Pastures new

Two boy lambs left home last night for pastures new. Beano and Bomber as they are now known are off to Chesters to keep grass short for Lindsay and Hugh. Hope they provide lots of woolly jumpers over the next few years for Lindsay.

The weather has taken it's toll on the sheep over the last couple of months as the soggy wet grass gave rise to lameness and skittery bums. We are really fortunate to know some "real" shepherds who help out with diagnosis and treatment suggestions even to the point of providing pills and potions. It's then up to me to develop my handling skills in administering the treatments.

Unfortunately the ewe we call Iggy's Mum took exception to being given two black herbal capsules for a skin infection and decided to bite my thumb.....at which point I remembered once being told to make sure my thumb was in the gap IN FRONT of the molars.....NEVER put your thumb between their molars. Now I know why. The pain was excruciating.

Poor sheep you may be thinking.....black smelly capsules, anti-biotic injections, stinky gooey foot paste and blue foot spray.... what more could we do to these poor beasts. How about giving them a pair of earrings that don't match. We needed to tag the lambs before weaning them from the ewes. Lambs now need to have an electronic tag in one ear and a flock tag in the other and today we set about tagging all twenty four lambs. Yellow tag in the right ear and purple tag in the left.

After tagging we took the lambs off to another field fully expecting cries from both lambs and ewes. Strangely the ewes just settled down to enjoy the sunshine and didn't seem to miss their brood.
The lambs settled into their new abode and when we left they were quietly munching away.

New room with a view

Shetlands at Peebles Show

At the week-end we were catering with Moo-Baa at Peebles Show and during a quiet moment I wandered of to check out the sheep. These Shetland coloured tup lambs were being judged.The lamb on the right was the winner of this class to the delight of his young handler. They make it look so easy trotting their lambs round the ring using a head harness, like leading a toddler on reigns. This young tup is known as a katmoget due to his markings- a badger type face, dark underbelly and paler body colour.....such a cool boy!

The flock at home are now all shorn and it will soon be time to separate the lambs from the ewes. Poor wee soles. Apparently they cry for a couple of days and then they forget all about Mum so absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder and it's out of sight (for two days) out of mind.

Although all has been quiet on the blog it as not been quiet with the sheep. We now have 24 lambs who are all growing fast. It's amazing how their fleeces change colour and they begin to look more "sheep like" or grown up.
Two weeks ago we had to round them up in order to vaccinate and dose them. This was the first time we had tried to pen the whole flock up - not an easy task. Who said sheep were stupid?
The only ewe not to lamb this year became the ringleader of "the breakaways" As soon as we got anywhere near the pen she would calculate the best route of escape and in a flash make a run for it followed by her pals and their lambs. After 4 attempts to outwit her and threats of mutton stew and lamb chops, my dear husband not known for his great patience, drove off to find a man and a dog.
Ten minutes later the sheep were all in the pen with the help of the shepherd from the neighbouring farm on his ATV and accompanied by his sheepdog. That's how a real shepherd does it !
The heavens opened as we set to getting on with the task. Can you believe it took 4 HOURS to round up  dose and vaccinate 40 sheep. As we wandered home soaked and weary with aching backs I take my hat off to the real shepherds with flocks of 1000+.

Well at last these two girls arrived yesterday and were turned out into the field today. It's amazing how quickly they grow. Here's a picture of the first lamb to arrive now nearly five weeks old.

Isn't she huge, and the others are catching up fast. Once they have all delivered I'll need to decide what to do as we can't keep them all. The field will hold thirty sheep comfortably. Two boys already have a home - they are off to Chesters to keep their owners grass short. We may need to retire some of the ewes but there is plenty time to decide. 

Come on you two

Last night the lambs were sheltering under the horse box in the field with their little heads poking out praying for a break in the rain. Normally they don't mind the weather and can be seen frolicking around come hail rain or shine, but they just looked fed up! Can't blame them really this weather is miserable.
Still waiting for the last two ewes to lamb. Perhaps when the rain stops they'll appear.

Twins Galore

After yesterdays arrivals I expected it would be another few days before any more lambs appeared, so it was a surprise when five lambs were born within the space of four hours today! Hugh had to be both herd and engineer while I was at college and by the time I arrived home they were all tucked up in their little pens. Tonight the ewes had their manicures and a quick brazilian before being numbered along with their lambs with red ink. Hopefully they can be turned out in the morning if the weather is ok. Will post photos later.

Busy, Busy, Busy..........

This morning we were greeted by these

One brown boy and one brown girl

Followed minutes later by these

Twin girls

Tam moves out!!

A few days ago we took Thomas our tup and his liitle pal Iggy ( named by my little great nephew) to another grazing field. He was getting a bit bossy and I thought that the ewes needed some piece and quiet. Loading two sheep into the back of Hugh's van was not an easy task - we really must get a proper trailer some day soon. Initially they were going to share a field with Becky the horse but unfortunately all Becky wanted to do was chase them round the field. So in the end they have a field to themselves and seemed quite happy when we left

On Thursday we saw the arrival of another two tup lambs - that's four boys and one girl. We need more girls !!! These wee ones have been giving some cause for concern. They are very tiny and initially were not feeding. The ewe was looking after them but they just had no clue how to suck. Eventually one got the hang of it but I soon  realised that I would have to tube feed the other one. Thankfully Pam had taught me how to do this last year but this time she wasn't there to keep me right. To make things worse it was now dark so the whole procedure was done by car light. What a relief this morning to find them still alive beside Mum. They seem to be feeding now. Strangely these tiny lambs smell just like babies - that sweet milky smell. They poo like babies too.......ha ha !!

Twin Boys at Last!!

Bunty and her Boys

At last - two little playmates arrived this afternoon. It's amazing, they were up on their feet within ten minutes looking to be fed. The lamb at the front of the image was second born looking like a mohican with a tuft of white on the top of his head. Thankfully the weather has improved but we still put them in a covered pen for the night to let them bond and they can join the others in the morning.

Surprise Surprise - It's a Girl !!

On Saturday after a long day working I headed up to the field to check on the ewes to find them all resting in the sunshine. A quick head count revealed one missing. As I made my way further up the hill I could just barely make her out at the top of the field against the wall and as I got nearer I could see this little bundle beside her. Our first little ewe lamb. Mum had taken herself off to deliver quietly on her own.

Now three days old and no pals yet - maybe tomorrow