The lambs have been making an appearance in the fields across the Yorkshire Dales over the last few days and you know it’s a sign of springtime in the Dales, I love seeing the fields full of bouncy lambs, watching them play is always lovely and with Easter just around the corner it’s hard not to think about the summer months ahead.
I can’t explain how much fun I’ve had learning and have a few more days to lamb this April in the diary, it’s so rewarding seeing the new lambs being born and the mothers taking care of them, although lambing isn’t for the faint hearted there is a lot of mess involved as well as casualties and moments some may find sad.
I got involved for my first day when Uncle Richard was nearly halfway through his flock which are inside the lambing shed, it’s hard to imagine what the lambing shed must look like full because on my day visiting it was all hands-on deck to watch for lambs being born and moving day old mother and lambs to the fields.
Within 30 mins of arriving on the farm I was helping deliver my first lamb. Auntie Clare showed me what I needed to be looking out for and how best to deliver. I could tell one sheep was going into lamb, but I didn’t expect it to come so quickly. Uncle Richard explained that some can pace around for hours and it’s not always that quick.
Some Ewes can give birth without assistance but with multiple births going on in the lambing shed and happening at the same time it’s good to get them out quickly, so lambs don’t get muddled up with other little ones born at the same time and stops potential complications.
After the lamb has been born it’s important to spray the navel of the new-born lamb with Iodine, this iodine formula has been used by shepherds to manage the treat of disease for a long time, it’s used to disinfect and dehydrate the wet navel of the new-born lamb.
It was a very busy day upon my visiting, checking the lambing shed, delivering new lambs, checking the week and two-week-old lambs around the fields, moving lambs from the lambing shed the penned areas to bond with the mums, feeding the sheep, checking the pet lambs and so much more.
I’m looking forward to gaining some more experience this month and looking in to having my own lambs in 2023….
