Weather-related issues: The weather forecast for snow continues to vary from day to day. The greatest worry is likely to be a higher risk of hypothermia in newborn lambs. There are two degrees of severity. Mild hypothermia occurs when a lamb’s temperature is between 37°C and 39°C and is typically caused by lambs being born into a cold environment or consuming insufficient colostrum to generate heat. This is the less serious situation and can generally be rectified by warming the lamb and ensuring it receives colostrum/milk.

Hypothermia is much more serious where the temperature drops below 37°C. Here, treatment is influenced by the age and condition of lambs. Where newborn lambs are still able to suckle, then drying, warming and stomach tubing with colostrum should suffice. In cases where the lamb is very weak and unable to suckle, irrespective of what age, then colostrum or milk should not be given, as there will be a higher risk of milk getting into the lamb’s lungs.

The optimum solution in such instances is getting a rapid source of energy into the lamb, which is best achieved by administering a glucose injection into the lamb’s abdominal cavity (stomach). Veterinary advice is to administer 10ml of a 20% glucose injection per kg bodyweight (50ml for a 5kg lamb). Before administering, warm the solution to body temperature. If diluting, do so by adding recently boiled water that has been allowed to cool, or sterile water.

The site of administering is one inch out and one inch down on the right hand side of the lamb’s navel. The solution must be injected into the abdominal cavity (inside the skin) and not the gut of the animal. This can be achieved by inserting the needle downwards at a 45° angle. Warming the lamb should take place once the solution has been administered. This should bring the lamb back to a state of being able to suckle or be stomach tubed.

Ensuring ewes and lambs have good shelter and that ewes are sufficiently supplemented to promote milk yield will help avoid problems. Keep an eye on the direction of the prevailing wind and position feeding troughs where the shelter is best.

Laboratory analysis: The likelihood of obtaining a positive diagnosis of the cause of mortality in foetuses submitted for post-mortem analysis to the Department of Agriculture Regional Veterinary Laboratories (RVLs) will be improved greatly in most instances where it is accompanied by the placenta. This is because the placenta can often shed light on issues that may not be identifiable from the lamb carcase.

Prompt delivery of fresh samples is also highly advantageous, with the quality of specimens and chance of making an accurate diagnosis reducing swiftly as samples age. Remember, samples identified for submission to RVLs must be pre-booked through your vet. Your vet will also be in a good position to advise as to the optimum delivery of samples (eg carcase, placeneta, blood, faecal samples) and whether or not blood samples may be required. This will vary depending on the disease suspected as the underlying cause of mortality.

Sheep census final reminder: The deadline for submitting the 2020 annual sheep and goat census returns is Monday 15 February. Applications can now only be submitted online through the Department of Agriculture’s agfood.ie facility.