Lamb rearing hints

Now is the time to reflect on last Spring, ask yourself had you a successful lambing season? Is there room for improvement and what changes can you make to maximise the number of healthy new-born lambs into your flock?

Choosing a rearing system for orphan and multiple lambs that matches labour availability and numbers in combination with providing the right nutrition is key to success.

Good colostrum management is vital to ensure the health and well-being of your lambs Colostrum contains high levels of antibodies, and has much greater total solids content than whole milk.

In our guide to milk feeding lambs we explore the best milk feeding option for your system, advantages and disadvantages of bottle feeding and more.

Possible ways to advance survival of the newborn lamb is to maximise lamb vigour, encourage maternal bonding, enhance colostrum production, select on behaviour traits, and improved feed management during late pregnancy.

Preparing lambs for weaning is extremely important to ensure they do not go backwards in terms of growth and health once milk feeding is suddenly removed.