IT might still be the depths of winter, but pedigree breeders and some commercial breeders will all ready be bracing themselves for the new season's lamb crop, so being prepared is essential if losses are to be kept to a minimum.

Hopefully, you will have made a note of when your ram went into the flock which should enable you to work out the date of arrival of your first lambs. Average gestation for sheep is 145 days, (roughly 5 months), but allow 3-4 days for early arrivals or as in the case of Suffolks, up to 5 days. If you used a raddle you should be able to pinpoint lambing dates for individual ewes with quite a high degree of accuracy. So, having put a big red ring around your expected lambing date, what do you need to prepare for the big day?

There are various kinds of lambing aids on the market, but unless you know how to use them properly they can do more harm than good so don't be tempted to buy something because you think you ought! Most lambing problems can be sorted out by removing rings and watches and ensuring your hands and arms are clean!

The following might prove useful and are worth a look, but again, if you are not sure of their uses, get expert advice.

  • Lambing rope. Simple nylon cord that can be sterilised and re-used. Can be tied around front legs to help with a big lamb, bring limbs forward that are lying back or threaded around head and through the mouth, (not neck!), to ease a large head through the cervix.
  • Plastic lambing aid. Works similar to the above, but is supposed to make things easier! Still fiddly though.
  • Ewe truss. Used for prolapse of the womb. Some can allow normal lambing to take place.
  • Plastic gloves. These are disposable and can cut down on the risk of infection. I find they also reduce sensitivity so have never bothered with these except for the odd occasion when I've been asked to help with the lambing or kidding of a neighbour's animal.

Medicines

If you don't want to incur the wrath of Defra inspectors, all medicines that you administer to your animals need to be recorded in your medicine book. That includes the squirt of wound powder caused by a minor encounter with a barbed wire fence as I know to my cost when I got questioned about a tub sitting conspicuously on a ledge in our cattle shed!

  • Antibiotics. These should be stored in the fridge and be in date! It's surprisingly easy to over look the fact that antibiotics have a sell by date, especially if your flock is mainly healthy and you don't have to resort to this type of treatment very often. Give a shot of antibiotic after a difficult lambing or in case of retained after birth.
  • Syringes and needles. Keep a good supply to hand, making sure you have the correct sizes.
  • Colostrum. Normally this would be provided by the ewe, but there will be cases when none is available, either through death or simply because the mother's milk hasn't yet "come in". Powdered colostrum is readily available from good farm suppliers so keep a good supply handy. Even better, if you have the time, get into the habit of freezing some from each ewe that lambs.

n Milk substitute. Not really a medicine, but a very necessary part of your lambing kit. You may lose a ewe or she may have very little milk or too many lambs to feed successfully. If fostering on to another ewe isn't an option, a substitute milk supply needs to be readily to hand. You can buy small or large bags from farm suppliers.

  • Glucose. Used to provide instant energy and to revive cold lambs. If you come across a lamb that looks sleepy, is less than a couple of days old and has a "clapped in" look check its mouth by placing a finger inside. If cold then you need to warm it up as quickly as possible. Feeding milk is the last thing you should do as it will most probably kill it. In severe cases when the lamb looks as if it is in a coma injecting glucose into a particular spot just below the navel is an emergency treatment that works well. This is not a job for a beginner as you need to be quite precise. Get your vet to show you where to do it well before lambing.
  • Disinfectant, anti-biotic sprays, iodine, lambing gels. These should all be included in your lambing kit. Lambing gels are used to lubricate your hands and arms and will help reduce the risk of infection. Sprays and iodine are used to treat the umbilical cord which can leave the new born lamb wide open to all kinds of disease, including joint ill.

Other necessary equipment

It's surprising how much of this there is. Not all of it is necessary, some will just make life easier, but when faced with what seem like endless sleepless nights involving stumbling around in the dark, there's nothing wrong with that!

