Lambing for beginners

with Gillian Dixon (DASH member)
Price: £85 (£65 for your first DASH course booked in 2024 and 2025 if you are a member)
Venue: Northlew, near Hatherleigh EX20 3PS
Sunday 16th March
Time: 10am - 4pm
Course type: Classroom & practical handling
Materials: Summary handouts to take away
Provided: Teas, coffees, soft drinks, biscuits
What you need to bring: Packed lunch, clean outdoor clothes & wellies, notebook

Preparing the ewe and ram for tupping:  worming, checking teeth, teats and feet, assessing breeding condition, feeding, timings, when to put in rams, expected lambing dates Care of the in-lamb ewe:  Stress, feeding - when & how much, vaccinations, scanning Setting up your lambing shed: Pens, disinfection & biosecurity, ease of management Essential lambing kit:  All that you should have on hand for both routine and problem lambings; medicines, equipment Routine lambing: Checking the sheep, from first signs of labour to delivery, in-door or out? penning, monitoring, tail docking, castration, routine before letting ewe and lamb outside Opportunity to meet the sheep (practical session): See the lambing shed set-up, view ewes with lambs & expectant ewes, castration and tail docking & possible lambing in progress Problem lambings: Signs to look for when all is not going well, discussion of mal-presentations, sick ewes & how to deal with them - when to call the vet. Poorly lambs and how to manage them, lamb rejection & adopting-on lambs, stomach tubing & bottle feeding Follow-on lamb and ewe care to weaning:  Post lambing routine, when to worm, vaccinate, grazing rotation, shearing, ear tagging Record keeping: flock book, breeding records Summary: Last questions Handouts include: Lambing glossary, annual shepherd’s calendar of tasks, useful contacts, useful further reading/websites; various Eblex sheep/lambing related leaflets

Ticket sales for this course are managed by DASH, to book please email training@devonsmallholders.co.uk