It’s nearing that wonderful time of the year…. lambing. By the time you read this we will be approaching March the 2nd which is D day. How do we calculate D Day? Well, it all depends on when you put your rams in. There are lots of different theories, but I go by the one I have always trusted, and which works for me. Put the rams in and 147 days later is the first day that you can expect lambs. But for all of you ladies that are reading this, you know that nature in the end takes its course. We lamb indoors because I find I can control matters far better. But clearly if you have 1,000 ewes that may not be practical or economic.
This weekend was the start of one of the pre lambing jobs. Dagging. For the uninitiated, (please do not be offended), it is when we get in a shearer to literally give the in-lamb ewes a beautiful rear end haircut. It cleans them up and ensures that the lambs are born into a clean environment and also we can see, as the shepherd, what is going on.
All beautifully “dagged” out!
The next job which is about 6 weeks before lambing, is to vaccinate the ewes with a product called Heptavac which basically protects the lambs from a variety of sheep diseases. Next is the preparation of the yard. Sheep are gorgeous but they do have a pecking order and it is critical when they come in that you really watch what is going on. Yep, bullying happens in the lambing yard and if you don’t recognise it early, you can get problems as those getting the short end of the stick don’t feed properly and can go downhill quickly, particularly if they’re carrying twins.
Lambing has its ups and downs but at the end of the day, new life is always special, whether human, animal or plant. So, here’s to a wonderful Spring 2022 and plenty of healthy lambs for you all to enjoy when you walk past our fields.
Janet East
