Lambing is the most intensive welfare period of the sheep farming year. Good stockmanship during lambing significantly reduces ewe and lamb mortality and suffering.
Lambing is a period of high welfare risk for both ewes and lambs. Ewes experiencing dystocia suffer acute pain and, without assistance, exhaustion and death. Appropriate obstetric intervention requires skill and must be timely — delays worsen outcomes for ewe and lamb. Lambs born in cold, wet conditions lose heat rapidly and require dry housing, colostrum, and sometimes supplemental heat. Mismothering is common in hoggets (first-time mothers) and triplet litters; stockpeople must check frequently and intervene with bonding pens or fostering. Pain relief for ewes after difficult births is underused in sheep farming — NSAIDs significantly improve ewe welfare and recovery. Investment in stockperson training and lambing supervision infrastructure are the most effective welfare interventions during this critical period.