Animal Health & Welfare

Attention to ewe condition, feeding and management plus early recognition and correct treatment of lambs at risk of exposure and starvation will increase the lamb survival rate.

SAC advice on the delivery of colostrum to lambs is given in a leaflet which can be accessed to the right.

 

Procedure for reviving chilled lambs

A procedure for warming chilled lambs, developed primarily by the Moredun Institute is detailed in the table below. 

Specific notes on the purposes of some of the procedures are given below the table.

Temperature	Age of Animal	Treatment
37 degrees	Any age	Dry the lamb Feed by stomach tube Give shelter with ewe and other lambs
Below 37 degrees	0-5 hours	Dry the lamb Warm lamb until temperature returns to 37 degrees Feed by stomach tube Return to ewe or transfer to the weak lamb unit
Below 37 degrees	More than 5 hours and able to hold up its head	Dry the lamb Feed by stomach tube Warm until temperature returns to 37 degrees Return to ewe or transfer to weak lamb unit
Below 37 degrees	More than 5 hours and not able to hold up its head	Dry the lamb Give intraperitoneal injection of glucose Warm lamb until temperature returns to 37 degrees

Notes:

Transport
If treatment of the lamb has to be delayed, e.g. for reasons of distance, it may be wrapped in tin foil to reduce heat loss.

Drying
Drying speeds up warming by reducing heat loss. It also ensures that the lamb will come to no harm in the warmer.

Feeding
Ensure that the lamb gets a feed of ewe or cow colostrum at least three times a day if it cannot be returned to the ewe. This should be given by stomach tube attached to a 50ml hypodermic syringe. Ewe milk replacer may be used if necessary for lambs over 2 days of age. Lambs being tube fed for an extended period are more susceptible to gastro-intestinal infections, especially if colostrum has been given too late or in insufficient quantity. Administration of oral antibiotics to the lamb may help reduce the risk - ask your veterinary surgeon's advice.

Mothering
If the lamb is one of twins or triplets remove the other lamb or lambs from the ewe at the same time. The pair or trio should then be mixed thoroughly for a time to re-establish smell before going back to the ewe.

Lamb Warmer
Lambs are warmed in a chamber maintained at 35-40 degrees Celsius. The lamb should be left in the warmer until it's temperature reaches 37 degrees. The warmer temperature must not exceed 40 degrees. Dry the lamb before placing it in the warmer, otherwise evaporation of water will cause further chilling.

Glucose Injection
Starved lambs over 5 hours of age can have very low blood glucose levels and may develop fit-like behaviour and die during warming.

The most effective way of raising blood glucose is to inject glucose solution into the abdomen by intraperitoneal injection. Your veterinary surgeon will show you how to do this simply and safely.

Glucose is supplied at a strength of 40% and has to be diluted 50:50 with recently boiled water to obtain the required 20% solution. This procedure conveniently produces a solution for injection at approximately the correct temperature (blood heat = 39 degrees).

As there is a risk of introducing infection when giving the glucose injection, the injection site should be pre-sterilised with a strong iodine solution and an injection of long-lasting antibiotic given at the same time - consult your veterinary surgeon on this matter.

If a glucose injection is not possible, some benefit may be derived from feeding the lamb by stomach tube provided it is not too weak. However, it is more difficult for such lambs to recover.