A second hypothesis was that shearing on day 70 of pregnancy could improve lamb birth weight and survival. Corresponding birth weights for the treatment 5 lambs were 5.4 and 4.2 kg. Again, half of the ewes were shorn at day 70. Similarly, lambs born per ewes present at lambing and at mating were unaffected with average values of 1.40 and 1.23 respectively. We conclude that, in fecund ewes, nutrition in early pregnancy has little if any impact on lamb output.
Shearing can have a minor effect on birth weight, particularly in twins.