Hypothermia of the newborn lamb

Hypothermia is the most rapid cause of death in newborn lambs. A lamb that has not suckled can freeze to death within a few hours, sometimes during the night following its birth. The lamb is born wet, very small, with very little reserves. He loses his heat much faster than an adult and he has only one way to produce it: burning the energy from his reserves, then that from the milk he drinks. As long as he sucks, he lasts. As soon as he stops sucking, his reserves are exhausted, his temperature drops, and the colder he is, the less he has the strength to suck. It’s a vicious circle that closes very quickly. This is the most urgent message of the lambing season: a cold lamb that is not suckling is an immediate emergency, not an animal that will be looked at tomorrow morning.

THE ANIMALS IN THIS VIDEO