Monday 9 April 2012

First lambs of 2012

Those of you who were paying attention back in November should have been expecting this today.  Five months on and five days back from when the tups go in and you have your first lamb, usually. Today's pair were born in a freezing shower but to an experienced mother she had sheltered behind a rock on a bed of dry bracken.

One hour old
Can't be much fun being a sheep. Flukes are eating your liver, roundworms stealing your nutrients in your gut , ticks sucking your blood and then you give birth on a windswept hill. Twenty nine to go, over the next 21 days so that means several rounds of the hill each day starting at daybreak and finishing at dusk. No one ever complains about this lambing routine though, its full of surprises and satisfactions.

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