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

Fall Ewe Management

With the high price of feeds, now is a great time to pregnancy check ewes. You can then cull those open ewes prior to feeding them all winter. This not only saves you the cost of feeds, but also saves you the time and labor of feeding and other management tasks. If you local veterinarian has an ultra sound machine, they can do the pregnancy check for you. Another option is an instrument call preg-tone. And of course, you should use two marking colors on your ram during the breeding season. Use one color during the first 17 days and then switch to another color. If a large number of ewes are being remarked, you may need to switch to a more fertile ram.

Management in Late Pregnancy

During the last third of pregnancy, a ewe's nutritional demands increase. At this time they will need added protein and in particular added energy in their daily ration. A great way to provide this increased level of nutrition is to switch to a higher quality hay and add some type of grain. Often, shelled or cracked corn is the main supplier for energy in the ration. This will allow the ewe to adequately meeting the nutritional needs of the developing lambs. The added grain is also important for high quality colostrum production.