Hypothermia, a low body temperature, is one of the leading causes of death in newborn lambs and kids. Freezing temperatures, drastic weather changes or prolonged rain complicates raising livestock. We can’t change the weather, but serious problems can be minimized through management, correctly identifying problems, appropriate and rapid treatment.

In a perfect world, ewes and nannies are maintained in excellent health, lambs and kids are born stress-free, good sized and vigorous, to mothers with adequate colostrum and milk.

Healthy, normal-sized lambs and kids are born with brown fat around their heart and kidneys. This fat is ready-made energy for the first few hours of life.

Brown fat provides them enough energy reserves to maintain their body temperature for about five hours. If these energy reserves are depleted before getting colostrum, the newborn becomes hypothermic.

Lambs and kids should nurse enough in the first six hours after birth to receive 10 percent of their body weight in colostrum. Most producers understand the importance of colostrum in immunity. However, many do not realize the colostrum contains higher levels of protein, fat and fewer carbohydrates than the milk produced after the young are born.

Colostrum provides the energy boost needed to get the young animals up and moving quickly, along with needed antibodies from mom to maintain their health.

Hypothermia and hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, often go together. Newborns, when cold and weak, do not stand and nurse. They quickly worsen due to not getting enough to eat, making them colder yet. The normal body temperature for lambs and kids is 102°F. A temp of 100°F or less is considered hypothermic.

Factors influencing hypothermia

Small newborns become cold quicker, losing heat rapidly in a cold environment. Dystocia (difficulty being born) and prolonging birth of large lambs causes stress. This can lead to delays in standing and nursing. The ideal size of lambs/kids varies with breed, but depends on the ewe or doe receiving good nutrition, without over conditioning them.

The last six weeks of pregnancy is critical to fetal development. Problems or stress during this time is detrimental to the fetus’ health. During this time, brown fat is laid down around the heart and kidneys, which sustain the lamb/kid in the first hours of life. Premature lambs and those from old or thin ewes often lack this critical nutrition source.

Nutrition is vital for reproducing females, the last six weeks of pregnancy is when udders develop and colostrum production begins. 

Over conditioned nannies and ewes can have trouble getting bred, birthing, and raising young.

Rain, wind and below-freezing temperatures are challenging for newborns, causing additional stress and increasing energy requirements. If lambing/kidding in winter, a well-bedded, draft-free environment is needed. If lambing/kidding on pasture, it’s best if the temperature of the ground is above 45 degrees to reduce heat lost while babies lay on the ground.

Poor mothers, bad bags, lack of milk, big teats and plugged teats can lead to lambs/kids not getting enough nutrition and developing hypothermia.

Distinguishing between normal and abnormal behavior

By far, our most substantial investment as livestock producers is maintaining reproductive females. Success of our operations hinges on the survival of newborns.

Recognizing the first signs of hypothermia and treating them appropriately results in increased survival. To distinguish what is abnormal behavior you need to understand what is normal.

Normal behavior

Lambs and kids stand and stretch, often extending their neck and or back, when rising from laying down. This behavior is an excellent indicator that they are in good health, are warm enough, and eating well. Lambs and kids will lay flat sunning themselves on nice days, but typically lie in an upright position.

When I find lambs laying on their side, or if I have not seen a lamb nurse recently and they are laying down, I give them a nudge causing them stand. I watch to see if they stand and stretch, then find their mom to nurse. If they do this, all is well; if not, it is time to investigate. 

Caring for the doe/ewe during intervention

Penning the dam with her kids/lambs is recommended if you intervene. If you need to remove a lamb/kids for treatment, a penned doe/ewe can’t claim other babies or wander around searching for her babies.

If there are multiple babies, removing all of them increases the likelihood of her claiming them all again later. Removing only one will increase the chance of the mother only accepting the baby that she keeps beside her. The other option is to assume the chilled lamb/kid will become a bottle baby.

If you are hoping to return the lamb/kid, keep in mind lambs and kids will need to nurse every 20 to 30 minutes. You need to return the non-chilled babies to suckle regularly then remove them again.

The next step is determining the best course of treatment for hypothermic lambs and kids. Warming and providing nutrition are both vital for survival, but deciding which one should come first will influence the final outcome.