Lambing - Raising Sheep - page 279

■ Shorn ewes require less space in the barn, at feed-
ers, and in lambing pens

■ Shorn ewes aren't as apt to sweat in jugs and con-
tract pneumonia

■ Shorn ewes seek shelter in bad weather

Crotching
Actually, the fi rst fi ve advantages of shearing before
lambing are gained also by crotching (sometimes
called crutching or tagging) — trimming wool from the
crotch and udder and a few inches forward of the udder
on the stomach. Only 4 to 5 ounces (118 to 148 mL) of
low-value wool are removed.

The shading indicates
the area for crotching.

Facing
Another practice of value before lambing, or before the ewe is turned out of
the lambing pen, is facing or wigging — trimming the wool off the ewe's face.
Facing is often done at the same time as crotching and has several purposes.
In closed-faced sheep (sheep with heavy wool around the eyes and cheeks), it
has the following advantages:

■ Avoids wool blindness

■ Enables the ewe to locate and watch her lamb more easily

■ Helps prevent the accumulation of hay chaff and burrs in
the wool while ewe is eating hay at the bunk

The Lambing Process
As the time approaches for actual lambing, the lamb will drop, giving the ewe
a swaybacked, sunken appearance in front of the hip bones and a restless atti-
tude. Dropping is much more noticeable if the ewe has been sheared. She will
often pick out her spot to lamb and lie down apart from the rest of the sheep,
sometimes pawing the ground before lying down. Too much lying around,
without any observable cud chewing, may be an early sign of the droopiness
caused by toxemia (see chapter 8). The ewe should normally have made a bag
— her udder should obviously be fi lling with milk — by now.
Sometimes, a ewe that is really “close-up” to lambing will try to “mother-
up,” or take lambs, from a ewe that's had her lambs. This happened to us one
spring: one of our ewes had triplets, and another came along and stole one.
We, none the wiser, thought that one had twins and the other had a single