First Lambs in the Field

I took these photos back in February when the pet ewes were still having their babies. Daisy greeted me by the bale.

The first of the pet ewes to give birth was Blossom, and here she is with her lamb Fabian.

His special feature is what I call his "nose moustache" - a curl of hair growing out of his nose.

Francis, son of Flora and twin brother of pet lamb Frances.

These are Tilly's lambs - Fionnoula hiding behind her sister Fifi.

Astrid and Primrose being nosy.

Some more Fifi.

And a Fionnoula for luck.

Fern and Sybil in the Yard

When Fern and Sybil were wee I picked them out of the crowd of pet lambs to take into the yard for photos. My idea of using a wireless remote control meant that I could set the camera down maybe get some nice photos of the young lambs from a slight distance. That was what I had hoped. In reality the pair of them went around and around my legs - and occasionally, like Fern in the first photo, in-between them.

I picked up the camera and did manage to get a few photos of Fern the old-fashioned way.

Lambs are so hard to photograph - it's a good thing they're so cute.

Early Arrivals

Lambing isn't due to begin until the 12th March, you say? Whoops! We ended up having quite a lot of lambs born over a week in late January/early February. It was a puzzle to me until I remembered that time in late summer when we put a few ewes in a field along with our two new Texel tips for a week, thinking nothing much of it. How foolish! Of course the boys, ahem, jumped on the opportunity. Because of their surprise arrival, some of the lambs stayed outside while others were caught and brought in - like this young fellow.

And this wee woman.

It was very ominous to have a pet pen this full so early in the lambing season...

As for the pets, on the 31st of January Penny suffered a prolapse, but shortly after went into labour. We managed - or, I should say, Dad managed - to get the two lambs out. A pair of huge ewe lambs, Frida and Fern.

The following day Heather had dead lambs for the second year running but she was able to adopt Fred, Clover's son and Rosie's grandson, who was born on 30th January.

Margot had twins on the 4th February called Florence and Floyd. She loved them very much. This is Florence:

Audrey had twins the following day, a boy and a girl - twins this time that were genuinely difficult to tell apart.

Felicity, the ewe lamb.

Laurel was still holding on to her lamb, but being Audrey's very best friend, I kept them both together.

The boy lamb on the right is called Felix.

Our ancient Dorset ewe had twins this year, a boy and a girl as well. You'll be seeing more of the girl, but for now this is the boy.

Margot looking for food.

Florence and mum.

Sybil. 

Fern (and Ethel, behind the light).

Frida and Sybil.

Lots of lambs to keep track of and we were not properly started yet!

And So It Begins...

I had the pregnant pet ewes in the shed for a few weeks, getting rounder and rounder, before Blossom kicked things off on the 20th January with twin boys. Unfortunately one of them didn't make it, but the bigger and the stronger of the two thrived and first time mum Blossom was a natural.

Then, on the 23rd January, Flora had twins, a tip and a ewe. Flora had been suffering from a case of twin lamb disease (an easier way to say pregnancy toxaemia) for a few days and I was very worried about her. She couldn't stand for the last day of her pregnancy and I had to bring food and water to her several times a day. She needed some help but we safely delivered the lambs. She rejected one, however, the ewe lamb, who became a pet.

The lambs I named Francis and Frances. The lambs look almost identical and so do their names.

Francis, a few days old with mum:

It was Tilly's turn on 25th January - she had triplets, three girls. Sadly the smallest didn't quite make it despite our best efforts. As usual Tilly made the whole process look effortless and didn't require help at any stage. The smaller, black ewe is Fionnoula and bigger brown one is Fifi. This is Tilly with Fionnoula.

Blossom's lamb, Fabian, aged five days. The special thing about Fabian is his nose moustache. It's easier to explain with a clear photo taken outside. Something to look forward to in a future post!

Penny looking very round and uncomfortable.

Audrey and the late Leslie.

Laurel.