When we talk about lambing season, we often get asked “do you have to help them?” My standard answer is no, not usually, they’re really good mommas. But I did have to help a little bit on Monday while I was home with a sick Cowboy on the couch, and I suddenly wondered, do people really know what that means when they ask me that?

I don’t know what people think “helping” actually looks like when a ewe is in labor or there’s a lambing problem. Most people that ask (ok, let’s be honest, most people period!) don’t know much about the day-to-day realities of farm life with livestock. I don’t say that to be insulting to anyone! I know that because that was me before we started this adventure! The most I could envision are those sweet, dusty, horse barn moments you see in family films where someone is drying off a wobbly-legged foal with a  towel in a cozy bed of golden straw. I don’t know if that’s what it’s really like for horse farms, but that’s not what it’s really like for us.

This post is about some of our experiences, every farm is different.

{WARNING TO SENSITIVE READERS: Pictures below are of real-life lambing situations and may include things related to the birthing process which people may find icky. }

This post is about what “normal” lambing looks like for us, with the indicators we use to spot trouble. This can vary by breed, by farm, by shepherd, and by animal. We have developed a very hands-off approach to management here at The Lowe Farm, with the thought that God gave a sheep everything she needs to know to be a sheep, if we’ll just get out of her way. We try to raise sheep that know what they’re doing, and then let them do it. Our Clun Forest sheep are excellent mommas and really know their business–which is birthing and raising lambs.

Our general expectation is that when a ewe goes into hard labor (she is laying down and pushing), she should give birth, stand up, clean off the baby, have it up and nursing, and have passed the afterbirth within about 45 minutes (or less!). That’s how most of our births go.

With twins, just insert about half an hour. She’ll get up, clean the first one off, and have it on it’s way to nursing–then lay down, have the second one, and get back up again. She’ll get to cleaning the second one up while the first is still wobbling around figuring out this nursing-thing. {smile} She’ll pass the afterbirth almost unnoticed while she’s tending her lambs.

Without making a sound other than that sweet little momma-nickering they do to their babies.

And without us doing anything.

Can I repeat that for a moment–without us doing anything.

It wasn’t always that way around here.

When we were raising more Hog Islands, there were a lot more complications, a lot of birth rejections, and a lot of hands-on management. If you are at the farm full-time, with a small flock of sheep, it’s not that big a deal to pen each animal before lambing and be there for each birth. We both work full-time off the farm and we lamb on pasture. We need animals that know what they’re doing if we’re not there.

Cluns were the answer to that problem for us when it comes to sheep. But we also have a two strike rule now and cull pretty strictly if anyone has trouble twice. Our core flock are 7 year pros and if there is a problem, it’s usually not something the momma did or didn’t do. We run Cluns, a few good Hog Islands, and a couple of mixes that have all shown they can fit with our program.

But during lambing season itself, the key elements we focus on are:

1. Time of hard labor. She shouldn’t be pushing hard for more than 30 minutes without making clear progress.
2. Time of showing. You shouldn’t see baby feet for more than a couple pushes–once the lamb shows, it should be coming out!
3. Time of getting up. The lamb should start struggling to get up almost immediately–definitely when momma starts licking it. A still lamb on the ground is definitely trouble.
4. Time until nursing. We want the lamb to be struggling up onto those wobbly baby legs almost immediately and clearly be latching and nursing within 30 minutes of hitting the ground. If he gives up and lays down before getting a good latch, that’s a bad sign.
5. Distinct Momma-bond. That ewe should clearly be bonded to all lambs. She should be aware of all of them, cleaning all of them, up on her feet doing the “nursing circle” until they each get latched on, and not lay down again until they have all nursed.

If any of these are off, we might have to “help.”

That distinct momma-bond is probably the most important. Everyone thinks bottle-babies are soooo cute. Well, they are if you have a lot of time to be home taking care of them. And if nothing goes wrong. But they are heart-wrenching if something does go wrong, and a lot of things can! The simple fact is that baby sheep are best raised by momma sheep. Anything else is second best, at best.

We have found that by focusing on mothering ability and clean pasture, a lot of other factors fall into place. We see less vitamin deficiencies. We see less (actually zero so far!) occurrence of infections or disease. We actually rarely lose someone after the first 24-48 hours unless it’s to a freak accident. Good mothers make sure they are all eating. Good mothers make sure they find shelter. Good mothers make sure they are clean, manage their umbilical cord sites, and monitor pasty bottoms. We’ve never had to treat a case of scours in a nursing lamb–it’s a common problem with bottle-babies.

My next post will be some of the stories of how we’ve had to help over the years…what it looks like when things are not normal. Including the birth story from Monday of the little “yellow” lady in these pictures!

I’d love to hear some of your animal stories! Feel free to share, or share a link in the comments to your own post about farm baby adventures!!

Be sure to come back for the rest of the Lambing Help series…

1. Part 1: What Does Normal Look Like?
2. Part 2: Common Problems We’ve Faced.
   • Hard Labor
   • Pulling A Lamb
   • Weak Lambs
   • No Momma-bonding
3. Part 3: When to Call the Vet. 

And if you’re looking for more specific information, here’s our very favorite sheep books–the ones we keep close by all year long!

 

See where I’m sharing…