LAMBING TIME 2008

Saturday 29 March to Thursday 3 April
Saturday 5 to Wednesday 9 April
Saturday 12 to Wednesday 16 April

Most of the sheep on the farm are rare breeds. There are ten different breeds altogether these include Portland’s, Manx Logthan, Hebridean, Soays, Norfolk Horns to name a few. There are also Mules, which are not a rare breed but a cross breed from a Blue faced Leicester Ram and a Swaledale Ewe. They produce good strong lambs and are good mothers.

At our Lambing days it is likely that you will witness the birth of a lamb and if not you will certainly see lambs in their first few hours of life.

Most ewes lie down to give birth and then stand up almost immediately in order to turn around to get to their newly born lamb. After the birth, the lambs and their mother are left for a time to form a close bond and when this has taken place the ewe and lambs are moved into an individual pen for 24 hours to make sure they all settle down together.

Before the lambs are moved from this pen, they are given individual ear tags which enables us to record which ewe they belong to and if they are male or female. The lambs also have their numbers sprayed on their sides which is the same as their mothers, this means we can quickly match them up if they become separated. Some of the breeds have little rings put on their tails, which in turn makes part of the tail drop off, this helps keep them clean.

From the individual pens the ewes and lambs are put into group pens providing the lambs are strong enough. After a few days in the group pens they can then go out into paddocks, providing the weather is suitable. As the lambs grow up they are introduced to little pellets of food which they eat more of as the mothers milk decreases.

A Wimpole Farm Guide Book leaflet can be purchased from the Stable Block.

The ewe has lost her lamb at Wimpole Home Farm. Can you help her find it?

Can you spot the eight differences?