Not all lambs make it all the way from conception to birth. On occasion we see a litter where some are full term healthy lambs, but there is also a mummy or a partially formed lamb. Deciding how to enter data in these cases can be confusing. But here are
Pregnant ewes experience a tremendous strain on their abdominal muscles and tendons as their lambs grow, especially during the last few weeks of pregnancy. The abdominal muscles and tendons are attached to the ribcage, vertebrae and pelvis (grey lines in picture) with the muscles and tendons forming a hammock (pink)
Sooner or later, nearly every shepherd has a lamb that needs to be supplemented. Whether it’s a rejected lamb, one whose dam has died, or simply a lamb whose dam has insufficient milk, identifying these lambs early and getting them off to a good start is essential. Other lambs at
As producers we organize our barns for lambing according to what works best in our own situation. Here, three producers, from Iowa, Kentucky and Maine, share how they manage their sheep during lambing, with a focus on barn lambing. Producers were asked to describe how their lambing barn is organized
Lambing season encompasses the last few weeks of gestation through lambing and early lactation. There are a lot of preventable problems that can arise during this season and derail the health and productivity of your ewes and lamb crop. Below is a compilation of management tips to help keep your
The best diet that you can offer your lambs is good quality colostrum, followed by milk that they consume straight from their healthy, well-fed dam. Unfortunately, things do not always go as planned and all shepherds should be ready to, at least temporarily, supplement or replace a lamb’s colostrum needs
We all love finding new lambs all dried off and nursing, but sometimes ewes need a little help to get there. In general, less intervention is better and if ewes are not having trouble, they will do better lambing and bonding with their lambs if you do not disturb them
We’ve all experienced a sick sheep, or at least one that doesn’t look quite right, but how do we distinguish a serious illness from one that is mild, or simply normal behavior? While your veterinarian should always be your primary source of medical advice, it’s still important that shepherds have
A producer needs a way to weigh animals when they want to understand how well their lambs are growing, and when to take them to market. There are a variety of reasons to weigh animals, depending on what data you are collecting and what results you want to be able
The versatility of sheep offers a gateway into sustainable land management and food production, a low input meat source and an overall easy-care animal for a variety of individuals. As the number of small-flock EAPK members increases, the appeal for a befitting column has cropped up. Whether you are a
Gestation in sheep varies from 142 to 152 days with the average being 147 days. Just like people, individual pregnancies can vary, gestation periods of 138 to 159 days are not unheard of. Ewes carrying multiple lambs tend to have shorter gestations while male lambs (and heavy birth weight lambs) are usually carried for longer than female lambs. The form above calculates the lambing date based on a 147 day gestation period.
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