Heat lamp

DJ98

New to lambing, have never used a heat lamp before so just wondering when do you put a lamb under the lamp and for how long?
Thanks for your help.

Pete123456

The lamp is used to keep the animal warm. We would only use a lamp if a lamb was sick or if it the third of triplets that the ewe was aggressive towards, to keep it warm. How long you use it depends on how long it's needed. If the animal needs to be kept warm (if it was sick for instance) provided the lamp isn't too close it can be left on all the time. On other occasions it might only be needed at night etc. Be careful though because heat and straw/hay don't mix. Make sure it's well secured and not likely to burn the animal or cause damage.

Birdnuts

Pete123456 wrote: »

On other occasions it might only be needed at night etc. Be careful though because heat and straw/hay don't mix. Make sure it's well secured and not likely to burn the animal or cause damage.

Good advice that - heard of one lad in the next townland to mine that lost stock and his lambing shed to one of those old style lamps that wasnt' properly setup

rangler1

DJ98 wrote: »

New to lambing, have never used a heat lamp before so just wondering when do you put a lamb under the lamp and for how long?
Thanks for your help.

A warming box with a mesh floor and fan heater is better than a lamp for really cold lambs.
Here's a picture of one they're not hard to make.

http://www.shearwell.co.uk/p/124/two-compartment-lamb-warming-box.

If you could put a thermostat switch on the fan heater to control the heat it works better

Username John

DJ98 wrote: »

New to lambing, have never used a heat lamp before so just wondering when do you put a lamb under the lamp and for how long?
Thanks for your help.

Have a heat lamp, wouldn't use it too much. I hang I high enough just to feel a very gentle heat in the back of your hand when it's in the straw.
Be careful that it's secure as people have said.

Don't have a warming box, not sure I'd have the use for it. One time a lamb feel into a bucket of water, and was frozen I robbed the missus hair dryer and it did a super job... So if I feel a lamb is very cold, 10 mins with the hair dryer I think does a very good job to warm and then under the heat lamp...

As for when to use lamp / warming box - check lambs legs / feet, if they cold then warming time...

orm0nd

for a sick/chlled lamb, put the lamb into a plastic tub or bottom of old plastic barrell, about a foot high

use a good bed of straw

puttin a lamp directly over a lamb in a open space causes cold air to circulate to replace the heat, thus creating a cold draft,

the ewe can also remain with the lamb

we have an intensive care corner in the shed with bracket on the wall of 3 lambing pens a steel pipe for hanging the lamp slots into the brackets so we can literally set up a lamp in any pen in seconds

if not needed the lamp is hoisted out of the way