Abandoned Lambs Research Paper

As the season changes into fall, many farmers expect their ewes, or mature female sheep, to become impregnated. In 148 to 150 days, ewes give birth to a single lamb or possibly twins. However, for many farmers, problems can occur after the ewe gives birth to lambs. Unfortunately, between 15 to 20 percent of lambs die, because of the farmer’s lack of preparation and planning (S.J. Ward et al. pg87). This lack of preparation and planning often occurs when the ewe rejects her lamb or when she gives birth to twins or triplets. Ewes that reject their own lambs often refuse to allow it to feed from her teats, while ewes struggle to produce enough colostrum, or milk, to support twins or triplets. Farmers rely on a process called fostering, which attempts to rear abandoned lambs or alien lambs to a new surrogate (S.J. Ward et al. pg88). Recently, many studies have surfaced which attempt to explain the best methods for fostering lambs. Oftentimes, these fostering techniques involve tricking the ewe’s olfaction ability, or altering the way she smells

A study, conducted by Samantha Ward, Guimoar Liste, and Ambrose Tinarwo, attempted to discover how farmers choose their preferred fostering techniques and if the methods produced desirable results. 56 Farmers located across the United Kingdom, answered questionnaires regarding their sheep flocks, location of farm, which fostering approach was used often, success rates of fostering, reasons why they chose a specific foster method, and finally their beliefs on how the foster techniques impact their ewes and lambs (S.J. Ward et al. pg88). The questionnaires were distributed in two different forms: an online form and a paper form distributed to farmers during farming events (S.J. Ward et al. pg89). The results of the study helped create a larger picture over the usage and real life successes of the fostering