
    removed or altered.  No portion of this work may be sold, by
    itself or as part of a larger work, without the express written
    permission of the author; this restriction includes but is not
    limited to print, digital media, and electronic transmission.

    If the date in the headers of the document you're reading
    is more than 60 days old, you should retrieve a current copy.
    The latest version of this document is available via ftp or WWW:

       ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/rural/
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    or by email to <[email-masked]> with the line

       send usenet/news.answers/rural/lambing-faq

    in the body of the message.
-- 

				Ronald Florence