Countdown to Lambing: Essential Preparations for 2025’s Flock Success!

Lambing is imminent for numerous sheep farmers, and this period undoubtedly marks the peak of activity on these farms. Padraig Glynn offers insightful advice on how to gear up for a fruitful lambing season.

Proper preparation for lambing is vital to guarantee high lamb survival rates, minimize morbidity, and streamline workloads during this hectic time. Here are some key aspects to consider when gearing up for a successful lambing season;

Nutrition

75% of fetal development happens in the final six weeks of gestation. Sufficient nutrition for ewes during these last 6 weeks is crucial to ensuring adequate lamb birth weight and colostrum availability. Ewes that are inadequately fed during pregnancy will give birth to lighter lambs, yield less colostrum and produce lower quality milk. These smaller lambs are more susceptible to infectious diseases and health issues.

There are four primary considerations that must be addressed when evaluating the diet of ewes pre-lambing; scanning results, phase of pregnancy, ewe body condition score, and the quality of available forage.

Scanning is vital to determine how much supplemental feeding each ewe requires prior to lambing. Categorizing the ewes into groups based on triplets, twins, and singles will facilitate providing the correct amount of concentrates to each ewe. A diet comprised of high-quality grains like barley, wheat, and maize mixed with a protein source such as soybean meal is recommended. This approach will fulfill both energy and protein needs of pregnant ewes. Mineral supplementation should also be included.

*Standard Meal feeding plan – Based on ewes given high-quality silage, 70% DMD, and a Body Condition Score of 3.0

Body Condition of Ewes

It is optimal for ewes pre-lambing to have a minimum body condition score (BCS) of 3, with a preferred BCS of 3.25 at lambing. Ewes scoring less than 3 should receive additional concentrates from mid to late gestation to elevate their BCS before lambing. Ewes with the appropriate BCS will perform better than those with low BCS, as they will have a superior quality colostrum supply, while their lambs will also be more vigorous at delivery.

Colostrum

Colostrum delivers indispensable nutrition to newborn lambs, acts as a laxative, and also supplies antibodies for disease protection. Every lamb should ingest 50ml/kg of its birth weight of ewe’s colostrum within the first 4 hours post-birth. Thus, a lamb weighing 5kg will need 250 ml of colostrum during this initial timeframe, which should be offered again every 6 hours. Lambs should never receive half feeds of colostrum, as this can cause closure of their gut walls, restricting the absorption of vital antibodies necessary for developing their immune systems. There are alternative forms of artificial colostrum available which should be kept available during lambing; however, it should only be administered if natural colostrum is absent.

Housing

It is crucial to ensure that adequate trough space is provided for each ewe to guarantee equitable access to concentrates and avoid aggressive behavior at the feeding area. The table below details the varying trough space requirements based on the ewe size. These needs should be evaluated against the available housing space.

Before housing, lambing shelters should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. It’s important to keep the ewes as clean as possible when housed during lambing. Using sufficient straw for bedding will help prevent ewes from having dirty udders at the time of lambing, reducing the risk of disease spread. Individual pens should be arranged, disinfected, and prepared with bedding so they are ready for use when the ewes commence lambing. This step is crucial for the ewe to bond with her lamb, minimizing the chances of the lambs acquiring infections.

Products Required

Items needed during lambing should be procured ahead of time to ensure availability and avoid unnecessary haste during peak periods. Essential supplies include; disposable lambing gloves, lubricants, iodine, lambing ropes, fostering crates, antibiotics, thermometers, syringes, needles, calcium injections, glucose, colostrum, bottles, teats, stomach tubes, jugs, water/feed containers, disinfectants for pens, and marking sprays. Being organized in the lambing shed will help alleviate stress related to managing ewes and lambs, and thorough preparation will hopefully result in a successful lambing season in 2025.