Outdoor lambing systems can offer good welfare outcomes for both ewes and lambs when well managed, but require skilled stockpersonship and appropriate infrastructure to address hypothermia, mismothering, and predation risks.
Outdoor lambing welfare depends heavily on stockperson skill and presence. The critical period is the first hour after birth: colostrum intake, thermal status, and the ewe-lamb bond established in this period largely determines whether a lamb survives. Ewes lambing outdoors in poor weather require monitoring at least every 2-3 hours, with frequency increasing for ewes showing signs of imminent parturition. Triplet lambs present particular challenges: ewes typically manage two lambs but struggle with three, and the weakest triplet often fails to receive adequate colostrum. Artificial rearing or fostering of triplet lambs is welfare-positive when done correctly but labour intensive. Mismothered lambs - those that fail to bond with their mother - represent one of the most common welfare failures in outdoor lambing, requiring stockperson intervention to facilitate bonding or to provide artificial rearing.