Here is what happens just before or during lambing (but remember, sheep don’t read the text books or always follow the “rules”:
A day or so before she goes into labor you may notice the ewe being restless, territorial, stand by herself, the ligaments around her tail head may loosen up, her udder may fill up and look “tight”, her sides may fill in as the ewe “drops”. She may breath heavier. She may try to claim other ewe’s babies as her own, or you might not notice anything different!
The actual labor starts with the expelling of the mucous plug; which may be seen as a sticky length of clear mucus hanging from the vulva as she goes into labor. You may notice some labor contractions. What is happening at this time is the cervix is dilating. She may be alternating standing up and lying down every 15 minutes or so and you may see abdominal contractions (pushes) lasting 15-30 seconds. This process may take 3 to 6 hours, so you need to be patient. The lambs can’t be born until the cervix dilates so you never want to assist too early.
At this point a lamb is getting into position, extending it’s legs, and as the lamb moves up into the birth canal the cervix dilates. Next the water bag (amniotic sac) is passed out of the vulva; sometimes whole but sometimes it breaks before it emerges and you might not even notice the liquid being expelled. The water bag signals the end of the first stage of labor and start of the second, although sometimes the water bag will remain in the ewe and be expelled after the lamb is delivered and this outer “skin” of the water bag could asphyxiate a newborn if the nostrils are not cleaned by the ewe or a person helping.
Thus begins the second stage of delivery: the expulsion of the lambs, but it still might be another hour or more before any begin to emerge. You will likely see steady, strong contractions at this point, usually with the ewe lying down as the contractions get stronger.
The lamb’s normal delivery is with her front feet first followed by the nose (aerodynamically; right between the feet), followed by the head, of course, and then the rest of the body. But there are many abnormal deliveries.
Text books always show side views of how the abnormal presentations look as the lamb is being born, one or both legs back, head turned back or to a side, breech, even the lamb lying crossways. But ewes don’t have that cut-out side view in real life so the shepherd has to figure out what might be wrong. This can all get more complicated if it the ewe has twins or triplets as you might even see four legs presented but not know what each leg is connected to. You need to first determine if each is a front leg, back leg, and what legs go together.
“Helping” can mean many things. I try not to assist unless necessary. If a leg or other body part is protruding from the vulva I’ll hold it steady and see if I can determine where the corresponding leg or other body parts are and that might determine how much I need to intervene.
If two hours have passed since the water bag has passed or there is an obvious abnormal presentation it probably means it is time to assist. The recommendation is to clean your hands and the back end of the ewe with soap and water then use a plastic sleeve on one hand with an antiseptic lubricant and reach carefully inside the vagina to intervene. Often it is just one leg or the head of the lamb coming first, to be determined by sliding your fingers around the head or whatever you feel. The goal is to gently re-position the lamb so it can be a normal delivery and that can mean everything from guiding the animal back into the womb to re-position it, turning the animal, or getting it into a position where it can be born breach. Ideally, you want the normal delivery position. If you can get the lamb in the correct position you can gently pull; but only when the ewe strains in labor or you may injure her.
Often there is one foot back and you can determine it almost right away and you can fix it by reaching your hand around the head and sliding your index finger down and under the leg to bring it back into position. And sometimes, especially if it is a twin and not too large of a lamb, it can fit through the birth canal with gentle pulling as the ewe strains even if it isn’t ideal position.
Also, remember, most sheep don’t want to be caught. I try to have pens, even temporary ones, near where lambing might be occurring where I can “trap” the ewe. Then I tie the animal up or have someone hold her if I need to assist in the birthing process.
The immediate care after lambing is to allow the mother to do her work in cleaning off the mucus, especially off the nose so it can breath. You should do that with your hand or a rag if the ewe doesn’t lick it off. You can then place the lamb on the ground near the ewes head to encourage her to take care of it. If the lamb isn’t breathing you can grab it’s back legs and swing it to expel mucus, and again clean off the nostrils. If it is a multiple birth, you give the ewe a little break and the ordeal starts again. You can guess by the size of the lamb, but never really know if there is a second or third lamb in there until the last stage of lambing is completed!
The last stage of the birthing process is the expulsion of the placenta, often called the afterbirth. This may happen right away or may take a couple hours or even longer. The ewe may still be uncomfortable until this is expelled.
Immediate care after lambing is to dip the navel in iodine to prevent infection and to make sure the lambs nurse. You might have to assist if it is a weak lamb or the ewe has a large udder and the lamb can’t find the teat. Sometimes the teat has a milk “plug” that the lamb has trouble getting out so I often milk out a squirt or two. A newborn needs that new milk, or colostrum, within a few hours after birth as it is full of antibodies and the lambs stomach loses the ability to absorb it rapidly. A lamb that didn’t get colostrum will often succumb to some other illness during the first few months of life. Fortunately, most deliveries are normal deliveries and you can just watch. Tomorrow: Lambing results from this week.
The miracle of birth from earlier this week, and what usually happens; a nice, normal delivery; this time its twins.
