Lambing represents one of the highest welfare risk periods for sheep. The balance between appropriate human intervention and allowing natural birth requires knowledge, skill and careful judgment.
Lambing creates acute welfare demands for both ewes and lambs. Unassisted dystocia causes prolonged labor pain, exhaustion and potentially fatal obstruction for ewes. Lambs born in difficult labors may suffer hypoxia and weakness. Outdoor lambing in cold, wet conditions exposes newborns to hypothermia risk - a slow, distressing death in lambs that do not receive timely intervention. The stockperson's skill at recognizing when to intervene and how to do so effectively determines welfare outcomes for individual animals. Pain relief during lambing interventions is evidence-based but not yet universal in practice. Vaginal prolapse in ewes is extremely painful and requires prompt treatment - delayed treatment causes prolonged suffering and reduces the chance of full recovery.