Lambing Posts

As a change from our usual weekly blog our Lead Ranger John, who's also a local farmer here in the Lakes, took over the blog to give us a daily insight into lambing and farming. Here's the full story of his 14 days of 'Lambing Almost Live'.

Week 1|Day 1
Hello everyone, I am currently on leave from work lambing my flock of Cheviot and Herdwick sheep on the hills above Coniston Water.Its a different sort of vacation to most of my colleagues or anyone else I suppose but as i have a farm as well as working for the National Trust its something i have done since i started and it is a great place to be so why go anywhere else. During the next couple of weeks i will be posting daily updates on what is happening on the farm at this time of year including a few photos of the sheep, cattle and local scenery.

This photo is of a freshly born lamb, its mother had chosen a great place to give birth out of the wind and in the sun, the lamb is about 5 minutes old and is already up on its feet and looking for its first feed.

Today has been nice with a few showers and hailstones but on the whole not a bad day but with a cold wind its best to get in the trees or behind a hill to find a snug place.

I have also quite a lot of cattle on the farm and one of the cows is due soon so figures crossed i will be about at the right time. The last calf looks a bit like a buffalo and is quite a star getting his photo taken by many of the tourists  who see him in the woods.

The sheep lamb up on the intake next to the fell and i gathered them in last week ready for lambing and they will stay in on the better ground for a month or so till the lambs are big enough to follow their mothers across the fell. I scanned the ewes in February and kept all the sheep due to have twins down near the farm house so they can be looked after better and given a bit of extra feed. The ones carrying singles much prefer to be on their natural habitat, there is the threat of predators but with just one lamb to look after they manage without any problems.

Day old lamb with its mother

I will post again tomorrow and will tell you a bit more about the farm and include some more photos, with about 20/30 lambs born each day i am sure there will be plenty to tell you about.

John

Day 2
Well its been another fine but cold day in the Lakes and i have been quite a variety of jobs around the farm as well as keeping an eye on the sheep. Its the time of year when we need to spread the manure from the cattle which has been stored over the winter on the fields to grow this years crop of hay and silage to feed the stock through the next winter, This puts valuable nutrients and humus back on the land which on the thin Lakeland soils is vital to ensure the grass grows well through the summer.

This morning i took some of the twin lambs and there mothers out into the field, the lambs look very small but will grow like mushrooms once the ewes get on the nice spring grass. About 15 to 20% of the fell ewes have twins unlike the lowland flocks where most of the ewes will have 2 lambs on the fells we don't want to many as they and there mothers will need to stay down on the better land and wont go back to the fell till September. A lot of twins can be a disaster for a fell farm as there wont be the room to give them the good grass they need.

Ewes with their twin lambs keeping a good distance from the camera

On the intake the sheep are lambing away with a lot more fresh lambs this afternoon when i had a ride round, the sheep were tucked in the hollows out of the wind and the lambs looked really content sunning themselves out of the cold wind. The intake is on the edge of Grizedale Forest and therefore we see a lot of mountain bikers on the bridleway which cross the land, most stop to take photos of the fantastic views (more of them tomorrow) but today i was stopped by a group who's friend had crashed her bike and cut her leg. I offered to give her lift to the road on the quad but they decided to ring the mountain rescue instead, hope they found them as it would take at least an hour for them to get there.

New born lamb keeping out of the wind in among the rushes

Although the grass is starting to green up it still not growing enough to provide enough food for the cattle so most are still inside back at the farm but i do keep some of the cows out all winter as some breeds prefer being outside and they are also part of a conservation project in the surrounding woodlands. Now out of the woods they are enjoying one of the best views of Coniston Old Man  while enjoying their afternoon tea.

The cows enjoying their hay.

More updates tomorrow, when i will hopefully remember to take the proper camera instead of having to rely on the phone,

John

Day 3
Well yet another cold but dry day looks like we will get a change next week to cold wet weather which is not good news for myself or the lambs.

Took the camera with me today so hopefully some better photos than the last couple of days.

As i said earlier i scan the ewes and the twins come down to get more attention while the singles stay up on the intake to lamb. They have loads of room to pick there own place to lamb but once lambed even though there is only one ewe per acre they tend to form small groups and share looking after the lambs. There were 6 lambs sleeping in the sun till i disturbed them and the ewes cam dashing back form near bye to make sure all is OK.

Afternoon Creche Sheep Style

I use my faithfull old quad to go round the sheep it would take a couple of hours and about three miles of walking to do it on foot so the quad saves me a lot of time and energy and the sheep get used to me pottering around and so don't bother unless i stop and get off. Today my old dog Fly came with me for a ride out, he's 16 and retired a couple of years back but still loves to come along when i take the quad out.

