Treating Hypothermia in Lambs & Goats in Cold Weather

Whether it is your first birthing season or you are an experienced veteran, here are some things to prepare for the most successful season possible.

Reader Contribution by Kat Ludlam and Willow Creek Farm
Updated on December 30, 2024
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by AdobeStock/ahavelaar

Caring for lambs and goats in cold weather is essential to avoid common hypothermia in lambs and kids. Learn the symptoms of hypothermia and how to treat it in time.

Having a newborn lamb or goat kid get chilled and hypothermic is pretty common, especially when you live in a colder climate like we do. We generally plan our breedings so that the ewes and does are giving birth in April or later, but even in April and May we get below freezing at night and the newborn babies are at risk of hypothermia.

This year things are a bit different on our farm, and we had a ewe due in the middle of this bitter cold snap. To be sure we didn’t lose the lambs, we were checking on the ewe every 1-2 hours, day and night. She snuck the babies out between one-hour checks, and when we arrived one of the twins was hypothermic. Thankfully, we arrived in time, recognized the symptoms, and treated him right away.

Symptoms of Hypothermia in Lambs and Goat Kids

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