first lambs

It’s always good to see the first lambs of the year, and on Sunday evening the first lambs arrived in our new lambing barn. With most of the flock looking very heavily in lamb,I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the rush started, and on Monday no less than 50 lambs were born! We’re now with the sheep for almost 24 hours a day, and hoping that the weather will dry up a little so that we can turn ewes and lambs out into the field. Sometimes lambing seems to be so busy that you don’t know where to turn next, but as a I was once told by an old shepherd ‘they only have to arrive once’. And much as I love to see the first lambs of the year, it’s also pretty good to see the last!

lambing’s just around the corner

The past few weeks have been very busy with the building of the new sheep shed, but with the shed nearly complete I need to turn my attention to the coming lambing season. The ewe flock is being fed heavily in order that they produce strong lambs and give plenty of milk, and have been vaccinated with the clostridial vaccine, which provides protection to lambs via the ewes milk, against 8 different diseases. Half of the flock has been housed in the exiting sheep shed for the last couple of months, with the rest of the flock still grazing on the National Trust ground at Mortehoe.

With the new shed due to be completed this week, I hope that all of the flock will be under cover by the weekend.

This picture is of ewes steaming breath in the early morning