lambing open days

Lambing open days

Even after 25 years of sheep farming, there is still a wonder in watching the arrival of new lambs, even if the lambing season does herald long hours and little sleep

For 3 days at the beginning of April this year we decided to open the lambing barns to visitors. It was the first time that we had held lambing open days, and we were a little worried as to how we would cope, right in the middle of the busiest time of the year. The response was great, and with the new lambing barn viewing gallery proving a great success, we had several hundred people visiting the barns over the 3 days.

The ewes were very obliging, giving birth right on cue, so much so that almost everyone who came was able to see a lamb born. To me there is just as much wonder in seeing how quickly a lamb is on it’s feet and suckling from it’s mother, and a visit of a couple of hours allowed most visitors to see lambs born, then making those first vital steps.

Of course there is far more to lambing than just the arrival of the lambs, so the rest of the barns were set out to allow easy access, with information posters describing the workings of the lambing barns, together with shepherding traditions and sayings.

We were delighted with the reaction to our first lambing open days (see guest book comments) and we are planning more open days for next April, we’ll put the dates on the web-site as soon as they have been finalised.

Gallery of lambing open day pictures