Many of the flocks we look after are embarking upon their busiest time of year, which is lambing. As a farm vet this also means that we are busiest now too. The increased workload is because the peri-parturient period comes with some risks, and this means the chance of needing veterinary help increases.

There is a lot to cover when it comes to what problems may occur and when thinking about how to prevent these issues, I tend to break them down into different areas of consideration. First, we think about pre-lambing preparation and what measures we can take to ensure the ewe is in the best condition to support the healthy development, birth, and growth of their unborn lambs. Secondly, I cover lambing itself, what to look out for, what is normal and how to know when to intervene and some tips for doing so. And then, thirdly I look at care of the new-born lambs and the common post-partum diseases, and how to treat them. Rather than cramming all of this into one edition, I will be covering all these areas in a three-part series of articles over the next few weeks.

In the last eight weeks prior to lambing the ewe’s body will be under high nutritional demand, so it is important her diet is providing enough energy and protein to meet these needs. The lambs will be rapidly growing at this stage plus the ewe’s udder will be preparing for lactation and producing colostrum – which contains vital proteins, including antibodies as well as vitamins, minerals, and energy critical for lamb survival. We check the diet to ensure it is balanced for these needs and we check the ewe’s bloods to ensure she is getting enough for her own maintenance too. We run silage analysis to see what is in the forage and gauge how much supplementation may be added. The ewe will develop a limited ruminal capacity for forage when the lambs take up more room, so a good quality concentrate is key. When we blood sample the ewes it is to test their protein and energy levels. Ewes must have adequate trough space too, as it is all very well having a formulated diet, but they must be able to have unlimited access to it. We advise regular body condition scoring of the flock throughout the year, to monitor the response to any dietary and husbandry changes and see how they cope. It is important to record trends in weight loss and gain. A thin ewe will produce poor colostrum, little milk, and small lambs. Ewes that are too fat will be at increased risk of metabolic diseases and conditions such as vaginal prolapses.

One of the biggest causes of neonatal lamb loss is bacterial clostridial disease. Thankfully we can vaccinate ewes against such diseases in the last weeks prior to lambing. It is important that these are given to the ewes at the specified time to ensure the production of high levels of clostridial antibodies in their colostrum. These antibodies are ingested and absorbed by the neonatal lambs, so they are protected against these common and life-threatening diseases.

To learn more about how you can prepare for lambing why not attend one of our lambing courses at Friars Moor? The next available date is February 23, so ring the practice on 01258 472314 to book a place.

By Alice Miller BVSC DBR MRCVS
Friars Moor Livestock Health