Planning for lambing season

Damian Costello, Teagasc Sheep Specialist, reminds us to start planning for lambing season.

The key focus in the run-up to lambing should be having a plan in place to minimise the level of lamb mortality within your flock. Along with the obvious benefit of ending up with more lambs on the ground, less time spent caring for sick or weak lambs is a welcome labour saver, while reduced antibiotic usage is another plus.

The first step is an appropriate late pregnancy nutrition plan that encompasses feeding ewes to litter size and expected lambing date. Seek advice with this if necessary, as getting it right means lambs being born at optimum birth weight, giving them the best chance of survival. Furthermore, the dam will have an ample supply of colostrum to give the best start in life to her newborns. The aim should be that all lambs get an adequate feed of colostrum as soon as possible after birth, in the majority of cases suckled from the ewe.

Where stomach tubing is necessary, 5% of lamb bodyweight or 50ml/kg birthweight for a first feed is the guideline. Have individual pens assembled, limed and bedded before lambing is due to commence. Focus on hygiene around the lambing shed. Ideally, individual lambing pens should be cleaned out and limed after each use. Don’t spare the fresh straw when bedding individual pens to ensure a dry and warm environment for young lambs and also help provide a barrier to potential sources of infection. Make a list of essential lambing supplies and equipment that need to be purchased and stock up. Having these items at your fingertips when you need them will save lambs. Wishing you all the best of luck for the 2023 lambing season.

This article was publised in the Teagasc Sheep Newsletter - February 2023. Download the Full Publication (PDF)

Also read: Late pregnancy nutrition: energy demand, ration composition and protein source