Things you need to know before lambing pet Babydoll sheep.
- Heidi Bell
- 3 days ago
- 12 min read
My guide to lambing pet Babydolls
Alright, let's dive in. Lambing is a vast topic, so I've divided it into hopefully manageable sections!
We’ll start at MY prep list - please use it as a reference, which can be used for any small flock (3-15 or so) of pet ewe sheep, BUT please bear in mind it’s specific for my flock of Babydolls, which are a lowland breed; we lamb from 2 years old to 9-10 years old. They put on weight easily throughout the summer months, are very hardy to the Cumbrian winter cold but not to wet and windy storms, so we lamb indoors. They are outstanding mothers. I don’t say this lightly, but they are attentive, protective, with lots of good milk. My girls are very tame, happy to be housed, and pampered! They range in size 18 to 20 inches tall, weighing 40-60kg. Due to my nutrition and year-long prep, our lambs are (hopefully) born obviously mini in size like their mums but with an average of 3kg, stocky, solid bodies and strong, quick to get up on their feet and get straight onto the teat. I’ve had other breeds that this is not the case, so this is a guide, which you can adapt to your sheep, not a gospel if your sheep are different in size, weight or temperament!
The Basic Don’ts…
I don’t wear perfume, hand cream, rings or bracelets, and I don’t drink coffee or a lot of sugar as it leads to headaches, extreme fatigue, as lambing is for me at least 3 weeks. It’s a long haul… your reaction and observation skills need to be 100% ALL OF THE TIME… so I nap whenever possible on days between lambing nights, batch cook food and freeze in advance. Don’t book any family gathering (my birthday is always at the beginning) or events to go to - I clear my diary, get help with the school run and a week before we are due to begin I go into “Lambing Lockdown” where I literally don’t go anywhere until lambing is done, as there is so much do and the ewes need watching like a hawk!
Your Basic Do’s…
I wear 2 sets of alternating cheap washable waterproofs, head to toe, with Wellington chelsea boots (easier to kneel in shorter boots). Underneath, from 5pm, I often wear my warmest, softest PJ’s or in the daytime, my very old, faithful cashmere joggers. Def not my finest fashion season, but lambing is so messy - be warned, iodine never comes out of anything, and no matter how careful you are, it will go onto you! The jobs of cleaning pens, lambs blocked or dirty bottoms (onto that later) mean to keep the flock safe you really have to be fully covered and to be able to clean yourself down the minute you leave the lambing pen - if you’re wearing head to toe waterproofs, it so easy to spray detol down yourself off and dry off with a paper towel!
Be prepared.
This is the moment you are standing in the farm supplies armed with your basket and credit card and you have soooo much choice of things to buy. Hopefully in sharing my lambing kit, you’ll not buy the whole shop or leave feeling you've not got enough. You'll find in mine a lot of kit, some maybe a surprise; my daughters tub of lip vaseline (she was not happy) a jar of ginger spice and bi carb of soda. It’s been built up over years, overcoming both common and unusual problems. My Babydolls are so precious to me, I've stocked up on all the remedies that work for any of those problems I’ve ever run into. I’ve found out the hard way that little but potentially fatal issues happen in the middle of the night or on a weekend, with shops shut, so if you have the remedies in your cupboard (that are cheap and easy to administer) that literally save lives and possibly avoid hauling a vet out of bed.
So, In my Lambing Kit Blog, I share my essentials, the tub of lambing essentials and my tips and tricks how to use them and then my cupboard “occasional life savers” which I strongly recommend you invest in. For a breakdown of the items, when and how to use Click here to see this kit in full. * This is not in any way linked to or affliated to any of the brands I am just sharing what I have found to work for our flock.
Know your pet sheep.
Sounds silly, but the year leading up to lambing you've come to know your pet sheep. You're the best expert to spot when there is any issue with your sheep. Trust your instincts and ignore nothing! Small details, maybe you'll notice a slight head tilt, a dull look to their eyes, loose stools etc are all indications there is something not right, and caught quickly solved so simply. The more time you spend with your sheep the better the chance of their heealth through preganancy and the survival of their lambs.
The six week run up…
We tup from November 5th, so lamb from 1st April, so we scan 9/8 weeks before lambing - the last week of January (26th this year). These dates are not accidental, head to the blog on planning your Calendar of Care to see how to do your own plan suiting your weather and environment and your lifestyle This is essential, can’t stress enough, it’s the only way you can provide the right nutrition for triplets, twins and singles ALSO you an make a plan to bring in your triplet and older twins earlier.
Moving Pregnant ewes at your peril!
Moving and treating your pregnant ewes comes with a risk!