My two faithful companions

Got a much better photo of the cows today, i have a mix of traditional cattle mostly Blue Greys, which are a cross between the Galloway and Whitebred Shorthorn breeds. But i also have some Highland cattle a few Belted Galloway's and a White Galloway all of which are very photogenic and get lots of admiration from everyone who sees them.

Highland cows enjoying their hay

Ready for my Sunday dinner now so will leave it till tomorrow.

John

Day 4
Been a long day today lots to do before the rain hits us for what looks like a wet few days, first thing this morning we had a hard ground frost and there is still a bit of snow on the hills but  just got in and its started raining already so expecting a wet morning.

Of to the local market in the morning with some of last years lambs or hoggs as we call them, they have been away on another farm for the winter and are now fit to go. Unlike most lowland lambs ours are a lot smaller when they are weaned in the autumn so i have the choice of selling them store for somebody else to feed on better pastures or paying for grass keep away from my farm so they will grow well through the winter and be ready for sale at 11/12 months of age.

Hemp rounding up the hoggs

Spring is defiantly on its way a lot of the birds can be seen in pairs either nest building or courting up o0n the higher ground the Meadow Pipits and Larks are singing and chasing each other about. Down by the lake the Sandpipers were singing to each other and I caught a pair of Oyster Catcher's feeding around the cows, took a photo but its a bit like "Where's Wally".

Pair of Oyster Catchers in betwen the cows, Cormorants on the shore and a pair of Geese to the right

Up on the intake i was doing my rounds and could here a sheep in distress, didn't spot it for a while but when i did it was stuck in a totter bog, she hadn't been ion long but was well and truly stuck and made a lot of mud, i got a photo before i pulled her out, but she ran off at speed before i could get an after shot.

Bogged down sheep

The trees are just starting to get in to leaf and the Oaks are bursting and have such a vibrant lime green, this will soon go as they mature into full leaf but the photo below doesn't do the colour justice but i hope you don't mind me adding it.

See you tomorrow

John

Day 5
Well the rain cam but luckily most of it fell through the night and it hasn't been a bad day after all, its a good job as well because we had a lot of births. As i have said earlier i keep the ewes due to have twins at home inside as they are much more likely to have problems with predators or bad weather, its bad enough looking after one new born lamb let alone two. What tends to happen is the first lamb is born and cleaned up and will be toddling round looking for the teat when the ewe starts having her second, so she can easily lose track of the first lamb while she is having the second. Or sometimes she will have the first lamb and birth the second without realising it and go marching of with the first lamb and abandon the second which will soon fall foul to the weather or an eager predator looking for its dinner So its much easier to have them to hand and then its simple to make sure all is ok, the whole family get involved and its also a good way of involving visitors or anyone who is interested in whats going on.

Herdwick Shearling with its new Cheviot cross lambs

Once the sheep lamb we put them in  a smaller pen to mother up and depending on the weather they will go out in the field the next day. The lambs are born quite quickly and are up on there feet in seconds and start looking for their mothers teat, the ewe will lick all the mucous of the lambs this drys them up and also stimulates circulation rather like a massage.

Cheviot ewe with her new lamb

And just to add to the day my Highland Cow calved this afternoon, the calf was up on its feet and skipping round in no time at all it was if it was so glad to be out it wanted to stretch its legs and have a good skip round for a few seconds. The poor mother was doing pirouette's just trying to keep up with its new offspring and was highly delighted when the calf laid down for a rest.

Highland cow and her sprightly new calf

Will try and remember the proper camera tomorrow and get some more photos of the calf once he or she has dried up.

John

Day 6
Well another busy day down on the farm, after a flush of twins yesterday just had one this morning so took a trailer load out and shot of up the intakes before the rain came. Lots of lambs about up there now and the sheep had moved about a bit due the the change in wind direction but all looked happy and content.

Some of the ewes and lambs on the intake

I tend to do a similar circuit of the land every day but because of the change in the wind i startled one bunch of ewes and they all appeared on the top of a small hill like the Indians out of an old Hollywood western.

I managed to get a quick photo of the new calf hiding in the rushes but before i could check its gender it was off like a rocket back to its mum and i didn't fancy annoying her so will try again tomorrow. All my cows calve outdoors most up on the intake where the sheep are currently lambing and it can sometimes be a week or so before i find a new calf as the mum will hide it in the bracken or rushes and just go back every now and then to give it a feed. They will lie very quite like young deer or hares and you can almost step on them sometimes, after a week or so they will become more active and sociable and join the rest of the herd.

