Newborn Lamb Care: The First 24 Hours After Birth

In its first 24 hours, a newborn lamb needs six things:

to breathe freely
to be licked, dried and bonded to its mother
to stand and suck within about the first hour
to get enough colostrum early, ideally within the first two hours
to stay warm
to have its navel dressed in a clean pen

Your job is mostly to check that each of those has actually happened. Step in only when one has not. Starvation and exposure are the biggest causes of death in young lambs, so the checks in this guide concentrate there.

This page is the overview for the first day. Detailed guidance lives in separate guides: how much colostrum a lamb needs, orphan and rejected lambs and bottle feeding.

The first 24 hours at a glance

Time after birth	What should happen	What to check
0 to 15 minutes	Lamb breathing; ewe licking	Membranes clear of nose and mouth; lamb moving and lifting its head
15 to 60 minutes	Lamb standing and searching for the udder	Ewe staying with the lamb; lamb not wandering off or left behind
Within about 1 to 2 hours	First good suck of colostrum	Watch the lamb suck; check both teats are working
First few hours	Navel dressed; ewe and lambs settled	Navel dipped; pen dry; ewe interested in all her lambs
6 hours	Lamb has fed well	Belly full rather than hollow; lamb warm and content
6 to 24 hours	Several good feeds; strong bond	Lamb active and sucking regularly; ewe eating, drinking and cleansed
By 24 hours	Lamb ready for a larger pen or turnout if conditions suit	Dry, sucking well, bonded, weather suitable

First minutes: breathing

Most lambs start breathing on their own within moments of birth. Check quickly without taking the lamb away from its mother:

Membranes off the face. Make sure the birth sac is not covering the nose and mouth, and wipe away mucus.
Signs of breathing. Chest movement, head lifting, shaking the head or sneezing.

If a lamb is not breathing well, Ontario agriculture guidance, reproduced in Canada’s sheep code of practice, describes simple stimulation: a brisk rub over the chest, or tickling inside the nostril with a piece of clean straw to trigger a sneeze or gasp.

If a lamb is still not breathing properly after clearing the airway and gentle stimulation, get experienced help or contact your veterinarian immediately. Lambs from long or difficult deliveries are the most likely to struggle. The stages of a normal delivery are covered in stages of lambing.

Licking, drying and bonding

A ewe licking her lamb does several jobs at once. She dries it, stimulates breathing and circulation, and learns its smell so she will accept it at the udder.

The Merck Veterinary Manual notes that ewes form a bond with their own lambs within about 30 minutes of birth.
Veterinary guidance stresses keeping the first hour as undisturbed as possible.
AHDB notes that undisturbed ewes make better mothers.

Let her get on with it. Stay back, keep dogs and people away, and resist handling the lamb more than necessary.

Step in when bonding is not happening:

The ewe ignores the lamb, walks away or butts it.
She is still busy with another lamb and one is being left cold and wet.
The weather is severe and the lamb is chilling fast outdoors.

In those cases, dry the lamb with a clean towel or straw, keep it close to the ewe’s head so she can smell it, and move the ewe and lambs into a sheltered pen. For outdoor lambing, NSW government guidance suggests ewes ideally stay at the birth site for about 12 hours, and at least six, so avoid moving them unless it is necessary. Indoor pen setup is covered in the lambing jug guide.

Standing and sucking

A lamb that stands quickly and finds the teat has a strong head start.

AHDB: a lamb that is up and sucking within 15 minutes of birth has a 90 to 95% chance of still being alive 90 days later.
AHDB typical times: for a typical lowland lamb, about 50 minutes to stand and about 100 minutes to suck, with goals of about 25 and 30 minutes.
Merck Veterinary Manual: lambs should stand and nurse within about 30 minutes.

Those benchmarks give a practical rule: most lambs should be standing within the first hour and sucking soon after. Oklahoma State University guidance advises giving colostrum to a lamb that has not nursed by about two hours, or that is weak.

Is the lamb actually feeding?

A lamb beside its mother is not necessarily a lamb that has fed. Check:

Watch it suck. A lamb that is sucking properly holds the teat, swallows and wags its tail. Nuzzling and bunting without latching on does not count.
Feel the belly. A fed lamb has a full, rounded abdomen. A hollow, tucked-up belly means it has not had enough.
Behaviour. Fed lambs tend to lie quietly and sleep. Hungry lambs cry, wander and keep trying to suck.

AHDB recommends checking that lambs have sucked within the first six hours.

