Lambing

Hello All!

I'm lambing for a week starting on the 9th, staying on the farm so expecting lots of sleepless nights! I haven't helped with lambing before and am just asking for a bit of advice really, also there's going to be a couple of calvings (predicted) whilst I'm there so should be a good experience!
Any ideas, suggestions, books to read, etc etc greatly appriciated!

:sheep:

Reply 1

two22

I don't think you need to read any books! :smile:

Well I certainly didn't lol....The farmer taught me how to do everything.
One piece of advice though - Don't wear any clothes that you attach any kind of value to at all! I got completely covered from head to toe in poo, blood, gunk, iodine, more gunk, milk, more gunk!!! :biggrin:

(more than at other farms anyway)
It's brilliant fun though....definitely my best work experience by far and the little newborn lambs are sooooo cute. :p:

xxxxxx

Reply 2

tiny_tiger

Just be prepared for next to no sleep and to get very mucky!

Reply 3

blondey

1

i agree with others, theres nothing you can really read to prepare for lambing, not sure about calving - havent done it.

Its nothing to worry about, theres nothing complicated to it really, just go with the flow youll pick up all the techniques/info you need within the first few hours. Yeah youll be exhausted by the end, but its deffinately worth it. my lambing experience was my best, i loved gettin stuck in with it, gettin my hands dirty, (so to speak, well literally also, lol!)

i wish i was going lambing this year, cant wait to go next year.

Reply 4

Vet In Progress

1

Get a pair of waterproof trousers- you'll spend quite a lot of your time kneeling in the straw lambing ewes or tubing lambs, and getting covered in gunk and milk. When I was lambing in first year, I wore a boiler suit with waterproof trousers over the top.

Reply 5

blondey

1

yeah waterproofs are a must - unless u wanna be soggy and cold!
but dont go buying any expensive pairs, i was jumping around and over pens so much that i ripped mine in several placed.

Reply 6

your.angel

1

I'd advise getting some waterproofs off the internet - I picked up a top and trousers for about £16 together (would have been less, only I had to pay a fairly high carriage for a small order). I got those from Hewats. I wouldn't advise getting boilersuits etc from them though, as they can be bought much cheaper elsewhere (but not from uni shops - at least not the RVC shop!)

Reply 7

SlipperyWhenWet

1

Nah, you don't need A pair of waterproof trousers, you need at least 3 pairs!!!!

Just make sure you do what the farmer says, be prepared to work very, very hard and possibly for long hours! (depends of the farm!)

Oh and if you are lambing gimmers - get fit!!! You'll do plenty of chasing!

Reply 8

Elizabeth :-)

When you stomach tube a lamb make sure the tube is down its oesophagus NOT its trachea! it's easier than it sounds as the lamb tends to swallow the tube. Also measure the distance between the lamb's mouth and its last rib, the tube should go down about an inch further than this. If you hear gurgling noises then you've hit the right place. if bubbles start coming out of the lamb's nose you've found its lungs.
Also- try and look with your hands when assisting births. maybe closing your eyes helps?

Reply 9

your.angel

1

Excuse the possibly stupid q, but what is a gimmer? Or more specifically, what is the difference between a ewe, a ewe lamb and a gimmer?

I was reading a lambing book on the bus earlier and came across the term then too...

Reply 10

vet in the making

OP

1

Hey! Thanks for all the great advice - I've got a pair of waterproof trousers but I can get another pair discounted at a shop in town (D of e how we love thee)
I think I'll be able to borrow a boiler suit. I managed to pick up a book called 'A Manual of Lambing Techniques' which is helping more to ease my nerves and excitement than actually teaching me with the real life situation. I'm very excited, and will getting to the farm around 6pm on Friday. There's going to be other vet applicants there too I think...

Reply 11

blondey

1

a ewe is a female sheep,
a gimmer is a ewe whos first lambing it is - theyve never had lambs before
im not sure, but i presume a ewe lamb means a female lamb.

yeah watch out for the gimmers, they get very nervy and those are the ones that often abandon their lambs!

Reply 12

SlipperyWhenWet

1

Aye NEVER let a gimmer go until you have penned her up with her babies!! Sounds obvious but it's easier said than done with some of them.....!!

Last Easter, my farmer had decided to replace a load of his flock so about 1/3 of the flock were gimmers and I spent many a night chasing the little ***** lol

Reply 13

nessa7

Ewe lamb sounds like the same thing as a gimmer.

They are fun, aren't they! We had a particularly bad one lamb on us around midnight one day so we ended up literally dragging with a rope into one of the barns so that she wouldn't take off on her babies.

Reply 14

your.angel

1

I think, having read further through the book, that they are essentially the same thing, but a ewe lamb is up to 6 months old, and a gimmer up to 18 months...

Reply 15

bonnie12

in lambing do u work nights :smile:

Reply 16

vet in the making

OP

1

I will be! I'm staying on the farm. Despite the hard work and sleep deprivation I'm looking forwards to it!

PS: £8.95 waterproof trousers from tresspass - bargain! I love fitting into 13yrs clothes!

Reply 17

leggielass

A ewe lamb is what they tend to be called from birth to mating. after mating they're hoggets, hoggs or shearlings. couldn't tell u about gimmer.

Wear gloves from the very start then' i can't lamb with gloves on' can't wash as an excuse!! ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES- they're for the sheep's benefit, not just yours.

Here's my tip: when removing a lamb's stomach tube, nip the tube just below where you pour into and it'll hold the milk in by capillarity and not drown the lamb. Never use a syringe with the plunger in to stomach tube- pull the plunger and bin it to discourage the farmer from doing so to!!!

Reply 18

SlipperyWhenWet

1

There are a lot of terms for different age/sex sheep but essentially many of them mean the same thing - young sheep! Ewe lamb is a newborn, hogget ('hoggs') till their 1st shearing (i.e. when they are about 1 and a bit years old) and then a gimmer till they have their 1st crop of lambs the following summer. Then they are a fully fledged ewe!

Reply 19

vet in the making

OP

1

LOL we could have an informal system for wanna be vets!

Lambing

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