My name is Jenni and I have been so incredibly fortunate to be let loose on
Camilla and Roly’s farm as a helping hand. If memory serves me right, I first
started helping on the farm in late 2014. So this is my second experience at
lambing time.
We are all looking forward to the farm opening up to the public again this weekend to share
lambing time with you all. It really is a beautiful farm with a rich history and
an opportunity to see lambing up close and maybe even see a birth!
This year, I have taken on the role of night duty and as guest blogger
thought I could share my experience with you so far! So in a nutshell, lambing
time is all about conducting a routine and repeating it over and over. Once you
get the basics you find yourself wandering off all over the place knowing what
needs doing and time just disappears!
The first few nights I worked alone when things were fairly quiet on the
lambing front. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do much in the dark fields but
after a couple of nights I found myself tuning in to the subtle signs that a
mother may be ready to give birth. Torch in one hand and the other on the quad
bike throttle, I slowly patrol the fields checking each one, often shining the
torch at endless bottoms going a little cross eyes and just get stared at by
their glowing eyes! I then see one looking upwards as if she is pushing, a mild
panic occurs, to then realise she is just having a long yawn! I had realised, up
until this point I had never seen a sheep asleep as I had only worked with them
in the daytime. I often drive past a few completely flat on their side snoring
away, having a giggle to myself but also with a slight feeling of relief that it
isn’t giving birth just yet and my hands are not full!
But then…. you spot in the distance a few tiny legs and a birth has
occurred! They key with any new born lamb and it's survival is warmth and then
food. So I get the lambs onto the trailer first and mum either comes easily or
she doesn’t. When she doesn’t, you can spend a lot of time running around and
falling down rabbit holes but generally if they are experienced mothers, they
walk straight into the trailer. The plan is to then whizz them back to one of
the barns where we have plenty of lovely pens waiting for them but if it’s a
busy night you will generally spot another giving birth. I would make sure they
all are birthed and okay before I head off with the ones in the trailer, to come
back as soon as possible to collect the next lot.
Once I get lambs back to the barn, I check they have iodine on their belly
to prevent infection and check for any signs of hypothermia. If they seem very
cold and struggling, the key is to warm them up and later on make sure they have
some milk in their tummies. Sometimes you have to tube feed a lamb with milk and
when you have quite a few to feed, including any orphans that need bottle
feeding, as well as finding the time to check everyone in the barn and do hourly
field checks, I find I end the shift with milk in my hair, birthing fluid all
over me and with a few more grey hairs on my head!
So going back briefly to checks, I check the fields every hour, that way no
lambs are left out in the colder nights for too long and risk of hypothermia is
lower. I then do the rounds in the barns, what I like to call the the maternity
wards, checking everyone is happy, lambs are milking from mum and everyone has
food and water. This is repeated and repeated until I go to bed or the music on
the radio becomes a little too eclectic for my ears which it can do in the early
hours! I can often be found singing or having a chat to a few of them when I
pass midnight and I am working on my own!
A few things I have learnt with lambing, one being not to wear bracelets…
these can come off when you are assisting a birth and have your hand up a ewe’s
backside! Birthing fluid…. this just goes everywhere, I have had every item of
clothing just covered including my face but there comes a point where you just
don’t care! Hands…. they are scrubbed clean so frequently they feel like
sandpaper! If you speak to shepherd Emma she can recommend fabulous hand creams
as per her blog!
Lastly, straw. Emma has touched on this about finding straw everywhere. It
really is an essential part of lambing but when I wake up in my bed at home
after a busy night shift to find some straw in my bed (oh and some baler twine a
few days ago!)… I realise that I have fully embraced lambing time and have
almost become one of them!
I feel so privileged to work on the farm and to learn so much about sheep
and lambing in particular. I will be at one of the lambing open
days this weekend on the 9th/10th of April, so please come along.
Jenni.
Thank you also to Roly, Camilla, Molly, Freddie and Belle.
