Fostering techniques in sheep

Confinement in animals is one of the most common issues raised by animal welfare groups and consumers. Modern breeds of sheep commonly have more lambs than they can sensibly rear and it is common to foster lambs between ewes. Some techniques used involve severe restriction of ewes and these can be replaced by more effective and non-invasive methods.

‘…..the facts’
The bond between a ewe and her lambs is very strong and once this bond is established ewes do not accept other lambs easily.
One of the most commonly employed techniques used to foster lambs is the fostering crate where the head of the ewe is placed in a yolk in order to
allow the lambs to suck without being butted off by the ewe

Fostering crates can cause problems for the ewe such as:

inability to lie down comfortably
restriction of access to feed and water
inability to turn round

Experience shows that the fostering crate does not allow for a good bond to be made between lamb and ewe and when the ewe is turned out she will often not actively care for her lamb(s) and lamb losses/poor doers can be high.

Even simple, effective fostering is time consuming.

Fostering crates are not allowed but there are three techniques which DEFRA consider to be humane:

Wet fostering is a simple technique whereby lambs are moved between ewes at the point of birth.
When lambs are newly born and wet, a ewe does not differentiate between her own and other lambs.
Wet fostering can also be used on very young lambs which have been licked dry but the lamb must then be re-wetted either by copious amounts of foetal
fluid or warm water mixed with foetal fluid.

Skinning of dead lambs is a technique which is virtually foolproof as long as the skin is well fitting, the tail is left on and the skin covers the anus of the foster lamb.

As a last resort ewes are long haltered for a limited period if they are butting their lambs.