MONICA AKEHURST AT THE KITCHEN TABLE
LAMBING HAD ITS
USUAL CHALLENGES
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Yay. “it’s raining”. I’m tempted to join our grandsons, who are jumping in the puddles with sheer delight at the water splashing everywhere. The prospect of better grass growth comes as a huge relief. The cattle feed situation has been worrying, with stores depleted and little grass to turn cattle on to. The sheep have mopped up what has been available, but thankfully we’ve a seed ley which has grown really well. To utilise this, we’ve been strip grazing it, which has kept them going. Moving fences daily is an extra chore but it gives a good opportunity to spot any trouble within the flock at an early stage. It also provides the added bonus of seeing lambs running races, helping the ‘feel good’ factor in shepherding. Lambing had its usual challenges, but thanks to input from family members on ‘lambing holiday’ we all came through it. Lambs put up with cold weather well, providing they get going quickly, and get their
fill of colostrum. Cold and wet is the killer, so from that aspect lack of rain was a positive. Contrary to their reputation, sheep can be sensible and find sheltered locations to lamb in, while others choose the brow of the hill; maybe they like the view. We lambed outside, checking them from dawn to dusk. We only pen them if there’s a problem or if they’ve lambed late in the evening. I particularly enjoy the first check. I’ve tried to teach my ewes the nursing concept of ‘airway, breathing, circulation’ with limited success. Nothing is more frustrating than to find a large dead lamb with its body lovingly licked clean but with the airway covered by the amniotic sac. On this occasion, to her credit the mother had managed to get it right with the two very small siblings who were up and sucking. I penned her, due to their size and vulnerability. Next day I was alarmed to find one lamb looking rather bloated. On inspection it was lacking a vital exit passage. Sad times, but luckily these are far outweighed by the successes.
> Triplets
JUNE 2021 | WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET
Good mothering skills make the difference between life and death. One ewe (marked down on my phone) lavished all her love and attention on her first born. She dropped her second and simply ignored it. It lay wet, exposed to an icy wind, and soon became hypothermic. I treated it and tucked it up in a box, not expecting it to survive the night. But next morning it was up and sucking. Annoyingly we were unable to persuade its mother to look after it even after a stint in the fostering unit. It’s now joined the merry throng of sock lambs. At first I was wary about the fox that frequented the lambing field, but it did a great job of clearing up the afterbirth. I only wish it would do the same regarding the abundance of rabbits emerging from the wood into our field. To give the fox its due, it never once touched a lamb, and towards the end of lambing cautiously went about scavenging while I worked. Usually I’d be in Shrek (ATV), but early one frosty morning this was out of action. Option two, our
