ALTHOUGH lambing is probably the most demanding part of the shepherd's calendar, the succeeding few weeks still require a high degree of vigilance to ensure a successful enterprise.

Faced with a barn or field full of ewes and various off-spring ,the potential for problems is much higher than might initially appear. In view of this, it pays to be aware of some of the common problems encountered during the early, post-lambing weeks.

During the first few weeks of life, lambs depend heavily on milk for sustenance, which means it is important that you continue to feed your ewes well at least for the first six weeks after lambing. A proprietary ewe nut is fine, but home mixes are also acceptable, just ensure that you achieve a high protein content of at least 16 per cent. Oats, in particular, are well known for producing milk.

From about a week to 10 days, the lambs will start to eat hay and creep feed so these should be freely available as of course a good water supply. A word of warning here! A ewe's motherly love doesn't extend to depriving herself of a tasty meal at junior's expense! Given half the chance, she'll have no qualms in pushing her own lamb out of the way at the trough! For this reason, you will have to make or buy a lamb creep.

The commercial ones come in a variety of guises and can be easily moved to different locations as many are fitted with wheels. If finance is a major consideration, you can quite easily make your own by cornering off an area in the barn or field with low rails to keep the ewes out and allow lambs in.

Another problem you will almost certainly meet at some point is hypothermia. Novice shepherds are often under the impression that this is something that occurs only during extremely cold weather to lambs born in an outdoor flock. While this is a very real risk, it isn't the only scenario when it happens. Week or very young lambs born indoors are also susceptible to hypothermia especially during the first two days after birth and the cause is not so much cold, but inadequate feeding. To avoid this, very young lambs should be checked several times a day to ensure that they are getting enough milk and any lamb that looks unusually sleepy should be investigated.

The best way to do this is to place a finger in its mouth. If the mouth feels cold then you must warm the lamb up immediately. You can buy special lamb warming boxes for this purpose, but unless you have a big flock they probably aren't worth the expense. Our method is to take the lamb into the kitchen, wrap in a thick towel and gently play the warm air from a hair dryer over it. If you have an Aga or Rayburn, you can place in a box beside this.

What you must not do at this stage is to feed! Giving milk to a hypothermic lamb will almost certainly kill it. You must first raise its temperature by warming. You don't need to buy a thermometer to ascertain the correct body temperature, just keep testing by putting your finger in its mouth. As soon as you feel warmth, then it will be safe to feed. You will probably need to tube feed at first as the lamb will show little inclination to feed itself, but as long as the mouth is warm, it will be quite safe.

A very comatose lamb may need to be injected with glucose. This is quite a tricky procedure and should not be done without first being shown where to inject as the site is very specific. Get your vet to show you during a less stressful time.

Confining sheep and lambs to a relatively small area, either in a field or barn can make the flock vulnerable to all kinds of diseases. Foot rot will probably rear its head, but that is not usually life threatening unless the shepherd is guilty of gross neglect.

Joint ill is a different matter. This affects the limbs of young lambs which experience stiff joints and become lame, dull and listless until they eventually die. It is picked up through the navel when the cord is healing shortly after lambing. Spraying the cord with anti-biotic spray or dipping in iodine will do a lot to reduce the risk of joint ill, but in spite of this cases can still occur. Over-crowding and using buildings several years in succession without proper cleaning during the summer months increases the risk so good hygiene, both at lambing and during the summer period are vital. If you do suffer cases of joint ill, it can be treated with antibiotics.

Joint ill can also infect a lamb when castrating, tagging or docking so take care when doing any of these and treat any open wounds with iodine or spray.

Watery mouth is another disease that can affect new born lambs. This usually occurs during the first two days of life and is caused by bacteria suppressing the digestive process in the gut. Week lambs that have not taken enough colostrum are wide open to attack. The classic symptom is excessive salivation, hence the name watery mouth. Removing soiled wool from around the ewe's udder and keeping the flock well strawed up will do much to prevent this disease. Again, should you get a case, antibiotics will help, but you will also need to be prepared for a high degree of nursing to get the patient back on its feet.

Mis-mothering can happen at turn out time or less commonly, when an out door flock is moved to a new field. Sheep, being very nervous creatures tend to get panicky when moved out of their comfort zone so before you know where you are, you have a field full of frantically baaing ewes and lambs running around the field like headless chickens in their efforts to re-locate each other! Unless the flock is very big, they usually sort themselves out fairly quickly, but staying around while they do so is a good idea just in case problems arise.

We once had a big ram lamb in such a panic that he ran full tilt into the five-bar gate he'd just come through, thinking that his mum was still in the barn! He did survive to tell the tale, but was very groggy for a couple of hours! Talking of gates, check that they are secure. By this I mean no lambs can get through the rails or underneath. The same goes for fencing and hedges.

During the summer months holes and gaps often get plugged with all kinds of odd bits of wire and other barriers. These were probably perfectly safe for adult sheep, but do check that they are not hazardous to lambs which may end up with their heads fastened or even worse! While on holiday in a remote part of Wales, we once had to rescue a lamb from barbed wire that had wrapped itself around the youngster's body as it had struggled to free itself from a badly repaired fence.

Sheep notes

  • Wool hasn't been the hottest topic of discussion among sheep farmers this autumn, but a flock owner from Kendal, Cumbria, remains committed to maintaining a keen eye on fleece quality. While he would welcome a higher return for his wool he believes the prime benefactor of a good fleece is the sheep itself.

"Wool is fundamental to sheep and obviously has an important contribution to make to its general well-being and ultimately its profitability - not from the value of the wool to me but to the sheep," says Ian Grisedale, of Milton, near Kendal.

With his wife Angela, Ian runs a flock of 300 breeding ewes which include pure-bred Herdwick, Texel and Lleyn ewes as well as a proportion of Texel and Lleyn crosses used for prime lamb production. He's a long-time supporter of fleece classes at agricultural shows and has had considerable success over the years and says he'd like to see more sheep producers take a real pride in their wool and to get involved in showing it.

While it may seem unimportant when hill farming is under such financial pressure, Ian believes that a good fleece on the back of a horned sheep has never been more important.

"Fell flocks have been the hardest hit during this crisis and we need to look at anything we can to make sure that our sheep are as thrifty as possible. A good fleece is like putting a slate roof over the back of every sheep and fleeces that have a long staple shed off the rain. The wool underneath is barely damp."

  • Registered wool producers can benefit from a reduction in the cost of obtaining the new animal transport assessment certificate which will be introduced in April for stock that is transported on journeys lasting up to eight hours and covering over 40 miles (65km).

Using the GOLA system (Global On-Line Assessment) livestock farmers can gain their transport certification - being organised by the National Proficient Tests Council - at several British Wool Marketing Board offices throughout the UK.

The BWMB - through British Wool Training - is offering the certification to registered wool producers at a reduced cost of £47 compared with £67 for other livestock farmers.

The first step is to obtain a registration form - which can be obtained from any of the BWMB's offices. Once completed and returned with the appropriate fee, the applicant will be notified of the date set to undertake the GOLA assessment.

Contact details for regional BWMB offices are: Callander, (01877) 339657; Newtown, (01686) 626811; Exeter, (01392) 477944.