Essentials for Lambing Time
April 15, 2025
THE ORGANIC SHEPHERD'S LAMBING KIT
Along with the excitement and anticipation of lambing comes a certain amount of concern about being prepared, especially for folks that are new to shepherding. Being prepared for lambing starts several months before lambing actually begins with good nutrition. Proper nutrition and mineral supplementation is essential to a successful lambing season. Ewes that are properly nourished will have fewer lambing issues and their lambs will be stronger at birth. Making sure that your ewes are well supplemented with selenium, vitamin E, and calcium is vitally important. But, even with correct nutrition, things can happen at lambing... and one wants to be prepared for those occasions when trouble arises!! New and experienced shepherds, alike, should go through the lambing section of Laura Lawson's book, Managing Your Ewe. It is a valuable resource that I revisit each year before lambing.
Many of the essentials in our lambing kit would be the same as for a conventional farm:
- 7 % Iodine for navels. We use Triodine-7 and I add some tea tree oil to that.
- Scale and sling for weighing newborn lambs. I like the ones they sell at Premier.
- A digital rectal thermometer for checking temps of newborn lambs. Essential for knowing whether or not a lamb is chilled.
- Bulb syringe for cleaning out excess fluid from nostrils and throat of lambs slow to start.
- Lubricant. Necessary for assisting deliveries. It is nice to have one with antiseptic qualities, like SuperLube. We use the powdered J-Lube, or SuperLube.
- Tubing kit for getting milk into weak lambs. A 60 cc. catheter type syringe and lambing tube. Good to have extra tubes on hand.
- Frozen colostrum. Do not thaw frozen colostrum in the microwave as it will destroy antibodies. New shepherds can collect colostrum from first ewes to lamb.
- Syringes and needles for giving injections. 1/2" 20 gauge needles and 1" 18 gauge needles. 3, 6, 12, 20 cc syringes.
- Milk replacer for bottle lambs.
- Milk bottle and nipple for feeding bottle lambs. Many prefer the Pritchard teat nipples.
- Ear tags and applicator and SuperLube for lubricating and disinfecting tagging applicator. Q flex 1.5 and tagger from Premier1.
- Baling twine or lambing loops for assisting in difficult births and head snare.
- We keep all of the essential vitamin injections on hand: BoSe, Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex, and Vitamin A, D, E.
- Clean rags and paper towels.
- Scissors
- Molasses to add to fresh ewe's water for quick energy.
Here are some of the certified organic products that we use:
- Ketonic: available from Agri-Dynamics or Lancaster Ag. Used to treat ketosis, stressed ewes.
- CMPK Oral (Vedco brand or Aspen brand). Used to treat milk fever, stressed ewes.
- Calcium gluconate Can use this for milk fever, tetany, dystocia, stressed ewes. Also used for stressed lambs.
- Udder Comfort Yellow Spray: Soothes and softens udders. Use for sub-acute mastitis cases. Can be ordered from PBS Animal Health.
- Homeopathic arnica and Rescue Remedy: Given after difficult birth to reduce swelling and stress.
- Banamine: Prescription pain reliever, Banamine, for use after very difficult assisted birth when a ewe may have a lot of pain.
- Aloe C: Available from Dr Sarahs Essentials. A great product to keep on hand. Fine nutritional qualities and antioxidant properties, aids digestive issues, soothing for wounds.
- Wild Herb Drench: Available from Lancaster Ag. Tonic tea for the lungs or any respiratory problems. Provides vitamins and antioxidants.
For those of you interested in moving toward a more "organic" operation using holistic products, please visit these websites:
- Dr Sarah Essentials: https://drsarahsessentials.com
- Agri-Dynamics: http://www.agri-dynamics.com
- Crystal Creek: http://www.crystalcreeknatural.com
So, get your your lambing kits in order, get out your Laura Lawson books, and relax a bit before lambing time begins. I wish you all the most successful lambing season!
Let's cover the basic lambing kit and then look at what extras you could have on hand.
The items marked with **, are not for a basic kit, but you might want to add these over time.
