Caring for lambs

Farmers suffer their greatest sheep losses before weaning, with the majority of lamb deaths occurring during the first 10 days after birth, and more than 20% during the first three days. Dr Josef van Wyngaard, technical manager at Voermol Feeds, spoke to Glenneis Kriel about ways to limit these losses.

- Glenneis Kriel

Effective lamb management is one of the main contributors to success in sheep production. High lamb mortalities not only result in fewer animals being available for slaughter but also affect the sustainability of a farm by resulting in fewer replacement animals being available to keep the enterprise going.

Instead of letting nature take its course, management can be made easier if ewes are grouped together and allowed to lamb at around the same time. When deciding on the timing of lambing, the two major considerations are the availability of labor and the availability of food.

“The lambing season should fit into your production schedule. In other words, it should fall outside holidays and the harvesting or planting season, and at a time when there is sufficient grazing or pasture to help ewes regain condition after lambing,” says Dr. Josef van Wyngaard, technical manager at Voermol Feeds.

LAMBING CRATES

The lambing environment is another significant influencer of lamb survival. The options are basically in the veld under extensive conditions, in smaller camps, or in lambing crates or pens. Van Wyngaard points out that lamb mortalities average around 5% in lambing crates in comparison with 10% in small camps and 15% or more under extensive conditions, depending on external threats such as predation.

Lambing crates have a number of other advantages. The small space enhances bonding between ewes and lambs, which in turn prevents lambs from wandering off and dying, and it offers shelter against predators, extreme weather, and theft. The system also makes it easy to pair ewes with their lambs for proper record-keeping.