Purdue University Agricultural Extension Service Lafayette, Indiana
Mimeo A. H. 192 January 30, 1957
SAVE EVERY LAMB
A good lamb crop starts in the fall before the breeding season.
l. Be sure that the rams are as strong and healthy as possible during the breeding season.
2. Examine the ewes carefully. Dispose of all ewes that are nonproducers, old, unthrifty, poor milkers or have spoiled udders*
3. Provide winter pasture and legume hay for ewes* Ewes should gain 20 to 30 pounds in the gestation period.
4. Many farmers shear their ewes just before lambing if they have adequate shelter. A shorn ewe is much more sensitive to the needs of a baby lamb. She will keep the lamb where it is warm and generally she will not crowd or lay on her lamb.
Also shorn ewes require less barn room.
WHEN LAMBING TIME ARRIVES:
1. Keep the pregnant ewes away from rams and all other livestock.
2.	Be ready to take care of lambs at least a week before they are due. (Gestation period - 146 days)
3. As soon as a lamb is born, make sure that he nurses. Then put him with his mother in a lambing pen in a warm part of the barn. (Use lightweight gates to make the pens.) Disinfect his navel with iodine.
4. Give the ewe fresh water and a small amount of hay--no grain the first day.
5.	After the second day, feed a small amount of grain along with their hay. Watch for scours in the lambs. If there is any sign of scours or pinning, reduce the feed for the ewes.
6.	When the lambs are strong enough to follow their mothers, turn a half-dozen ewes and their lambs together.
7.	In large flocks, it is advisable to keep ewes with twins separate from ewes with single lambs. This makes it possible to feed the ewes for greater milk production.
8.	When the lambs are 10 days old, feed the ewes liberally, (one to two pounds of grain per day) in order to provide plenty of milk for their lambs. Lambs gain in proportion to the amount of milk they receive from their mothers. If ewes are not receiving legume hay or mixed hay, feed about 1/4 pound of protein supplement per day per ewe.
9.	Dock and castrate lambs at three to ten days of age. Both operations may be performed at the same time. Be sure to use a disinfectant solution, such as creolin or lysol, and wash your hands and knife before each operation. Handle the lambs