Lambing

Lambing

Over the Easter holiday I spend a number of days on a farm helping a farmer out during the lambing season on his flock of Lleyns. During my time there I saw a number of different ewes and ewe lambs give birth, both with and without complications. (For those of you that are not up to speed with the farming terms, a ewe lamb is a ewe that herself was a lamb born the year before)

 

Over the next couple of posts, I am going to talk about the problems that the ewes can face before they are ready to give birth. The most common problem that occurs, and one that I saw regularly, is a prolapsed uterus. There are a number of different ways that this condition can be treated that will prevent it from getting any worse, however, if a ewe has a prolapsed uterus it is likely to happen again so it is likely that the ewe will need to be culled. Another problem that recurred many times was the awkward presentation of the lambs. The different presentations of the lambs meant that the birth was not as smooth and often the ewe required assistance from the farmer in order to give birth.