A Resource Guide for Managing Lambing and Kidding
Efficiently Without Sacrificing Animal Well Being
Chapter 1- Relationships between Management Inputs, Season of Birthing and Herd Performance
| Specific Objectives | 1 |
| Why Lower Your Inputs for Lambing and Kidding | 2 |
| How does Season of Birthing Affect Birthing Inputs | 3 |
| How Does Labor Affect Mortality Rates | 6 |
| Suggested Activities | 11 |
Chapter 2- Management Practices to Decrease Inputs at Lambing and Kidding
| Specific Objectives | 12 |
| Planning Ahead to Lower Labor and Operating Costs | 13 |
| Readying Dams and Facilities | 18 |
| Checking for and Assisting Births | 18 |
| If you use artificial heat | 22 |
| Extra feeding, bedding and watering | 24 |
| Problem animals | 25 |
| Handling the Birthing Season | 26 |
| A Review of Bonding in Goats and Sheep | 28 |
| Why do farmers use jugs? | 31 |
| Artificial Rearing | 34 |
| Grafting newborns | 36 |
| Handling animals | 40 |
| Creep Feeding | 41 |
| Suggested Activities | 42 |
Chapter 3- Is Pasture Birthing for You?
| Specific Objectives | 43 |
| Benefits of Pasture Lambing and Kidding | 44 |
| Choosing a birthing pasture | 46 |
| Set Stocking or Drift “Lambing”? | 48 |
| Planning for inclement weather, mothering issues, predation and neighbors | 51 |
| Handling birthing checks and management tasks | 55 |
| Heat stress | 57 |
| Internal parasites | 58 |
| Selection and culling | 60 |
| Summary | 61 |
| Suggested Activities | 61 |
| Appendix I “Example of an animal health SOP for entropion” | 63 |
| Appendix II “Example of an animal health SOP for joint ill” | 64 |
| Appendix III “Feeding a kid or lamb by stomach tube” | 65 |
| Appendix IV “Giving an intraperitineal injection (IP) of dextrose to a kid or lamb” | 66 |
| Appendix V “Flow chart on caring for weak kids or lambs” | 67 |
| Appendix VI ” Sample lambing barn plan” |