Check the ewe: udder, teats and cleansing

Many lamb feeding problems are really ewe problems. Soon after lambing, check:

Both teats. Gently strip a little milk from each side. Oklahoma State advises confirming the ewe is milking this way. AHDB’s lamb survival checklist includes checking that both teats are clear and producing milk. A waxy plug in the teat end can be removed by stripping.
The udder. A hot, hard, swollen or painful udder, or watery, clotted or discoloured secretion, can indicate mastitis. Contact your veterinarian.
Teat size and shape. Very large or low-slung teats can be hard for newborns to find and grip.
Milk supply for the litter. A ewe with triplets, or a young ewe, may not have enough for every lamb.
Cleansing. The afterbirth usually passes within a few hours. If it has not passed within about 12 to 18 hours, or she has a foul discharge, contact your veterinarian.
Her general state. She should be alert, eating and drinking. Ewes need plenty of clean water after lambing.

Colostrum: why the first hours matter

Colostrum is the ewe’s first milk. It carries the antibodies a lamb needs, because antibodies do not cross the placenta before birth, and it is a concentrated energy source for keeping warm. The lamb’s gut absorbs antibodies best soon after birth, and that ability falls away over the first day.

The key points:

As soon as possible. UK welfare codes for sheep advise that lambs receive colostrum as soon as possible and in any case within three hours of birth.
A common first-feed target in UK veterinary and advisory guidance is about 50 ml per kg of body weight, with a total of about 200 ml per kg over the first 24 hours.
US extension guidance often gives a lower minimum of about 10% of body weight in the first 24 hours.

If the ewe has little or no colostrum, a lamb has not sucked, or you have triplets competing for two teats, use the lamb colostrum guide. It covers amounts by lamb weight, alternative sources, storage and thawing.

Tube feeding can deliver colostrum to a lamb that cannot suck, but it must be done correctly. AHDB advises that only lambs able to hold their heads up and swallow should be tubed, and that very weak, unconscious or severely chilled lambs should not be. Ask your veterinarian to show you the technique before lambing starts.

Keep the lamb warm: temperature checks

Newborn lambs lose heat quickly, especially when wet, small, or born into wind and rain. AHDB lists exposure and starvation as the biggest causes of death in young lambs. A digital thermometer is one of the most useful tools you can have.

Rectal temperature	What it means (AHDB guidance)	What to do
39 to 40°C (102 to 104°F)	Normal	Keep with ewe; make sure it is feeding
37 to 39°C (99 to 102°F)	Moderate hypothermia	Dry, move to shelter with the ewe, ensure it gets colostrum, recheck
Below 37°C (below 99°F)	Severe hypothermia	Urgent: see below
Above 40°C (above 104°F)	Fever or overheating	Check for overheating or illness; contact your veterinarian if it persists

Severely cold lambs: why age matters

A newborn lamb has a small energy reserve in the form of brown fat. AHDB notes that a lamb more than about five hours old is unlikely to have much brown fat left.

That has an important consequence:

A severely cold lamb under about five hours old that can hold its head up can generally be dried, fed colostrum and warmed.
A severely cold lamb older than about five hours, or one that cannot hold its head up, may have used up its energy. AHDB advises not warming it without first providing energy. Warming alone can cause fatal fitting.

Lambs in the second group commonly need a glucose injection given by a veterinarian or a person trained by one. Contact your veterinarian promptly. Ideally, arrange training before lambing season so someone on the farm knows the protocol.

When warming lambs, AHDB advises using a warming box rather than infrared lamps, which can easily overheat lambs. Recheck temperature regularly and return lambs to the ewe as soon as they are warm and fed.

Navel care

The navel is an open route for infection in the first days. Most guidance recommends dressing it promptly:

UK (AHDB and NADIS): dip or dress the navel in strong (10%) iodine as soon as possible after birth. AHDB suggests within about 15 minutes, repeating at least once 2 to 4 hours later.
US: the Merck Veterinary Manual and Oklahoma State refer to 7% iodine. Extension guidance from South Dakota State University notes that 7% iodine has been regulated since 2007. Chlorhexidine products (2 to 4%, or 4% chlorhexidine mixed 50:50 with alcohol) have been used as alternatives.
Sheep Veterinary Society (UK): iodine below about 7% is considered less effective. Tetracycline sprays are not appropriate for navel dressing.

Product availability and rules differ between countries, so agree your navel dressing with your veterinarian. Cover the whole navel stump, not just the tip.

Navel dipping does not replace hygiene. The Sheep Veterinary Society notes that many joint ill infections enter through the tonsils or gut, not only the navel. Clean, dry, well-bedded pens matter as much as the dip.

Twins, triplets and multiples

Most losses in multiple litters come from one lamb missing out:

Count the lambs against scanning results so you know if she has finished.
Check every lamb has sucked, not just the strongest.
Watch the smallest lamb. Triplets are lighter at birth and have smaller energy reserves.
Watch for a lamb left behind while the ewe is busy with a later one.
Mark ewe and lambs with the same number before they leave the pen, so mismothering is easy to spot later.
Decide early whether a ewe can rear three lambs, or whether one should be fostered or reared artificially. See orphan lamb care: fostering vs bottle feeding.