  • Lamb revivers. These are essential, especially to highly bred sheep such as Suffolks. Consisting of a plastic tube or large syringe, a rubber tube is attached to the end which is gently passed down to the lamb's stomach. Put your ear to the open end and you should hear gurgling sounds. This will tell you the tube is in the correct position. You can then pour warm milk taken from the mother directly into the lamb's stomach. This takes the guess work out of knowing whether a lamb has fed or not and will help a sickly lamb to get vigorous very quickly.
  • Bottles and teats. It's almost inevitable that you will end up with at least one "cade" lamb or at the very least supplement the feeding of triplets or quads. Be prepared with the correct sized teat. If you don't want to splash out on bottles, you can use those from the kitchen, but make sure they are thoroughly cleaned and have not contained cleaning fluids.
  • Lamb Jackets. I've personally never used these as we always lamb indoors, but some shepherds find them essential. They are made in a variety of materials and are designed to slip over the new born to keep heat in and cold out.
  • Towels, torches and smelling salts, buckets, flasks. You will need a handy water supply. The cold tap in the yard will do at a pinch, but adding some flasks of hot water to it is definitely the preferred option! The smelling salts held under the nose of a weak lamb can encourage it to breath and the torch might come in handy for spotting your keys dropped in the straw, as happened on one occasion when my daughter assisted with a late night lambing!
  • Restrainers. You definitely need some method of holding your patient still if lambing assistance is needed. If no human volunteer is available there are several sheep restrainers on the market which will do the same job.
  • Castrating rings, pliers and tags. Castrating rings, made from rubber, can also be used to dock tails. These should be applied as soon as possible after birth. It is said that lambs benefit from a naturally occurring analgesic immediately after birth so applying rings during this period is the kindest option. All sheep must be tagged before leaving the farm. See the Defra website for full details. www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/id-move/sheep-goats/id.htm.

Housing

If you are lambing during the winter months, you need to give some thought to housing and prepare well in advance. Lambing later in the year, many farmers chose to lamb outside, but even so, will probably use bonding pens to ensure good mothering.

  • Hurdles. A good supply of these can be used to quickly erect bonding pens as and when needed, also other temporary penning. They have the added advantage of being very portable which means they can be moved to fresh ground or areas of the barn to prevent disease build up. You can make your own from wood or buy commercial ones made from aluminium. When not in use they can be stacked tidily away.
  • Straw bales. Good bonding pens can be made from these and they have the added advantage of being draft free. They do take up a lot of room though so if space is an issue, probably not the best option.

Finally, one essential piece of equipment is free and should be used regularly. I'm talking about your eyes! Regular, four-hourly checks will alert you to the onset of lambing in most cases and ensure that no ewe is left in difficulty too long.

Sheep notes

Lambing courses: Lambing courses are typically run over one or two days. It should be possible to find a course within reasonable travelling distance. The best place to enquire is your local agricultural college. Private businesses also run courses.

Pershore College, Warwickshire - This course is intended for newcomers to lambing and those interested in extending their knowledge of sheep and lamb husbandry. One and a half day course, March 1, 2008. Cost £135. Contact: Tel: 01386 552 443. Email: pershore@pershore.ac.uk; www.warkscol.ac.uk/pershore/c_small_8.html.

Bleng Barn - Sheep husbandry and lambing weeks. January 28, lambing course. Also, two weeks in February and April are available for groups or families to either block book or come as individuals and attend the Lambing and Sheep husbandry course. The course costs £150 per person per week and accommodation and food is included. Minimum number on this course is 4, maximum 6. Contact: Bleng Barn, Mill House Farm, Wellington, Cumbria. Telephone: 019467 25671. Email: info@blengfarms.co.uk; www.blengfarms.co.uk/courses.html.

Moulton College - The college farm run a number of industry related courses throughout the year, including a special lambing course for smallholders. Please contact for details.

Moulton College, West Street, Moulton, Northampton, NN3 7RR. Telephone (0)1604 491131. Email enquiries@moulton.ac.uk.

British Wool sheep husbandry and rural skills training courses - An extensive programme of sheep husbandry and rural skills courses has been planned by British Wool Marketing Training, part of the British Wool Marketing Board, and will be taking place throughout Wales in the coming months.

The courses, which have been funded by the Welsh European Funding Office and the European Social Fund, cover topics such as parasites (internal and external), lameness in sheep, sheep husbandry for beginners, lambing, hedge laying, dry stone walling, first aid and shearing gear maintenance.

Courses are open to farmers living in Powys, Monmouthshire, Wrexham, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

For further details and dates of the training courses, which cover dates from October 2007 to May 2008, contact Diana Lavers (training course co-ordinator) Tel: (01686) 626 811.