Supplies
The following table lists supplies you should have on hand for lambing.
| Lambing Supplies | Use |
|---|---|
| OB lubrication | For assisting with difficult births (J-lube, or other) |
| Nylon rope, snare, or leg puller and head snare | For assisting with difficult births |
| Disinfectant | For assisting with difficult births |
| Bearing retainer, ewe spoon, or prolapse harness ** | For holding vaginal prolapse in |
| Heat lamp or warming box ** | For warming chilled lambs |
| Arnica montana and Rescue Remedy homeopathics | To give to ewes whose births you assist |
| Needles and syringes | For giving shots |
| Thermometer | For diagnosing problems |
| Gentle iodine, Triodine 7% | For dipping navel cords |
| Esophageal feeding tube | |
| Frozen colostrum | For feeding lambs |
| Colostrum supplement | To supplement colostrum |
| Lamb milk replacer | For feeding orphan lambs |
| Lamb nipples (teats) and bottle | For hand feeding orphan lambs |
| CMPK Oral , propylene glycol, molasses, Bounce back electrolytes | For treating pregnancy toxemia |
| Calcium gluconate 23% bottle | Treating milk fever |
| Vitamins, Bio start paste, selenium supplements | For weak lambs |
| Oral dosing syringe 30 or 50 cc | For giving oral medications |
| OB S-curved needle ** | For suturing |
| Ear tags and an applicator | For identifying lambs |
| Small open tip syringe for lamb enema | |
| Hanging scale | For weighing feed and lambs |
| Weigh sling | To weigh newborn lambs |
| Pocket record keeping book | For recording lambing data |
Books:
These are some of my favorites.
Natural Sheep Care - Pat Coleby
Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep - Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius
Managing Your Ewe - Laura Lawson
The Sheep Book - Ron Parker
Living with Sheep - Chuck Wooster
The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable - Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Lamb Problems - Laura Lawson
Tough Love for Rams This is an excellent article written by Brooke and Lois Moore.
Judging info The sires are evaluated and judged according to FAI judging standards. Points are given for individual body parts in following order: Points: Head - neck and shoulders - chest and conformation - back - loin - gigot - wool - feets - harmony. Score of 80,0 points is good for breeding ram and 85,0 points can be considered as excellent. Ultrasound: Ultrasound measure of eye muscle thickness in mm and of back fat in mm - eye muscle shape score (1-5). (H) Dutch ultrasound scanner, the type used by SOUTHAGRI. (S) Scottish ultrasound scanner - which measures about 2mm lesser eye muscle thickness than the Dutch scanner. This difference is not corrected in individual figures. Eye muscle shape: In autumn 1999 eye muscle shape grading started. The grading of the eye muscle describes how well the muscle keeps it´s thickness out over the backbone. The shape is graded from 1 to 5. The scale is following: 1. Poorly shaped eye muscle. 2. Fairly shaped eye muscle. 3. Adequately shaped eyemuscle.. 4. Well shaped eye muscle. 5. Excellently shaped eye muscle. Basic dictionary Basic dictionary for the printed version of Southram's sire catalogue which is in Icelandic. Here you can find translation and/or explanation of the tables and graphs in the sire list. Lambhrútaskoðun: Evaluation of ram progenies performed in September/October. Following items refers to the evaluation of the rams progenies: Fjöldi: Number of evaluated ram lambs Þungi: Average weight of evaluated ram lambs Fótleggur: Average canon bone length of evaluated ram lambs Læri: Average score for gigot muscling (highest possible score is 20, 16 is good, 17 is very good, 18 is excellent) Ull: Average score for wool (8,0 refers to good wool quality and no tan fibers) Ómvöðvi: Average thickness (depth) of the eye muscle in mm Ómfita: Average fat thickness on the eye muscle in mm Lögun: Average score for eye muscle shape (1 is poorly shaped muscle and 5 is excellently shaped muscle) Following explanations refer to the graph for each ram. Kynbótamat: Breeding value index (based on information from the sheep recording in Iceland. 