What a busy second week of lambing it has been! We’ve managed to get through three quarters of the lambing by the end of this week which is great! The joys of the Scottish weather have had an impact though meaning that our lambing shed was full to bursting a couple of times as we held off putting lambs outside as quickly as we normally would. A couple of extra days in the shed didn’t do them any harm though, it just meant a bit more work for us!
On our farm, when a ewe gives birth, she and her lamb(s) are penned up together for a day to ensure the lambs are suckling well and a strong ewe/lamb bond has been formed. After this, if all is well, the lambs are rung. This involves putting a small rubber band on their tails so that the long end withers off and they are left with a shorter tail for veterinary/welfare purposes. This reduces the instance of poo sticking to their bottoms and attracting flies as the weather starts to warm up. If they attract flies then the flies will lay eggs on the lamb and from the eggs, maggots will hatch out. The maggots will then begin to eat the flesh of the animal, and if we don’t catch them in time, they will more than likely die. Traditionally, flies were only a problem during the summer months, but now, with the unsettled seasons that we seem to be getting, we must be on our guard from early May right through to September/October time.
Both the ewe and lamb(s) are then numbered, a blue number for a ewe with a single lamb and a red number for a ewe with twins. This means that when they go outside, we can easily make sure that lambs and their mothers are matched up. It also means that if we see a ewe with a red number, and she only has 1 lamb with her, we know that we have to go and have a look for the second lamb. It could be that it’s just sunning itself somewhere, but it could also be that it has run into some kind of bother or is unwell and needs our assistance. Again, this is another example of marking as a management tool for the farmer!
After the sheep are numbered, they are then put into a nursery pen with other ewes and lambs for a day before going outside. This year however, they ended up being in the nursery for a few days due to the sub-zero temperatures and bitterly cold North wind. Thankfully, that has now passed, and we have been able to release the masses, great for them and even better for us!!!!
Last week I told you about the wee lamb that we had to take away from it’s mum which I know sounded sad but was the safest thing to do for the lamb. The little lamb got a new mummy though! One of my favourite ewes, Dotty, sadly had a stillbirth but we managed to adopt the first little lamb on to her. She is a fantastic mum and absolutely loves her new baby, so a happy ending for everyone!!