Lambing

Lambing is the term used to describe the management of birth in domestic sheep. In agriculture it often requires assistance from the farmer or shepherd because of breeding, climate or the individual physiology of the ewe.

Farmers generally arrange for all the ewes in a flock or mob to give birth within a period of a few weeks (the lambing season). As ewes sometimes fail to bond with newborn lambs, especially after delivering twins or triplets, it is important to minimize disturbances during this period.

In order to more closely manage the births, vaccinate lambs, and protect them from predators, shepherds will often have the ewes give birth in “lambing sheds”; essentially a barn (sometimes a temporary structure erected in the pasture) with individual pens for each ewe and her offspring.