Some lambs are born walking on their knuckles.  This may be caused by contracted tendons.  Overcrowding in the womb may be the culprit. A treatment that works well for this problem is splinting the lambs legs for a few days. Keep the lamb in the pen with the mother to ensure the lamb does not miss out on feeding due to the disability. This lamb in the photo was born in the breech position. His sibling was born with normal feet but this lamb was walking on his knuckles. He seemed uncomfortable and had to be aided in the suckling of his mother and bottle feed for the first few days of life. Once he got his splints on he was much more active and acting like a normal lamb. One leg healed before the other. It took 3 days for the problem to show vast signs of improvement. I would take of the splints off each day, message the feet and check the progress. When making the splints ensure that you use enough padding and that the tape is not too tight. I felt better ...

Sheep can show and recognize emotion by facial expressions with other sheep. When they experience stress or isolation, they show signs of depression by hanging their heads and avoiding positive actions. Sheep make different vocalizations to communicate with one another.  The bleats of individual  sheep  are distinctive, enabling the  ewe  and her  lambs  to recognize each other's bleats . Each mother can recognize her lambs by their bleats alone. Sheep can amplify and pinpoint sound with their ears Sheep will communicate with their shepard especially when they are hungry and want their bottle or nuts.

Dog poop can cause fatal diseases in sheep. The poop on grazing land can pass worms and parasites to sheep. The eggs of worms and parasites can survive on the ground for a long time, so do not allow your dogs to poop in fields that do not currently have livestock grazing in them. Diseases transmitted to sheep through dog faeces can be fatal, and can cause unpleasant effects such as impaired vision and neurological symptoms.  There is compelling  evidence of the links between two specific diseases in livestock and the presence on grazing land of poop from infected dogs. Neosporosis can result in miscarriage in cattle and Sarcocystosis can be responsible for neurological disease and death in sheep. There is currently no licensed vaccines or drugs for these diseases.

Sheep have fantastic peripheral vision. Their  large, rectangular pupils  allow them to see almost 360 degrees. Sheep  can see behind themselves without turning their heads. Predatory animals that ambush their prey tend to have vertical slit pupils, while herbivores that are prey for other animals usually have horizontal pupils like the sheep. The sheep's eyes are key to keeping them alive. Sheep have poor depth perception which means they cannot see immediately in front of their noses. 

Sheep are intelligent loyal animals with superb memory and recognition skills. Scientific research has proven the brilliance of sheep. A study of sheep psychology has proven sheep can remember the faces of more than 50 other sheep for up to two years. They can recognize a familiar human face also. They may be nearly as good as people at distinguishing faces in a crowd.  Researchers say, "Sheep form individual friendships with one another, which may last for a few weeks. It's possible they may think about a face even when it's not there." The researchers also found female sheep had a definite opinion about what made a ram's face attractive. "Sheep showed clear behavioural signs of recognising… individuals by vocalising in response to their face pictures," says Kendrick. The team also found evidence that sheep can differentiate facial expressions, and prefer a smile to a frown. Keith Kendrick and his team at the Babraham Institute in Cambridg...

Normally a lamb is born with it’s head resting on it’s front feet. You will see two front feet appear, then the knees and then the nose will appear followed very quickly by the rest of the lamb.  When the ewe stands up, the umbilical cord will break on its own. Do not cut the cord as this is likely to cause excessive bleeding. Allow the cord to tear on its own. Once the lamb is born, check to make sure that it is breathing. Wipe the head and nose off well to make it easier for the lamb to breath. If the lamb is not breathing, try inserting a piece of straw a short way into a nostril to encourage the lamb to sneeze. You may also need to lift the lamb up by the rear legs and vigorously rub its sides. The feet should also be pointing downward in a normal presentation. Feet that are pointing upward are generally from a breech birth. Lambs can be born in the breech position, but you will want to be sure to have the birth progress rapidly. As soon as a breech-positioned ...

Weaning Orphan Lambs Lambs are born with an immature digestive system. They are unable to digest anything but milk in the first stage of their life. The lambs digestive system must be fully developed before they can be moved from a milk based diet to a grass based diet. The weight of the lambs when weaning is a more important consideration than the age. Orphan lambs can be weaned from the milk bottle at around 25 to 30 pounds.  They usually reach this weight when they are 30 to 45 days old. Orphan lambs should not be weaned unless the are drinking water and eating solids. Its best to wean abruptly never dilute the milk replacer. Offer the lamb good quality hay and access to grass at 2 to 3 weeks of age so that their digestive system develops properly. The lambs may be introduced to lamb creep feed at a week old.  They will properly not eat it but the will lick it and become familiar with it.  Change the creep feed everyday as it can be a breading groun...

E.coli enterotocamenia is a contagious disease which is also known as watery mouth or rattle belly. Lambs usually become victim to this disease when sucking on a dirty teat. It is often found in young lambs and can lead to death if not treated on time. The lamb can die within hours of infection. Young lambs do not have the same defences to protect them form the e.coli bacteria, therefore lambs between one  and three days old are more susceptible to an infection of e coli. If there is an outbreak on a farm up to a quarter of the lambs may be infected, with  two thirds of those infected not surviving. The lambs contract the e coli through the ingestion of the e coli bacteria.  A lack of adequate quality colostrum ingestion and absorption increases the risk of infection of watery mouth. There are more cases in lambs who are housed  in sheds than the lambs that are  outdoors. There are vaccinations available for e coli (watery mouth). Caus...

Pinkeye Pinkeye in lambs is caused by chlamydia and mycoplasma bacteria. Pinkeye is contagious and infected lambs should be removed from the flock until they have recovered. The infection may last a few days to several weeks. Moderate to severe infections require antibiotics. Mild infections may clear up by themselves. The first sign of pinkeye infection is the reddening and swelling of the lining of the eye. There will be a discharge with tearing and matted eyes.The eyes will be sensitive to light and will tear up. The lamb may close its eyes when exposed to sunlight.The lamb suffers pain when infected with pinkeye. The eye may cloud over and develop a painful ulcer. The severe infections will cause the eyes to rupture and lead to blindness. It cannot be transferred from lambs to humans. It is transmitted by flies, dust and other nasty things that are living in your lambing shed. The best prevention of pinkeye is good clean husbandry of your stock. G eneral Eye Inf...

Arthritis This is caused due to a bacterial infection. It may be treated with antibiotic's. Bacterial Meningitis Lambs may get this at 2 to 4 weeks of age. Inadequate intake of colostrum makes the lamb more susceptible to this infection. The lamb will hold his head rigidly downward when infected. Hypothermia Common cause of death in young lambs. Lambs cannot regulate their temperature during the first day and a half of life. Lambs need to be in a clean draft free environment protected by their mother. Copper Deficiency  The lamb will have difficulty walking and standing. Enterotoxemia Type C It is a bacteria found in the soil. You need to vaccinate the ewe against this before lambing. Infection arrives when there is  a change in feeding. It causes bleeding in the small intestine of young lambs. Enterotoxemia Type D The ewe needs to be vaccinated against this before lambing. Overfeeding of the lamb causes the bacteria that are already prese...