After the lambs are dropped or born , they are
moved to the jugs. Try not to rush the ewe and lambs into the jug
unless the lambs are threatened in some way. If you try to move them too early,
you risk stressing the ewes and lambs and interfering with the bonding process between the ewe and
her lambs. Try to wait until they are up and nursing and the ewe has
finished cleaning them up.
How to Move Newborn Lambs
If you need to move newborn lambs, they will be
slippery and hard to hold onto. It helps to use a clean towel to
pick the lambs up. Hold them right up to the ewe’s nose and walk to the
barn. You can walk backward or hold the lambs off to the side so
the ewe remains in close contact and in full sight of the lambs.
Don't hold the lambs too high as the ewe will lose track of them. The lambs may be calling. This is good as it will help keep the ewe
with her lambs. Head toward the barn slowly, about 10 feet at time,
stopping while the ewe licks the lambs and gains confidence that she
is with her lambs. The ewe will generally follow if you don’t move
too quickly. Never let her lose sight of her lambs or she will
likely run back to the birth spot to look for them. If that happens,
go back to the birth spot and show her the lambs again. If she won’t
approach or if panic ensues each time you try to move the ewe and
lambs you will have a couple of choices. Put the lambs
back down in the birthing spot and move away. Give the ewe more
time with her lambs before attempting to move them. Alternatively,
you can put the lambs in the jug in the barn quickly
without the ewe and then move the ewe in by herself. Reunite the
group in the jug and move away to give the ewe time to relax and
bond with her lambs once again.
Note that Laura Lawson recommends using a laundry basket for
moving lambs into jugs. Tie a long rope to the basket and drag the
lambs in slowly with the ewe following along.
Don’t reuse towels on other lambs as you will
transfer unfamiliar birthing fluid smells and will increase the
chances of lamb rejection. Always use new towels with each new set
of lambs.
Once at the jug, you can check to ensure milk
is flowing from both teats by stripping them with your finger tips.
There is a waxy plug at the end of the teat that prevents dirt and
germs from entering the udder. Trim the navel cord if necessary. (Note
that when the lamb begins to nurse the wax plug naturally softens
and dissolves and the ewe will usually trim the cord herself
by biting it off.) If it is your practice, you can dip the navel
cord in iodine to help guard against infection.
How to Dip a Navel Cord:
Fill a small
bottle, like a spice jar, about 2/3 full with 7 % iodine.
Tip the lamb onto its
rear and then catch the navel cord in the jar. Tip the jar right
onto
the belly of the lamb and hold for a moment to soak both the cord and
the surrounding belly
tissue. The iodine solution will help dry and disinfect the area.
Some shepherds dip once, some twice – a day or so apart, others so
not dip at
all. Discuss this with your vet to determine the best course of
action. I dipped navels faithfully the first few years of lambing
but stopped a number of years ago. I have not had any problems to
date.
The shepherd can monitor the lambs easily in
the jugs to ensure that they are getting enough food and bonding
well with the ewe. Typically the new family is in the jug for 1-3
days then put out into a small claiming pen with a few other ewes
with lambs. This allows the lambs and ewe time to adjust and
learn to find each other before rejoining the main flock.
If you want to help your sheep become more
accustomed to you, handle the lambs and ewes frequently and gently
in the jugs. You can make detailed notes on the lambs while in the
jugs as well. You may want to make notes on conformation, color,
fleece type, mothering ability of the ewe etc.
The lambs need to be identified with a tag or
tattoo. I use a very small Ketchum # 3 aluminum tag first. They
can be put in small Shetland ears right at birth. (At 1-2 weeks I
put in a larger colored plastic Roto Tag which can be read from a
distance more easily.) Be sure to record carefully each time you
tag a lamb. Check to be sure the tag is moving freely when the lamb
leaves the jug. If the ear has become infected, put a bit of iodine
on it to clean it up before releasing the lamb.
As the ewe leaves the jug with her lambs, it is
an excellent time to tip her and worm and trim hooves if this
hasn't been done just prior to lambing. While she is tipped, you can take a good look at her udder as well to be
sure there are no signs of Mastitis before turning her out.
Note that there is a rise in worm load at lambing referred to
as the periparturient worm rise so it is a good idea to worm your
ewes at lambing. Check with your vet to determine your best
worming regimen. Double check your records and tag numbers as the
ewe and her lambs leave the jug.
Put the ewe and her lambs into a smaller claiming pen with a
few other ewes for a few hours, to adjust and get accustomed
to finding each other before turning out into a large pasture.
Some shepherds prefer to keep their ewes inside
the barn to drop their lambs; some prefer a small pen outside. The
drop area must be clean. Fresh straw or clean grass work well. If
your ewes are housed, the barn will need to be cleaned frequently to
prevent the build up of ammonia and germs. Ewes prefer to have some
privacy and distance from other sheep when they lamb. You can help
by ensuring there are some private corners or areas in the barn
available. The ewe in the picture is seeking privacy
behind the panel and lambed there about 1 hour later.
One of the characteristics of a good
Shetland ewe is good mothering ability. This means lambing, nursing
and raising lambs unassisted. A good ewe keeps track of her lambs
and allows the lambs to nurse frequently. She is never too far from
her lambs and comes when they are in distress. The lambs grow
quickly in this low stress, high nutrition environment.
