What Do I Do With a Chilled Lamb?

With winter lambing it is almost inevitable that you will have a chilled lamb. These are lambs who are born during very cold weather and whose body temperature drops below normal. They will be lethargic and if you insert your finger into its mouth it may feel cold. A chilled lamb should be warmed up slowly. Some of the methods used are to take them into a warm room, blow hair air across them with a hair dryer or dip them in a bucket of warm water. I like to move them to a warm room where they can warm up over a period of an hour or so. Once the lamb has warmed and is trying to stand, you can then let them nurse, drink from a bottle or tube them.

Preparing for Lambing

At least a month prior to lambing, producers should gather all the items they may need. Here are a few items that many producers like to have on hand during lambing season:

• Frozen colostrum
• milk replacer
• bucket
• soap
• lubricant
• bottle with nipple
• clean towels
• lambing pens (1 for every 10 ewes)
• water and feed buckets
• weak lamb feeding tube
• telephone number for your local veterinarian