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Causes and Certain Factors Affecting Lamb Mortality¹

Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station

Abstract

The autopsy reports of 138 lambs of the Cotswold, Hampshire, Oxford, Rambouillet, Shropshire and Southdown breeds were analyzed to determine the relative importance of the various causes of death of young lambs. The flock records were studied to determine the effects of year of birth, breed, sex, type of birth, birth weight of lamb and percent of inbreeding on mortality rate up to two months of age.

The results show that both heredity and environment are important factors in young lamb mortality. The principal causes of death in this flock were pneumonia, premature births, weak lambs, still-births (carried full time) and external and internal abnormalities. Factors which had an effect on lamb mortality were breed, sex, type of birth and birth weight. A higher mortality rate was observed in the larger breeds. There was a higher mortality in males and twins than in females and single lambs respectively. Lambs much below the breed average in birth weight had very little chance of survival. Year of birth and inbreeding were not important contributing factors to lamb mortality in this flock.

¹ Published with the approval of the Director as Journal Article No. 987(n.s.).