Warning signs of a weak lamb

Check lambs regularly through the first day and act early if you see:

Not standing within about an hour, or unable to stand.
Not sucking, or repeatedly trying and failing to latch on.
A hollow, empty belly several hours after birth.
Hunched posture, a cold mouth, or lying apart from the ewe.
Constant crying, or becoming quiet and floppy.
Weakness after a long or difficult delivery.

Early action usually means warmth, colostrum and a check of the ewe’s milk. A weak lamb deteriorates quickly.

Veterinary red flags

Contact a veterinarian promptly if:

A lamb is not breathing properly after its airway is cleared.
A lamb is severely cold, especially if it is more than about five hours old or cannot hold its head up.
A lamb cannot swallow or hold its head up.
A lamb develops a wet, drooling mouth, becomes dull or has a swollen belly in its first days. AHDB identifies watery mouth as linked to inadequate colostrum intake.
A lamb has swollen, hot joints or a swollen, moist navel.
A lamb has watery, drooping or weeping eyes. AHDB notes that entropion, an in-turned eyelid, is easy to correct if caught early.
The ewe has no milk and no suitable colostrum is available.
The ewe is dull, off feed, has a hot, hard udder, bleeds heavily, prolapses or has a foul discharge.
Several lambs are affected by the same problem.

Environment: pen, bedding and draughts

Clean, dry, deep bedding. Wet and dirty pens raise the risk of watery mouth, joint ill and navel infections.
Draught-free but ventilated. Air should move above the sheep, not across the lambs at floor level.
Water and feed for the ewe within reach, with buckets positioned so lambs cannot fall in.
Enough space that the ewe does not lie on her lambs.
Afterbirths and dead lambs removed promptly.

Pen sizes, bedding and how long ewes should stay in are covered in the lambing jug setup guide. The kit to have ready before the season is in the lambing preparation checklist.

Identification and records

Record the basics while they are fresh:

Ewe ID, date and time of lambing.
Number of lambs born alive and dead, and each lamb’s sex and ID.
Any assistance given and any problems with the ewe or lambs.
Colostrum given, if any.
Birth weights, if you weigh.

Canada’s sheep code suggests identifying lambs before they leave the lambing pen. Official tagging and movement rules vary between countries, so check your local requirements. Good records also tell you which ewes need help every year and which families rear lambs well.

Monitoring through the first day and turning out

Check frequently in the first few hours, then at regular intervals through the day and night during busy lambing periods.
Look, then touch. Watch for a minute before handling so you see normal behaviour.
Before moving to a group pen or turning out, AHDB suggests lambs should be dry, sucking well and bonded to the ewe, the ewe should have plenty of milk, and the weather should not be cold, wet or windy.

Frequently asked questions

How soon should a newborn lamb stand and suck?

Most healthy lambs stand within about 30 to 60 minutes and suck soon after. AHDB reports that lambs sucking within 15 minutes have a very high survival rate. If a lamb has not sucked by about two hours, check it and make sure it gets colostrum.

How do I know a newborn lamb has had enough colostrum?

Watch it suck properly and feel its belly, which should be full rather than hollow. A fed lamb is usually content and sleeps. For target amounts by body weight, see the lamb colostrum guide.

What temperature is normal for a newborn lamb?

A normal rectal temperature is about 39 to 40°C (102 to 104°F). Between 37 and 39°C the lamb is getting cold and needs drying, feeding and shelter. Below 37°C is severe hypothermia and needs urgent action.

What should I dip a lamb’s navel in?

UK guidance commonly recommends strong 10% iodine. In the US, 7% iodine or chlorhexidine-based products are used, because 7% iodine is regulated. Agree the product with your veterinarian and dip as soon as possible after birth.

When should I call the vet about a newborn lamb?

Call promptly if a lamb is not breathing properly, is severely cold, cannot swallow or hold its head up, develops a wet mouth or swollen belly, has swollen joints or navel, or if the ewe has no milk or is unwell.

Sources and further reading

AHDB: Improving lamb survival (2024); Colostrum management for lambs
NADIS: Lambing Part 4, Ensuring survival of newborn lambs
Merck Veterinary Manual: Breeding, parturition and common lamb diseases of sheep; Behaviour of sheep
Defra: Code of recommendations for the welfare of livestock: sheep
National Farm Animal Care Council (Canada): Code of practice for the care and handling of sheep
Sheep Veterinary Society: Supply of strong iodine (10%) for navel dressing of neonatal lambs (2022)
Ohio State University Sheep Team: Navel dips for lambs and kids
Oklahoma State University Extension: ANSI-3860
FAS Scotland: Hypothermia in lambs
NSW Government: Lamb survival

This article is general husbandry guidance, not veterinary advice. For a lamb that is weak, cold or not breathing well, contact your veterinarian promptly.

Plan your lambing dates: use the free Sheep Gestation Calculator to turn a breeding date into an expected lambing date, a 142–152 day window and a full milestone timeline. Estimates only, always consult a veterinarian for animal-health decisions.

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