One of the Flock

There's a small field where Blue Belle spends her winters, at the bottom of the Dump Field. By January this year she had it all eaten and she looked so sad (a tiny horse with a long face, I know), I took pity on her and let her join the ewe hoggets. She was so much happier to have some sheep to boss around. Her high spirits were lovely to see. One Sunday I took the camera out to get some photos of Blue Belle and her friends.

The dogs all came along too.  

At this time, in January, these ewe hoggets had the run of the Hatchet Field and the Big Hill. Breakfast would be served in the Hatchet Field, but everyone was to be found in the Big Hill. 

There's a great view from this field.

The sheep know that my arrival means food.

It took me a moment to spot Blue Belle at the far fence. Usually she was already in the middle of the sheep.

She perked up when she realised I was here with food.

She made her way up the hill.

I drove on ahead and parked just on the other side of the gate to wait. Koala was one of the first through.

There she is!

She's one of the flock.

Poppy checking that everyone's in.

I filled the two mushroom feeders.

Blue Belle can't reach in, but she can closely supervise.

Events in the Lambing Shed

I had six ewes set to lamb early this year. Vera went first - she needed help with a big single tip on 17th January. I got them both into a pen, but Vera wasn't very interested in him and the lamb didn't make any efforts to stand. Over the next 24 hours, I kept checking on them both. Vera was a first-time mum, and she had lots of milk, but the lamb didn't stand until the following day. When he did stand he had a rattle in his lungs. For those first few days, I milked Vera and tubed the lamb and hoped that he would pull through.

Now that one ewe had lambed, I was keeping an even closer eye on everyone else.

Ivan did start drinking from his mum eventually, and she wasn't violent towards him, but she also didn't seem to be forming a bond with him. Once they were out of the small pen, she would kick him off and ignore him when he tried to drink. After two weeks of this, it was clear that Vera wasn't interested. First pet lamb of the year, then.

Meanwhile, I waited and waited...

Poor Ivan even had inturned eyelashes that irritated his eyes. He just couldn't catch a break.

Every time I went to check on the ewes in the lambing shed, I'd stop by to have a conversation with whoever was at the gate.

On 25th January, Greta had a stillborn single ewe lamb. And then we were in the main rush - Astrid needed some help with a tip and a ewe on 28th January. Frida had twins the next day, and the day after that, Primrose had twins as well. I noticed that she was looking like she was going to lamb soon, so I made sure to have my camera with me when I next checked on her. She had twin girls.

That left Fern as the last to lamb.

Ivan was still with Vera at this stage, but wouldn't be for much longer. He could only get a drink when she climbed up on the bars.

Astrid was a perfect mother.

Astrid's ewe lamb, Imelda.

Her tip, Irving.

Frida's ewe, Ida. She became a pet almost immediately - Frida had only one side of milk and her brother Ian was stealing it all.

Frida lost her lamb last year, so I was very happy for her this year.

Primrose and her girls in their pen.

On the 3rd February, Fern finished my mini lambing. She had a big ewe lamb, but unfortunately she didn't live long after being born. Fern was upset, so I offered her Ivan - but Ivan didn't seem to know what to do, after having been bottle fed for a few days. So I just let Fern out without a lamb this year.

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with my mini lambing season. For only six ewes, a lot of things went wrong. There are still some lovely wee lambs, though, and I suppose we'll just have to hope for better luck next year.