If we can get the lamb through the first 24 hours, its chance of survival is greatly increased. Below are a few things that will help the lambs and the shepherd survive cold weather lambing.

The navel of newborn lambs should be dipped to stop infection. Watch how Premier’s shepherds approach this essential task.

• Create a routine that makes every minute count, beginning when you first walk into the lambing barn.
• Ewes have a wax plug in their teats. In cold weather that plug can be difficult for weak lambs to suck out. So grab each ewe that lambs and strip out each teat to make sure there is plenty of milk for the lambs.
• The next step is to take the temperature of each lamb. Your body temperature is 98.6°F, and the lambs’ temp should be 102°F. If you put your finger into the lamb’s mouth and it feels warm, he is fine. If his mouth feels cold, you have a lamb that is in trouble.
• For any lamb that is warm, all you need to do is to dip the navel into Triodine-7 to help stop infection and they should be fine.
• The cold lambs need help right away. First try to get the lamb to suck for himself. If he will not, you will need to tube feed. We prefer a 140 cc syringe and plastic tube. (In very cold barns, the red rubber tube is better as it will stay flexible.) The 60 cc syringe is too small and must be refilled several times in order to get enough milk in the lamb. We usually mix two measures of NurseMate® First Milk Supplement to 8 oz. of lamb milk replacer.

Heat lamps and carbon fiber heaters are a great source of warmth when needed, but do not overdo it. When a healthy lamb gets cold, he needs to get up and eat to stay warm. They can become too dependent on heat lamps.

To make sure the lambs have a good start, some shepherds will tube feed every lamb that is born with NurseMate® Colostrum Supplement. Or, you may want to use Nutri-Drench™ (this is not a substitute for colostrum), a product that works well to start all lambs. One pump to each lamb will give them a boost to improve their chances during the first 24 hours.

If your barn temperature is below freezing and you need to be away, put a lamb cover on each of the newborn lambs. It will help them to adjust to the cold before losing too much heat. When you return to the barn, remove the cover and the lamb should be fine.

So remember:

• ✔ Feed the ewes well
• ✔ Strip out every teat
• ✔ Take the lambs’ temperature
• ✔ Tube feed when needed
• ✔ Give each lamb a pump of Nutri-Drench
• ✔ Dip all navels in Triodine-7

Enjoy lambing season! It does not need to be stressful.