By Maria Warne-Elston

Now that winter is upon us, it can only mean one this in my eyes. LAMBING SEASON! I say that enthusiastically and with an overwhelming excitement, speak to me this time next month and I may sound a little more unenthusiastic about it, but I find lambing season always starts off with me feeling like a child in a candy store but by the end, I feel as though I have tummy ache from all that candy, I have just gorge on. 

Because lambing hundreds of sheep in a short space of time is knackering, it is like an extreme sport designed especially for a sucker for punishment. Wet and windy days out in the elements, chancing down that repeat offender that always denies her lamb, or continuous night-time checks, using cocktail sticks to keep my eye open… Who am I kidding? I LOVE lambing season, I look forward to it every year, at the end of lambing season I wish I could do it all over again. A few years ago the decision was made to put a holt to our outside lambing, we were keeping track of the losses once the lambs were exposed to the elements and the time of which it took a ewe to give birth as well as the overall growth rates of the lamb, and the final deciding factor to opt for indoor lambing was our mental wellbeing… well that and I am really slow at running, that slow that even a ewe about to give birth could out run me without a second though! 

So, with that evidence in mind, we went about building a lambing shed, when I say it’s the best thing we have done to date, I mean it. I find there is nothing more comforting than waiting up in the lambing shed while the rain is hammering it down knowing that all of the expectant mothers and their lambs are safe and toasty inside their warm shed. It’s basically a maternity ward for sheep, and yet somehow, they manage to swindle me out of the free biscuits. 

We breed Texel, Suffolk, Charolaise, Dorset and have recently started breeding North Country Mules, after my younger sister Ally and I came back with 60 from Yorkshire last year. When I say they are the easiest to lamb I have ever come across, I mean it.

If you want to start up as a sheep farmer or just fancy a change of breed, I would highly recommend a mule. I didn’t have to lamb a single North Country Mule last year, they got on with it immaculately with not a single sheep rejecting her lamb, incredible! I poke my head through the door of the lambing shed and notice a water bag from one of the Texel ewes, the first lambing of the year! When it comes to Texel’s I am always cautious, they are a breed that carries a wider shoulder and larger head, which can mean they face problems when it comes to lambing. 

It isn’t uncommon for a Texel lamb to get stuck in the birth canal while busy entering the big wide world. Which makes it even more important to keep an eye on this breed while in labour. This ewe didn’t take long before I saw the front two feet of the lamb emerge, I kept my distance and allowed for the ewe to maintain a safe and calm environment. With a few big pushes and a few breaks here and there the first lamb of the season is born. 

The feeling of watching the first lamb being born each year is like no other, and one of the main reasons why I love my job so much. The new mother starts to clean off the birth fluid from her lamb and within a few minutes, the little lamb is up on her feet, getting to grips with those wobbly legs that appear so very far from the floor. The lamb finds her way to her mother’s teat where she has a good feed, within the first 24 hours of life it is crucial that newborn lambs receive their mother colostrum, or a replacement substitute to help build their immune system and give them some much-needed goodness. It’s not long before the same lamb is clambering about, bouncing on her mother's back, playing king of the castle. 

I can’t help but wonder what this new soul is thinking, in such a big world and yet no fear just pure joy bouncing around with little care. Are they excited by all these bright lights, do they find joy in all of these new smells, an answer I do not yet know? 

When a lamb is born, I give them a mineral mix to boost them, I have seen it work wonders on lifeless lambs, it gives them a new lease of life. But since last year I made the decision to give all new-born lambs this mineral boost, which has seen a decrease in sudden onsets of drowsy lambs which again is very common for just about all breeds or species. I give some to this new lamb and within a few minutes, she is performing what can only be described as the zoomies! 

The lamb soon goes back for another feed and settles down, never have I seen such an energetic new-born lamb. Usually, they get up within the first 10 or 20 minutes try and find the teat for a feed and have a lie down again, after all, they have just put a lot of energy into their delivery as has the mother.

I walk away happy and filled with gratitude, what a brilliant start to the season I thought to myself as I make my way into the house to have some breakfast and do it all over again.