The Farmers Mart Dec/Jan 2014 - Issue 31 | Page 38

LAMBING

THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL
LAMBING - PREPARATION
EMILY ROBINSON BVetMed MRCVS of the Scarsdale Vets Farm and
Equine provides some useful guidance on preparations for lambing time.
Getting the ewe’s nutritional state
right in the weeks before lambing
is the most important element for a
successful lambing time.
Ewes have to be in optimal body
condition for the rigours of the last six
weeks of pregnancy when 70 percent of
foetal growth occurs and particularly the
final two weeks, during the peak phase
of udder development. Getting it wrong
will result in low birth weight lambs and
poor quality colostrum which will both
lead to poor survival rates.
Ewes should be grouped according
to the numbers of lambs found on
ultrasound scanning and their general
condition score. Thin sheep and those
with twin or triplet lambs can be given
extra rations with the goal of producing
target body condition scores of around
3 in lowland flocks and perhaps 2 on
leaner lambing hill ewes. Improving the
BCS of a thin animal takes some time
so flock holders should not leave this
selection until the last minute.

‘Flocks should start
receiving extra rations
six to eight weeks prelambing, with good
quality concentrate’
The need for supplementary feeding
will depend on the quality of the forage
available as well as the nutritional
state of the animals. Flocks should
start receiving extra rations six to
eight weeks pre-lambing with good
quality concentrate. This should be
introduced slowly and fed at less than
0.5 kg per head to avoid the risk of
acidosis. Getting the mineral balance
is also important to prevent metabolic
problems; calcium concentrations should
be below 1% and magnesium levels
should also be kept low. Those farmers
intending to lamb indoors should also

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Dec/Jan 2014 FarmersMart

be thinking about housing. A typical 70
kg ewe requires 1 sq m of floor space
and 45 cm trough space: overcrowding
will lead to a host of problems resulting
from stress, poor hygiene and rapid
disease transmission. The sheds should
have draught-free ventilation and there
should be plentiful stores of clean, dry
bedding. If ewes are being brought
indoors, this should be done at least two
weeks before lambing at a time when
their fleece is dry to avoid introducing
excessive moisture.

‘Losses can be
greatly reduced
with appropriate
preventive treatment’
When those lambs do start to appear,
it is almost inevitable that there will
be some losses to disease. These
can, however, be greatly reduced with
appropriate preventive treatment. Flock
holders should discuss their vaccination
policies with their veterinary advisors
well in advance. In the case of the most
readily controlled fatal condition of
newborn lambs, clostridial disease, the
best time to be vaccinating the ewe is
between six and eight weeks before
lambing with a follow up dose to lambs
at six weeks of age.
Other diseases of both ewes and
lambs are