Lambing is the highest-risk welfare period in sheep production. Hypothermia, dystocia, and mismothering cause significant neonatal mortality and suffering that attentive management prevents.
Lambing season concentrates welfare risk into a short period where outcomes are highly dependent on management quality. Proactive monitoring, skilled intervention for dystocia, hypothermia treatment, and provision of appropriate nutrition in late pregnancy are all evidence-based practices that dramatically reduce neonatal suffering and mortality. Good shepherding during lambing requires intensive labor investment but prevents enormous preventable suffering.