100 is average) Gerð: Meat qualities based on the carcass grading Fita: Leanness based on carcass grading Kjötgæði: Meat quality index (MQI), calculated from meat qualities (40%) and leanness (60%) Frjósemi: Prolificacy of the daughters (for the young rams with few daughter records this index is mostly based on pedigree) Mjólkurlagni: Milking abilities of the daughters (for the young rams with few daughter records this index is mostly based on pedigree) Explanation of measurements & scoring Generally data gathered on the rams is done in Iceland, in the fall, when they are around 18 months. The data on the Icelandic Rams is then given in the following major categories: 1) Rams Name, Number, and Parents 2) Body Measurements- Weight and Lengths 3) Score 4) Ram Description 5) Production Results Explanation 1) Rams Name, Number, and Parents The rams are numbered as follows: The first two numbers in the ID number refer to the birth year of that ram. Thettir, # 91-931 was born in 1991. 2) Body Measurements- Weight and Length Measure: Weight and measure is in the same sequence for every ram. There are four numbers given here representing- Weight of the ram- A heavier the ram usually correlates to bigger, growthier offspring. Chest Circumference- A measurement of body depth. Width of Rack- The wider the rack, the greater the yield from this choice cut. Cannon Bone (front leg) Length- A shorter cannon bone correlates with a meatier, faster finishing market lamb.
How to Recognize, Treat and Prevent It Sue Reith
“Whole Sheep, Whole Farm” (Wholesome Demand)
Grazing Grazing is the use of grasses and other plants to feed herbivores, such as sheep and goats. Most sheep and goats graze at least a portion of the year. On this page, grazing links are arranged by subject category: controlled grazing , extending the grazing season , grazing behavior , grazing management , grazing systems , management-intensive grazing , multispecies grazing , prescribed grazing , riparian grazing , rotational grazing , silvopasture , and stocking rates . KIND HORN FARM RECOMMENDS For optimal parasite management, we recommend that you keep your Icelandics in the same paddock for no more than 5 days at a time, with 1-3 days being optimal for the forage. Rest the pasture for 90 days ideally before bringing the sheep back for another grazing. Try your best to work within these guidelines! [PDF] Grazing Alfalfa - University of Kentucky Controlled Grazing Controlled Grazing of Virginia's Pastures Creep Grazing Extending the Grazing Season [PDF] Extending grazing and reducing stored feed needs - MW Forage [PDF] Grazing corn: an option for extending... - University of Kentucky [PDF] Supplemental pastures for sheep - University of Nebraska Grazing Behavior [PDF] Diet selection and grazing behavior - University of Maine Grazing Management Grazing Systems Grazing systems - McGill University Management-Intensive Grazing (MIG) Multispecies Grazing Prescribed Grazing Riparian Grazing Rotational Grazing Silvopasture Stocking Rates The Maryland Small Ruminant Page [sheepandgoat.com] was created in 1998 as an information portal for sheep and goat producers and anyone else interested in small ruminant production. The web site includes original documents and images as well as a comprehensive list of links pertaining to small ruminants and related topics. The web site was developed and is maintained by Susan Schoenian, Extension Sheep & Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center. Susan has been with University of Maryland Extension since 1988. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Animal Science from Virginia Tech and Montana State University, respectively, and also attended The Ohio State University. Susan conducts the Western Maryland Pasture-Based Meat Goat Performance Test at her research facility in Keedysville. She raises registered and commercial Katahdin sheep on her small farm called The Baalands in Clear Spring, Maryland. Please direct all questions, comments, or suggestions to Susan at sschoen@umd.edu Disclaimer : The information and links contained on the Maryland Small Ruminant Page [sheepandgoat.com] and other pages created by Susan Schoenian are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of any person, organization, business, product, or web site. The author disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information. Users of this web site and all external links are advised to apply common sense and sound judgement to all information obtained from the internet, regardless of source. Last updated 01-Dec-2010 by Susan Schoenian.
Internal Parasites - Sheep
