# Feeding ewes to determine when they will lamb...



## Mindi (Apr 19, 2016)

I was told one time at a lambing workshop that depending on when you feed your pregnant ewes, it can determine when they will most likely lamb.  Can anyone fill me in on this?  Expecting lambs just about anytime now


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## Roving Jacobs (Apr 19, 2016)

When you have a regular schedule for your sheep, ewes will often lamb around it. In the winter I tend to bring my ewes into the barn for dinner around 5-6 pm and then fill up their hay feeder around 9 am. Most of my ewes lambed around 8 am so they would be done for breakfast or they would wait until around 7 pm to start serious labor so they didn't miss dinner. Not all of them followed the schedule but the vast majority of them did.


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## purplequeenvt (Apr 20, 2016)

We tried that for a number of years and it never seemed to work. Our ewes like to wait until after they've eaten to have babies. 

Normally we have lambs born anytime of the day or night, but this year, the earliest lambs were born was around 6:30 am and the latest was 10:30 pm. Nothing in the middle of the night. I think they were just showing me that they love me. I work 5 am - 1:30 pm 4 days a week and I only missed 3-4 births and most of those it was just barely.


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