Preventing Lamb Laosses: The First 30 Days

Lambing is an exciting time of year, especially when everything goes well. It’s also an economically important time; after all, you can’t sell lambs that don’t make it to weaning. Getting your lambs off to a good start goes a long way to ensuring an enjoyable and profitable lamb crop. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is good advice for shepherds since it’s easier and more effective to prevent illnesses than it is to treat sick lambs. Part I of this two-part series will discuss management tasks to prevent illness, critical times to identify problems and how to resolve them, as well as issues to watch out for in the first 30 days. Part II will cover health concerns of older lambs and weaning considerations.

Managing newborn lambs (First 24 hours)

Most lamb losses occur in the first few days after birth. There are some routine management tasks that will help reduce risk to newborns and help the shepherd identify individuals that might require additional intervention.