You will find that you can trust your Shetland ewes to take care of their lambs. In fact you may soon realize that
your assistance is rarely required. As you become more experienced
and depending on your circumstances and preferences, you may want to
consider lambing outside and leaving more of the lambing work to
your ewes!
Pasture Lambing
This method of lambing is an approximation of a
more natural system. It involves allowing the ewes to lamb on
their own outside on pasture. The lambs and new moms are not
moved into individual jugs or kept in small pens close to the barn.
Rather lambs are tagged out in the field and remain there with the
ewe. Lambing is generally timed to coincide with the first flush of
grass so the ewe has a good supply of grazing with in a few feet of
the birthing spot. This also means that the weather is warmer and
kinder to newborn lambs. This is sometimes referred to as
‘lambing to grass’. In my area of Alberta, Canada this would
be in May and early June. Timing might be earlier in more
southern locations.
In the pasture lambing a system along these lines is employed.
Each morning and late afternoon during lambing, the ewe flock
is very gently pushed to move along to fresh grazing as the shepherd
comes to check for new lambs. The ewes with new lambs tend to
remain at their birthing spot with their lambs while the rest of the
flock moves along to the fresh grass. The lambs are then caught,
tagged and recorded. The shepherd carries everything he or she
needs in a pail or tote bag with pockets. The ewe is caught
and tipped if necessary to ensure the teats are flowing.
At that time toes can be trimmed and the ewe can be wormed though
this may be done prior to lambing. It is easier if the sheep
are accustomed to the shepherd and if the shepherd has a good deal
of experience. Most interventions if necessary, such as assisting
with lambing or tubing a chilled lamb, are carried out right on the
spot. If grass is a bit sparse the shepherd might bring along hay in
a vehicle and leave a few flakes of hay with each group.
Some argue that pasture lambing is less
stressful as there is minimal disruption to the ewe and her lambs
which translates into maximized growth rates in the lambs. Other
benefits include fewer health and parasite loads as can be a problem
on smaller, heavily used drop areas close to the barn. No need for
jugs means less time and money spent on barns, shelter, straw, clean
up of bedding.
Pasture lambing gives the ewes the best
opportunity to show that they are good mothers. The poor
mothers stand out easily as behaviors such as not keeping track of
lambs, not allowing lambs to nurse frequently, not seeking shelter
for lambing that may be harder to see in jug system, will be
very obvious in pasture lambing.
Successful pasture lambing requires large
pastures, very effective predator control, ewes in top health and
lambing condition along with an experienced shepherd who can judge
whether intervention is necessary and do most interventions on the
spot if needed.
Modified Approaches to
Lambing
There are no hard and fast rules about how you
manage lambing on your farm. You can modify your system to
suit your farm set up, your skill, confidence level and time
available as you gain experience.
I started my first year with a small starter
flock of 4, penned close to the barn with access to the barn during
the day and closed in the barn at night using jugs for each group.
I checked frequently during the day and night. In the first
few years I intervened more often that I now know is necessary!
I lambed earlier in the spring when it was colder and lambs needed
more attention. I kept my ewes closer to the barn in smaller
pens so they spent more time getting chubby or over conditioned and
got less exercise. I bedded and cleaned jugs, set up heat lamps.
The system worked well but as my flock numbers grew along with my
experience I realized that I was working much harder than was
necessary. I continued to modify my method each year.
Eight years later, I now lamb 100 -150
ewes by myself and expect my ewes to do most of the work - not me!
I time lambing for late spring here in Canada, when the weather is
better and grass is just beginning to grow. I lamb the very
large majority of the ewes outside in large pens and pastures so
they have lots of room. This helps avoid interfering ewes and mixed
up moms and lambs. The ewes are in excellent physical
condition coming into lambing having had lots of exercise over the
winter grazing hay land. A physically fit ewe, not over fat,
is less likely to need help lambing. I spread straw with the
tractor in various sheltered areas where ewes like to lamb in case
of bad weather. Little time is needed cleaning the barn or
jugs. The ground is cleaner so I have fewer worm and diarrhea
problems. The air is fresher so there are fewer coughs
as well. Ammonia can build up quickly in the barn. I check the
pastures frequently during the day from first to last light, but not
during the night. I carry a zipper top tote bag with the
supplies that I need. This keeps my papers safe dry if there is any
rain or wind and also keeps nosey ewes out of the bag! I
tag lambs with small aluminum Ketchum # 3 tags right away and record
them. I don't dip navels or band ram lambs. In each pen or
pasture I have a small area penned off in a corner or in a
shelter, that I can use if needed. Sometimes a ewe that has
not yet lambed interferes with a lambing ewe or perhaps a first time
lamber is overly anxious and is not letting the lambs nurse.
Any cases needing just a bit of help, can go into that separate area
for a few hours to help them get off to a better start. (I
also make a note of ewes that require assistance to lamb or mother
up and of those ewes that interfere with other ewes. I use
these notes in culling decisions.) I have a few jugs set up in
the barn near my vet supplies, ready for problem ewes/lambs if
necessary. One of these jugs has a head gate if I need to
restrain or milk a ewe to help a rejected lamb for
example.
I try to keep the lambing process as natural
and trouble free as possible by doing my job as a shepherd as well
as I can to bring the ewes to lambing in the best possible condition
with the best possible chance of lambing successfully. I
expect my Shetland ewes to do their job as well, to lamb, mother,
nurse and protect their lambs independently and give me healthy,
growthy lambs at weaning time. I think this is an important
quality of good Shetland breeding stock.
