Anything and Everything Lamb Blankets

Lamb blankets are necessary for many reasons. A lot of people think that the only purpose of a lamb blanket is to keep an animal warm. That is probably one of the lesser reasons for using a blanket for an animal. The main purpose is to keep the animal’s hide fresh and firm. It is a replacement of sorts for when an animal has hair/wool. If your lamb is shaved, you need to have a blanket on it. 

There are many different options to a lamb blanket. It can be overwhelming if you are first purchasing a lamb blanket, so we want to take a minute to explain some of the differences. The first major difference is between a lamb blanket and a lamb tube. Many people will purchase a tube over a blanket because it is cheaper. However, tubes should not be used for long periods of time. They are good for shows because they can help to keep fungus away and the hide tight and moisturized on show day. Lamb tubes are not a necessity in our opinion, but there is a time and place to use them.

The next thing you will see about blankets is that there are different materials and names to the blankets. If there is a blanket that is marketed as a cool blanket, it most likely means they are meant for warm weather. The fabric is often more breathable and allows for air to come through. For the most part, a nylon or canvas blanket is used in weather that is cooler. The final type of blanket you will see is an underblanket. Underblankets are used in cold weather to provide additional warmth and keep an animal dry. They are often thicker and more absorbent. Once again, they are sometimes cheaper, but should only be used as an additional layer, not an only layer.

One last difference we want to take a minute to talk about is the back of the blanket. There are two different types you will see- solid backed or mesh backed. Solid backed blankets can only be used for wethers. Mesh blankets are mainly a ewe blanket, but can be put on a wether if necessary. The reason a ewe should never be put in a solid backed blanket is because they will not allow urine to go through. This leads to a lamb blanket becoming soiled or wet.

There are several places we have used to purchase lamb blankets including:

• Weaver Livestock
• Sullivan’s Show Supply
• Judy’s Western Wear

Weaver’s livestock does a good job explaining the differences in an easy to follow format if you want a more condensed version of this. Click here to be redirected to this page.