# Heat lamp or no heat lamp?



## Wollett (Jan 21, 2013)

I was told as long as the lamb is dried off that a heat lamp is not needed. Another cold snap coming through Ohio my luck we'll be lambing thoughts on this one??


----------



## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Someone posted a link recently that demonstrated signs of mild hypothermia? I'd consider that time to break out the heat lamp.

What kind of conditions are the mothers kept in? Have they been shorn recently themselves?


----------



## Wollett (Jan 21, 2013)

We had crutched the ewes, so they are used to the cold and are kept in a barn that isn't the warmest.


----------



## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

We do everything we can to wind/weather proof our barn so that it stays as warm as possible. Our barn usually stays above freezing on all but the very coldest of days (near 0 degrees outside and the water in the barn freezes). We do use heat lamps, but only on the weak, chilled, or undersized lambs. We also have lamb coats we can put on the lambs and it really is amazing how much those coats help.
If you have thick straw bedding, and a lamb coat, you can get buy without heat lamps for all but the weakest, coldest of lambs.


----------



## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Tangential question: my lambs are not expected until April. It can easily be below freezing here in April, but nothing like the three degrees we have today. Do I need to have a heat lamp in my kit? I'm planning on chickens this year, so I'll need one a month later anyway, so a piece of me says get it early just in case.


----------



## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

I guess my question really is, are we past the probability of hypothermia by April?


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

dlskidmore said:


> I guess my question really is, are we past the probability of hypothermia by April?


that probably depends more on the condition of the lamb than anything else. A new-born on a frosty night could still be a candidate for frost bite. 

I wouldn't use a heat lamp unless the lamb shows signs of distress.


----------



## bruce2288 (Jul 10, 2009)

Getting dried off and most important sucking. If both of these things have happened heat lamps are not needed.


----------



## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

I've had as many cases of hypothermia to a cold April rain, as to single digit temperatures. Heat lamps are only for lambs that have issues.


----------



## Maxpowers (Apr 4, 2012)

I used some heat lamps last year even though it seemed pointless. I used the 250w red bulbs. It was 10-15 degrees out and I really couldn't feel much heat more than a few inches from the bulb. I brought a digital probe thermometer and it verified that the heat lamp wasn't doing much. 

Figure a lamp is what 12-18"" tall, you need to keep the lamp high enough for mom to not bump into it. So like I said I ran them anyways, I figured any extra bit would help but it was probably pointless.


----------



## dlskidmore (Apr 18, 2012)

Hot compost under bedding might work better? The heat will be down where the lamb is.


----------



## trainv (Apr 30, 2013)

Hypothermia can occur at any temperature that can lower the body temperature! if the mother does her job by licking the lamb and getting it up and sucking and they are out of the wind, they should be fine. I rarely put lambs under a heat lamp as I get them in the barn in straw bedding asap. I lamb in late Febuary and early March when we still have cold and snow.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Getting that first meal is so important because the milk is warm. This helps to warm up the lamb. They also stick close to their mother and will let her be a wind break as well as a blanket. However, if a ewe is dropping a lamb in extreme cold, I'd want her in a shelter with a couple of her friends.


----------



## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Sheep are like people. Sometimes they just give birth early, or they have a small, thin baby. I've had my share of early, or thin lambs where no amount of mom's milk is going to substitute for that little layer of fat they don't have. That's when we use the heat lamp or the coat or both. We don't use it for long, just a few days until the baby puts on a little weight and can better regulate its own temperature.


----------



## Awnry Abe (Mar 21, 2012)

I have a couple of bottle fed lambs that are living with us humanoids in the 70 degree indoor comfort. Coupled with the hatch of chicks from the New Year's hatch-a-long, it is really starting to wreak in here. Our barn is not 100% done. It still doesn't have doors. I am going to put together a pen out there with some wind blocks on 3 sides and a step-over panel on the fourth. 

We are hitting single digits at night. Should I "harden them off" with a night or two in the garage first? Both are healthy and doing great.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Move them to the garage. If they seem fine, and they should be, move them. Keep an eye on them. Their wool is already growing and if they get cold it stimulates wool growth. Quick wool growth. Sheep's wool grows fastest after shearing then slows down. Since they don't have a momma, put a layer of straw down for them. Pull the straw out before letting them out of the pen.


----------

