More about Colostrum

Liz Wright checks in with her local farm vet to find out more

- Liz Wright

We are lucky in our area to still have mixed practices, less than in the past but at least still here. My advice to anyone lambing for the first time is to be sure they have spoken to their farm vet and had at least one visit prior to the lambing. Farm vets are really helpful and are usually keen to offer advice prior to lambing. I spoke to one of our local practice vets and my first question was, why are lambs so vulnerable to hypothermia (life threatening coldness)? He told me that lambs, especially those born in cold early spring months when the weather is usually cold and wet, are very vulnerable. One of the reasons that most people set up an undercover lambing area for these months. Although they have a wool coat, they also have a large surface area and a comparatively small body mass which means if the lamb does not dry oof quickly after birth, it will lose heat very quickly. This, if then coupled with a failure to suck colostrum in adequate quantities, will result in hyperthermia, which if left, will cause kill the