VIRUDHUNAGAR: As many as 43 baby lambs, which were sheltered tightly in a facility that lacked proper ventilation, asphyxiated to death in Nathikudi village near Vembakottai on Thursday. Sources said M Kottaisamy of Nathikudi has been raising over 250 lambs, including 90 baby lambs (aged between four and six months), on his farm. The baby lambs were sheltered in enclosures in the mornings, and then, the other lambs are taken for grazing.
On Thursday morning, a worker on the farm had sheltered them in tight enclosures. In the evening, Kottaisamy found 18 male and 25 female baby lambs dead in two enclosures. A postmortem examination conducted by the veterinary assistant surgeon on Friday revealed that the animals died due to asphyxiation.
"It is not advisable to accommodate more than 10 lambs in a single enclosure. However, over 20 baby lambs were stuffed in the shelters here, and the shelters also lacked holes to allow passage of oxygen," said Koil Raja, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry. Following the postmortem examination, the lambs were buried in the field.