Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Late gestation, the last month or so of the pregnancy, is when you'll want to provide the most
nutritional support for your doe or ewe. If you allow the mother to lose too much body weight
during this time, she may not be able to produce enough milk. And certainly, in a dairy animal,
that would be especially unfortunate.
Lambing and kidding take place an average of 150 days after breeding. Mark your calendar for
147 through 155 days and start your watching and waiting period! This is so exciting, and every
time my doe takes her time coming to the feed trough in the morning I rush out to see if there are
babies in the shed. Sometimes they fool me, though, and have a knack for waiting until I've gone
to the grocery store or a longer outing before settling into a birth.
An indicator of an approaching parturition (lambing or kidding time) has not been, in my experi-
ence, a swelling of the udder. I begin noticing a larger udder taking shape up to a month prior to
birthing. A better indicator for me has been swelling or discharge of the vulva. Also, a softening of
the ligaments around the hips and tail can make the tail seem to rise, while the abdomen seems to
drop, almost separating from the spine. You can feel the softening of the ligaments under the tail
and help to judge the mother's readiness.
Birth usually occurs within 12 hours of the onset of labor, and the pushing phase or second stage
of labor happens within 3 hours. If you notice your doe or ewe seeming to struggle, and nothing
seems to be happening after an hour or more, you may need to call in a vet. A poorly positioned
baby may have difficulty coming out and may need assistance. This is something that many home-
steaders and ranchers have done themselves for generations, but isn't something I recommend try-
ing without experienced guidance your first time.
In most cases, your female will birth her babies without assistance. She should immediately
begin cleaning the face and head of the baby. In the case of multiple births a doe or ewe may be
distracted by the birth of the next kid or lamb and not finish cleaning the first baby. If this is the
case you can use a towel to wipe the baby dry so it doesn't become chilled, but resist the temptation
to do much more than that at first.
Within two hours of the delivery, the placenta or afterbirth should also be expelled. If you do not
see the placenta come out, you will need to call a veterinarian because a retained placenta can cause
a fatal infection. Note that each baby has its own placenta, so twin lambs means you should see
two placentas birthed in the third stages of the labor. It is not uncommon for the mother to eat the
placenta as a defense against predators being alerted to their presence, so if you do not observe the
birth you may not actually see the placenta.
After birth has finished and the kid or lamb has been cleaned and dried, you should start to see
signs that they are interested in nursing. An active lamb or kid will begin nursing within 30 min-
utes, while a slower-to-start baby may not begin nursing until an hour has past. Too much longer
than that and you'll probably want to begin helping, especially in situations with more than one
baby, if there's a chance that a weaker sibling will be pushed to the side. Kids and lambs should
