1. Care for the Ewe and the newborn lamb

2. Post lambing check - Ewe
Is the ewe standing up and licking / interacting with the lambs?
Water available
Check the udder (milk?)
Check an hour after lambing:
Prolapsed uterus
Drinking & Eating & Alert
(Afterbirth)

3. Post lambing check - Ewe
When you assisted the birth
Any tears inside?
Any lambs left inside?
Give antibiotics & anti-inflammatories
Is the ewe standing up and licking / interacting with the lambs?
Water available
Check the udder (milk?)
Check an hour after lambing:
Prolapsed uterus
Drinking & Eating & Alert
(Afterbirth)

4. Post lambing check – Lambs
Clear nose & mouth
If not breathing immediately
Clear airways
hold lamb up at the back legs
Stimulate breathing
Tickle the nose with a bit of straw
Baptise the lamb’s head with cold water
Easy-breathing drops on the tongue
Artificial breathing: lift the ribs and push down
Forcefully rub the lamb’s back
(simulate the ewe licking the lamb)
Dip navel

5. Post lambing check – Lambs
During the next few hours
Are lambs up and suckling?
Bright behaviour
Full bellies
Sleeping peacefully
Are lambs weak?
Check for hypotermia & abnormalities
Lambs that do not feed will get weaker over the first days
Are lambs hungry?
Check if the ewe is rejecting the lambs
Check the ewe for mastitis or lacking in milk
Check the ewe for any illness

6. Lamb hypothermia Hypothermia = body temperature is too low
Normal temperature of a lamb
(39 – 40 ºC)
Lamb is born with a small amount of energy reserves (brown fat)
Hypothermia occurs when this energy is used up and no new energy source has entered the lamb

7. Lamb hypothermia Which lambs are at risk?
Lambs from a long and difficult birth
Lambs that do not feed quickly after birth
Small lambs
(higher surface to body ratio results in more heat loss)
Wet lambs
Lambs in a cold / windy environment

8. Lamb hypothermia Treatment Moderate hypothermia (temp. 37-39 ºC)
& less than 5 hours old
Vigorously dry the lamb with
a towel
Give warm colostrum,
ml every 2 hours
Warm the lamb under a
heat lamp in a sheltered pen
Still some brown fat is available

9. Lamb hypothermia Treatment Serious hypothermia (temp. < 37 ºC)
& less than 5 hours old
Dry the lamb
Heat up rapidly by dipping
in warm (40 ºC) water or
use a warming box with hot
air (37-40 ºC)
Give colostrum when the rectal temperature has come
up to 38 ºC

10. Lamb hypothermia Treatment Serious hypothermia (temp. < 37 ºC)
& more than 5 hours old
No energy available in its body, lamb is low
in blood glucose
Towel dry the lamb
Give glucose
best in the abdomen, at 39 ºC, 10 ml/kg of a 20% glucose solution
Can be given in 2 doses under the skin
Always absolute cleanliness
disinfect injection site, use a new needle
and sterile syringe
Warm the lamb in a warming box or
hot water
Give colostrum when the rectal temperature has come up to
38 ºC, use a stomach tube

11. The importance of Colostrum
Warmth
Energy
Antibodies to diseases
Absorbed through the gut lining in first 6 hours only
Providing local protection against pathogens attaching to the gut wall (scour)
Quantity
50ml/kg liveweight per feed, min 210ml/kg bodyweight in 1st 24hrs
Quickly
First 6 hrs of life, small frequent feeds in first 24 hrs

12. Starvation of lambs Empty bellies Lambs become progressively weaker
Starving lambs can become hypothermic
See ‘Trouble shooting
chart for starving lamb’

13. Practical
Treat problems with newborn lambs
See notes