I’ve learnt the hard way that any stress can trigger toxaemia in vulnerable ewes (e.g., underweight, overweight, old or carrying twins and triplets). No chasing, new housing even new handlers after week 8… the heptavac needed at 6/4 weeks i do in the place they are already just make the pen smaller so they are tightly gathered, then no running around. They have security of one another and I get on the floor easily, injecting the group quickly - just ensure you dot the head of each one as done so prevent mistakes - sounds silly but it’s so easily done. You can also check any feet like you would a horse - but NEVER turn a pregnant sheep, only treat feet from standing.
Nutirition is key
I’m not being dramatic when I say, this is a science, not guesswork. It starts 8-6 weeks before lambing and steps up each week to the lambing due date. (This is why raddling and recording the tupping date and scanning is essential to know the date and how many lambs are inside).
Too little nutrients runs the very high risk of poor milk quality and quantity, lambs small and lacking vigor and if the ewes are carrying twins, under condition or older - toxemia - a common issue when the ewe doesn’t have enough energy to meet the needs of her growing lambs - but they take it anyway so she metoblises her brown fat reserves to meet the demand - this is toxic - triggering lots of symptoms including early signs going off their food, looking dull and uninterested, to become seizures, foaming at the mouth, which often is fatal. The only way to save a ewe who develops toxaemia is to catch it early and have all the ingredients in the cupboard. (Please see separate blog on how to spot and treat twin lamb disease/toxaemia)
However…too much concentrate, either too soon or without gradually increasing or giving an unmeasured amount and you are heading for big complications - the risk of acidosis, prolapse and lambs too big to be delivered unassisted (the worst of course a C-section).
Please read the Lambing Nutrition Blog for when, how and what to feed your pregnant ewes.
Bedding & environment
This is really important. Cleanliness prior to and during lambing is essential protection for the lambs (and ewes). Remember, lambs are born with no immunity, so the enviroment they arrive in will have direct consequences on their chances to survive the first 24 hours and beyond before the mum’s colostrum has a chance to start to give them protection.
The bedding must be kept dry and clean before, during and after lambing. Wet, dirty bedding is the breeding ground for bacteria. The ewe’s belly, legs and bag are inevitably going to be sucked on by the lambs in their efforts to find milk. So, if you can keep the teats and the bag clean by keeping the bedding dry and clean, that’s the best start (i clean the bag as well but more on that later) .
So, how to keep the bedding clean? Ewes wee a lot! They drink way more than usual (4-10 L a day) as they start to fill their bag with milk and they also wee more! So, I use hydrated lime on the concrete, I’ll enclose a link at the bottom to the best one I’ve found, then barley straw bedding on top. Sometimes I sandwich a layer of hay before the straw for more absorbency, but you need to add straw on top because if hay gets between the toes it can cause foot infections. We empty, and power wash the barn to be spotless 6-4 weeks out and then divide the outside to be lambing pens, and hte centre to be living area until they lamb. This way we can lime the lambing pens which dries the ground creates a really clean disenfected area perfect for ewes to lamb in.
Housing
We always lamb indoors. My Babydolls are simply too precious to lamb outdoors with the potential risk of our harsh weather and natural predators. But, it’s a commitment to provide a really clean and safe environment for their 8-10 weeks indoors.
One of the most stressful activities for pregnant sheep is moving and changing housing. I can see a fabulous forecast outside and think “oh the girls would love a bit of sunshine” but I don’t move them out of the barn. Once they come in, they stay in, your kindness could simply trigger toxaemia.
Remember stress = stop eating = toxemea risk.
So after scanning at 6-8 weeks to go I try to get the girls in groups of twins and singles and I further divide to separate older ewes from young gimmers as they can bully them. Then, in those groups they stay, in the barn where I can control all the factors, e.g. they’ll eat best quality hay NOT the grass, which is very nutrient poor in February and March (even if it was rested all year it would still be full of water and not as good as high-quality hay).
They are sheltered from the weather (Sheep use a significant amount of extra energy to cope with bad weather, particularly a combination of cold, wet, and wind, which can increase their maintenance energy requirements by 25-30% or more in severe, cold, and wet conditions.)
I keep the girls together until the first stage of lambing, in their groups as this is a happy barn, in their small groups and even then. Even at the time of labour day , which i know is coming as Babydolls are 147days gestation and 24 hours window either side for when conception happened it;s still very accurate. I’m very careful leading the ewe to her lambing pen - i wait until she shows obvious signs - first one is she doenst eat her tea or breakfast! All our pens are around the sides, very easy to enter and they can still see each other as she may slow down or stop labour from the stress of isolation. Still, I slowly getnly lead the ewe into a clean lambing pen so when she starts, she’s won’t be able to leave the lamb if she’s a new mum, has time to process lambing without another girl stealing it! Older ewes like the space and create a nest, swirling the straw into a pile and I leave her to get on with the first stages.
