Lambing 2019 here we come

It soon comes around each year, scanning.  Malcolm arrives with his trailer and we send all the ewes through individually and Malcolm scans each one.  Benn our friend stands next to the trailer with spray cans and gives each ewe a mark depending on what Malcolm finds.  If they are having twins they actually don't get a dot, singles its red, triplets one blue dot and this year we have 6 girls having quadruplets who got two blue dots!  The total meant that our lambing percentage is 201%, so each ewe is averaging just over 2 lambs each.  We are going to be busy!

We are now only 4 weeks away from lambing and so far the weather has been amazing and kind to us.  We are really hoping it will continue and we can avoid the difficult conditions we had last year.  Things already feel different because we have moved calving until after lambing.  Normally the cows would be calving now and we would be regularly checking them day and night.  The wet conditions and the snow we had last year helped us decide that it would be safer to calve later in the spring. 

The ewes are beginning to show their pregnancy and looking like convenient coffee tables but moving around never seems to worry them when it comes to feeding time where they are very nimble.  We keep a close eye on them as there are particular risks at this stage when the ewe is under so much pressure from the lambs growing inside her.

Meanwhile we are busy getting ready for our lambing open days - 30th, 31st March and 6th and 7th April.  Please come along and join us.  Meet our wonderful sheep and maybe see a lamb being born, climb our bales, eat delicious local food, tractor and trailer rides (weather permitting) plus other stalls and activities.  We look forward to seeing you.

More soon

Camilla, Roly, Molly, Freddie and Fly