The key to a  successful lambing season is being well prepared, having the right gear and knowing when to offer or seek help. Try not stress ewes near to lambing and a little meal each day will be of benefit to keep up their energy levels – especially if you suspect they are carrying mulitples. It also helps with catching them if you need to.

Have a suitable paddock ready with plenty of shelter from cold, wind and rain. The combination of cold and rain over the past month will have been a major killer of newborn lambs. If there is no natural shelter, you could lay a few hay bales for small lambs to hide behind – although this season that might be an expense you need to reconsider.

If lambing has started (getting up and lying down and pressing) and nothing is happening in about 15-20 minutes, then it’s time to investigate. Check to see if the lamb or lambs are coming correctly with head and front feet first like a diver.

If you are concerned, ring the vet – or if you have a neighbour with some experience, ask them for help.

If you see legs sticking out, make sure they belong to the same lamb before pulling. And remember a back leg has a hock and a front one a knee. Most problems are with single lambs that are too big. A big single may have got the head out and no front legs, and the head often swells.

With multiple births, the main problem will be more than one lamb in the birth canal, hence the mix-up with legs. If you investigate a potential problem, get someone to hold the ewe’s back legs up so the weight of the uterus drops back and you can get your hand in with less risk of damage to the uterus.

Once the lamb has arrived make sure they  get on their feet early and get a good feed of colostrum. If they are having trouble finding the teat, feed them with a stomach tube with colostrum from their mother or from another newly lambed ewe. It is a good idea to keep some colostrum in the freezer for emergencies.

If it’s a cold wet spell or a dirty night, get new lambs into shelter or inside a shed promptly.

For just about as long as animals have been farmed, they’ve been routinely subjected to several surgical procedures that make it easier for their owners to manage them – and they make life easier for the animals too.

Castration helps curb the natural aggression of bulls, rams and bucks and prevents unwanted pregnancies. It is very common for young male sheep, goats and calves to be castrated, because castrated animals are usually easier to manage from the age of puberty, ie from about 6 months of age.

Don’t castrate if you don’t have to. For example, there is no need to castrate lambs that are destined to be killed before they are 6 months old. But of course you should make sure that they are kept separate from females from about 4 months of age – just in case!

It goes without saying – castration is very painful unless it’s done skillfully.

The most humane option is to have the procedure carried out by a veterinarian using sedatives, pain killers and/or anaesthetics, although many farmers consider that the costs of this make it impractical.

Most castration of ruminants is carried out by the farmer owners, and it is best for the animal that the least stressful procedures be used and carried out while the animal is very young.

For castration of lambs, kids and calves, the most humane method is application of a custom-made rubber ring to the neck of the scrotum with the appropriate applicator, preferable while the animal is 7 to 10 days of age and definitely before it is 6 weeks old.

Surgical castration, ie cutting the scrotum and pulling the testicles out, is another option.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED