Accurately recording lambing difficulty is essential when documenting a lambing event.
It is vital that difficult lambing events are recorded accurately to prevent farmers making incorrect breeding choices in the future, which could result in increased financial loss due to increased lamb mortality.
Lambing difficulty is ranked on a scale ranging from 1 to 4.
| Lambing Score | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 – Unassisted | Ewe lambed down without any shepherd intervention |
| 2 – Voluntary Assistance | Lamb was presenting correctly and would have without doubt lambed down successfully without increasing the chance of lamb mortality |
| 3 – Slight Assistance | Ewe required slight assistance at lambing as there was an increased probability of a dead lamb(s) if no assistance was given. Example: head back, leg(s) back, breech. |
| 4 – Significant Assist | Ewe required significant assistant at lambing as there was a very high probability of a dead lamb(s). Example: C-Section, head back, leg (s) back, breech |
Lambing difficulty is recorded under the lambing event on the selected ewe. When recording a lambing event, the selected lambing difficulty score should reflect they entire lambing event. In the case of multiple lambs, where assistance may have been required for one of the lambs, this should be reflected in the lambing difficulty score given.
