There are probably as many different lambing systems as there are shepherds. Some lamb on pasture, some put laboring ewes in pens, and some shepherds choose to put their bred ewes in group pens to labor and deliver. Each farm must evaluate their own situation and what works best for them to give them the optimal outcome. Shepherds need to … Read More
A skilled shepherd knows when to assist ewes at lambing. Most of the time, ewes lamb completely on their own. Their bodies are created to give birth naturally without intervention. As a shepherd, you must learn to resist helping until a ewe really needs assistance. It is usually obvious when a ewe needs help with a birth. Typically, it can … Read More
Hypothermia is a condition that shepherds need to watch for in young lambs. It occurs when a lamb’s body temperature drops below a normal temperature. This can be life threatening to a lamb and immediate detection and treatment increase the lamb’s survival rate. Several factors put lambs at a higher risk for getting hypothermia such as: small lambs triplets or … Read More
Hypothermia – having an abnormally low body temperature. Though our lambing season usually falls near the end of March, we can still have bitter cold weather until the second or third week of April. When ewes go into labor, we focus on keeping lambs warm. Hypothermia often causes death in new lambs. It can often go unnoticed and slowly takes … Read More
We have begun to synchronize our sheep breeding season with the use of a CIDR (Controlled Internal Drug Release). A couple of years ago I had a ewe that did not get bred the previous season. A friend and fellow shepherd suggested that I use a CIDR to force her into estrus. A CIDR is a applicator that is … Read More
