Build a separate enclosed kidding or lambing pen of 2×2 m per doe or ewe, draft-free and well bedded, with a heat source or warm corner for newborns in cold weather. Birthing fluids and afterbirth can carry disease to people, so pregnant women should stay away, and everyone should wear gloves, wash afterward and dispose of the afterbirth safely.
Part of Barn & Livestock Housing Design
A kidding or lambing area is a small separate pen where a doe or ewe gives birth in shelter, with the newborn kept warm and clean.
Births Go Wrong In Cold, Wet, Crowded Pens, And The Pen Is A Disease Site Too
Newborns are wet, chilled and unable to regulate temperature. A draft-free, well-bedded pen and a warm spot for the newborn reduce deaths. The pen is also where birthing fluids, afterbirth and weak animals concentrate disease. Plan both: the warmth for the young and the hygiene for the people.
What You Need
- A pen of 2×2 m per animal expecting to give birth, enclosed and free of drafts
- Clean, dry bedding — straw or wood shavings
- A warm corner for newborns — a kid box of boards with bedding, in a draught-free spot
- A heat lamp, if you have electricity — see the fire warning below
- Gloves, water and a bucket for cleaning and for removing afterbirth
Method: Prepare And Use The Pen
Step 1: Count the due dates. Count how many animals are due in the same two weeks. Pen area = number due × 4 m².
Step 2: Bed the pen. Lay clean bedding before the birth and add fresh as it gets wet.
Step 3: Make the warm corner. A box with sides and a roof, bedded thickly and out of drafts, keeps newborns warm.
Step 4: After the birth. Remove the afterbirth and soiled bedding right away, in gloves, and wash hands and tools. Bury or compost it away from the water supply.
Step 5: Clean between births. Strip and replace bedding between animals, because a dirty pen carries infection from one birth to the next.
Worked Example
Six does due in the same fortnight, with 2×2 m each: 6 × (2 × 2) = 6 × 4 = 24 m² of pens. If births bunch up, a pen cannot be cleaned and rebedded between animals without a spare, so a spare pen is prudent; with a spare, 7 × 4 = 28 m². The spare pen is a recommendation, not a sourced figure.
Common Mistakes
- Lamps hung over loose straw — heat lamps are a common cause of barn fires.
- Leaving the afterbirth in the pen — it attracts predators and spreads disease.
- Not cleaning between animals — infection passes from one birth to the next.
Safety
Fire from heat lamps, disease from birthing
A heat lamp over bedding can ignite it; if you must use one, hang it from two separate fixings so it cannot fall, keep it well away from straw and from the animals’ reach, and prefer an insulated kid box with no lamp. Birthing fluids and afterbirth can carry organisms that cause serious illness in people, including during pregnancy: pregnant women should keep away from birthing sheep and goats, and everyone else should wear gloves, wash hands and arms afterward, and avoid touching their face. See Zoonotic Diseases.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Goat Raising — the animal care around the birth
- Combine with: Veterinary Medicine — when a birth goes wrong