The EWES unhelpful amount of belly fluff!
For a full video on how i feel under the girls’ bags & trimming all the fluff which is the route to the milk bar head to the Lambing de-fluff Blog- but this mustn’t be stressful for you or them, some girls don’t like it and I wait until straight after lambing, others happy stand for me while I snip away all the booby trap fluff hanging down directly in the way of the teats. To help prepare for this, I’ve given tummy rubs throughout the year. If they are used to your hand reaching underneath, it’s nothing new. From when the girls come into the barn, I visit 3 times a day, sit on the floor, any shy girls I give a few ewe nuts out of my pocket, with the other hand under her tummy, gently reach under and around her bag, and all around her teats.
I use cow milking udder wipes to clean the teats and bag a week before and immediately after birth - you just don’t want the lambs who have NO immunity at all to get a mouthful of bacteria from the teats and the bag trying to drink from her.
The actual lambing...
Basic note - entering the lambing pen bob down and preferably approach ion your knees as you want to be non-threatening and accepted, e.g., don’t get up and tower over as can spook any ewe in this sensitive/highly protective time.
You need a basic understanding of the different presentations to look out for - please attend a lambing course, watching YouTube and a book just isn’t enough! There's way too much to say about this topic, I'm confident and experienced but no expert so i’ll just say ANY doubt on the progress or presentation difficulty call your farm vet. Lambing at its simplest is the “normal, don’t interfere” watching the labour progress nicely, a water bag and then two little hooves with a nose on top poking out. Any differetn to that amd you need to help my most basic advice is LUBE. The amount of TV programmes of watching farmers reach inside the poor unsuspecting ewe with no lube makes me wince. The most important key to doing anything is LUBE WITH A TUBE. If you are going to investigate with your hand, lube with a tube can be inserted first, a good squirt, and also around stuck limbs or a head - the tube can go where the hand doesn’t have room. You are in real danger of tearing the ewe without lube. ALSO...If you have put your hand inside you need to give a painkiller and anti biotic to the ewe after lambing. More on this in another blog and i'll includes some video of labour and cover the basic misrepresentations and how to sort them.
Gimmers will be tight, sometimes just lube can help her do it herself and it’s important NOT to overfeed in the weeks leading up to the birth as if carrying singles; the lamb could be big for her first time.
Gimmers - first time lambers
Worthy of stressing: Babydoll ( and most lowland breeds) first time mums are potentially very confused, in pain, and easily distracted from feeling their new instincts (Babydolls have very strong maternal instincts, but it can take several minutes to process what’s just happened) so your “help”, presence or even chit chat can be devastating. So against all your urges… LEAVE HER TO PROCESS!
If she’s has her lamb born without assistance - Leave them alone, for 20 minutes. You need to iodine the navel asap, but I can not stress enough that gimmers need time to process. It’s safe to approach once she has started to lick the lamb dry and is making rumble noises. Take the iodine and colostrum (explained later), be quick and then LEAVE, you can have your cuddles and bond later!
A gimmer that has had your assistance on delivery: Urgently clear airways, especially if born in the bag, Wipe the mucus from the nose and mouth with kitchen roll and tickle the nostrils to help clear airways. Rub vigour into the chest, in frog pose (explained later). Place near mum’s face slowly and gently. If she is hesitant, you could wipe a bit of the goo and smell of the lamb onto her muzzle and MOVE BACK.
In summary, Gimmers need a few minutes for her to understand what’s going on. It is a shock, Babydolls are amazing mums - it will kick in, and the ewe will lick the lamb dry - this is vital to bond, so don’t be tempted to do it for her at the start - really important don’t rub anything with soap etc scent - neutral paper towel only- the lamb needs to smell only of her. She still needs to bond, and this happens in the first hour. DON’T take the lambs away - any help I always do in the pen in front of her. A heat lamp will not help with bonding, and a coat won’t either. If the lamb has a belly full of milk, that is the warmth it needs, not heat or a coat. IF TAKE THE LAMB AWAY, you have a high risk of her rejecting them, and that’s a huge risk for the lamb’s health - it may seem a quick way to a tame lamb, but it isn’t, the friendliest of my lambs are the most confident and thats with their mum, lambs need genuiune sheep’s colostrum and milk not powered, it is really not easy raising a healthy, happy bottle-fed lamb.
Other blogs to check out - Top tips on the first 24 hours of Lamb survival
Good luck! x
Comments