The north wind howls as Austin Nothwehr checks a group of newborn lambs and their mothers.

“It’s been a cold winter, but at least it’s dry,” he says.

Nothwehr, who farms near here in Page County, started lambing his 300-ewe flock in mid-January. His first group will finish up in early February, and after a 10-day break to move lambs and clean, a second group will get started.

A third group of ewes will start lambing in March.

“We like the schedule, because it gives us a chance to take a little break and get things cleaned up,” Nothwehr says.

Most of his ewes are Polypay-based. Most of the ewes are bred to Hampshire or Suffolk rams, while he uses Polypay rams to produce replacement ewes.

Lambing prep generally begins around Christmas. Ewes are taken into the barn and sheared, Nothwehr says.

“That gives the lambs an easier time when they nurse, and it also lessens the moisture in the barn because the ewes are shorn,” he says. “They are also going to put off more heat, and that keeps the barn warmer. It stays 35 to 40 degrees in there, and that’s plenty warm.”

All the necessary supplies are purchased and stored, and lambing jugs are set up.

“You don’t want to have to be running to town because you run out of something,” Nothwehr says. “We get pretty busy, so you have to be prepared.”

Once lambs are born, he makes sure ewes are producing ample milk to get them started. He also puts iodine on the lambs’ navels to prevent infection.

“We keep a pretty close eye on the lamb and the ewes,” Nothwehr says. “We shoot for a 200 percent or better lamb crop, so we expect them to have twins.

“We even have some triplets, although we can usually graft a lamb onto a ewe that just had one lamb. We usually don’t let a ewe try to raise triplets.”

After a day or two in the pen, lambs are numbered to match their ewe and are ear tagged. Tails are banded, as are the testicles of the ram lambs.

Lambs and ewes are moved into a mixed pen with 10 to 15 other families. They are in that pen for a week before being moved into larger pens that are part of a nearby hoop building.

Lambs are weaned at six to eight weeks and remain in the hoop building until they are marketed.

This winter’s cold weather has been a challenge for producers, says Jeff Held, Extension sheep specialist at South Dakota State University. He says lambing in cold weather not only requires adequate facilities, but a thorough management plan.

“You want that newborn lamb protected from the cold, and ideally it’s 35 to 40 degrees in that barn,” Held says. “If it’s too warm, you could have upper-respiratory issues as time moves on. If the water freezes some, it’s too cold and you run the risk of hypothermia.

“An eight- to 10-pound lamb that is kept dry and well-fed can handle a good range of conditions.”

He says ewes should be shorn two to four weeks ahead of lambing. They will likely require 30 to 40 percent more feed before lambing because of the lost body condition in late gestation.

“They will also burn up more calories to stay warm because they are shorn,” he adds. “You want to maintain the weight for the benefit of both the ewe and the lamb.”

Vaccinations also need to be up to date before lambing, Held says. Adequate mineral and vitamins also need to be available.

Held says lamb mortality is about 20 percent nationwide, and about 80 percent of those mortalities occur in the first two weeks after lambing. He says starvation and hypothermia are major causes of lamb loss.

Getting colostrum into the lambs quickly is critical to survival, he says. Held suggests at least one to two ounces per pound of body weight, adding lambs are not as efficient at absorbing antibodies 12 hours after birth.

“Observe the lamb closely, and make sure the ewe is OK and the lamb is suckling,” he says. “Using a lambing jug is going to give the ewe an opportunity to bond with her lamb as well.”

Held says frozen colostrums should be kept on hand for lambs that have difficulty suckling, or for ewes that do not have enough colostrum.

Lambs also need to be kept warm and dry to prevent hypothermia. Held says lambs will quickly burn up the fat reserves they built up before birth.

He says lambs that lack energy could be showing the initial signs of hypothermia. The combination of lack of energy and cold weather can be deadly, Held says.

A cold mouth is also a sign of hypothermia, he adds.

He says lambs showing signs of hypothermia need supplemental heat quickly to restore their body temperature to normal.

Nothwehr says keeping lambs and ewes dry and warm can be a challenge. He makes sure all the barns stay warm and excess moisture is kept out.

“I think you just need to stay observant and make sure you are ready for just about anything,” Nothwehr says. “We have a lot of ewes lambing at a time, so we are out there a lot to make sure everything is going well. If you’re prepared and observant, you should be able to end up with a healthy lamb.”

Source - http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/