Highland calf hiding in the rushes

This afternoon i took some of last years calves to a piece of land which is managed for conservation because of its importance for grassland flowers. The sheep have been taken off and pony's put on to replace them but they required some cattle to get a balanced grazing pattern, so the cattle will stay there for 9 to12 months and i will pick them up and drop some more of next spring. When i let the cattle out the pony's came racing down the hill and had a great time running round with slightly bemused cattle, once they got bored of each other they decided to come over and started eating my Land Rover so i thought it was time to depart while i still had a vehicle.

Fell Ponies getting a taste for Solihull's finest, I prefer Bournville myself

I also had a visit from some students from Keele University, but more about them tomorrow.

John

Day 7
Well its been a week since my first post and the time has just flown by, haven't got half the jobs done i had planned but Lambing is going really well with about 2/3 of the sheep now lambed and not to many issues, just need some warm weather to get the grass growing. Been all over the place today in between checking the sheep i went to look at another bit of conservation grazing land, its a real gem loads of birds and even an otter, be a pleasure checking round the cattle if it works out. They are looking for small traditional cattle like mine to graze the land to help in there aims to improve the bio-diversity of this very special site.Such cattle are in short supply as most farmers have got the more continental type cattle which are bigger and require better feed.

Blue Grey cow and calf

Anyway back to the lambing.

Occasionally i do lose a lamb it may be due to a malpresentation where the ewe struggles to give birth due to the lamb not being presented properly in the uterus. In a normal birth the lamb will have both its front feet level with its nose with its fore legs alongside its head in a wedge shape so as the ewe contracts in naturally widens the pelvis and pops out fairly easily. But occasionally just the head will come forward or one leg is left behind so the lamb gets wedged at the shoulders against the ewes pelvis, without assistance the lamb can die  from stress before the ewe can give birth. Other problems can occur such as the weather being bad and the new lamb getting hypothermia, but these are rare with single lambs form hill ewes if they have plenty of shelter. If i do lose a lamb and the ewe is still with it ( they often stop with the dead lamb for a day or so) i will catch her and put a spare lamb on her from a ewe which hasn't enough milk for two. To con the sheep that her dead lamb has suddenly been resurrected i skin the dead lamb which only takes a minute and put it on the foster lamb like a baby grow, this technique works 99% of the time. After a few days i just take the jacket off and the sheep is none the wiser.

Lamb with its new jacket getting a good feed from its foster mum

I mentioned yesterday that a group of students from Keele University called in, they are on a weeks trip to the Lakes to put some practical context to their studies in Environmental Conservation. They were a great bunch and asked some really good questions about how the lake district landscape evolved and farming and other industries influence on it. I really enjoy talking about what i do so am pleased when other people actually want to get involved and hopefully gain an understanding of how farming and conservation can work together. One good example of this is that my cattle are helping a near extinct moth to survive and prosper by ensuring its food source is propagated. Until recently the Netted Carpet Moth and its food plant the Touch-me-Not Balsam were dying out and most of the known sites were in decline, but by working with the Trusts Ecologist, Natural England and the Butterfly Conservation Society we have managed to save this rare species and hopefully ensure its survival.

Cows propagating Balsam

For more information http://www.cumbria-wildlife.org.uk/netted.html

Back to more lambing tomorrow.

John

Week 2 | Day 8

Been a really nice day today so had a contractor in spreading fertiliser and caught up with a few wall repairs up on the top. Walling has to be one of the most satisfying jobs on the farm and it is something i have always enjoyed. Once you get the basic skills the rest comes with practice and working with different types of stone helps broaden your skills. Most of the walls on my farm are a mix of soft slate which would have been quarried off the fells and cobbles collected from the fields when they were first enclosed. Forgot to take any photos of the walling but we got to big wall gaps repaired and they should be ok for a decade or two now (I hope).

I get contractors in to do most of the heavy tractor work on the farm, with working for the Trust and looking after livestock its difficult finding time to get some jobs done so getting a specialist in with bigger better kit can save loads of time. Barry who was spreading the fertiliser can do in five hours what it would take me five days and i can rely on him to do a good job while i get on repairing the walls.

Barry spreading the fertiliser

When i have been checking the sheep up on the intake i have caught a glimpse of a black lamb, we do very occasionally get a black lamb out of a white sheep. It must be due to a distant relative throwing its genes in the mix and occasionally the two must come together and throw up a black lamb. I tend to keep any we get as they look smart and the kids always claim them as they can be easily identified as theirs when it comes to the sales.

The black lamb.

My youngest son Oliver's black sheep had two black lambs and so he was really impressed and with his growing flock.

Oliver's Ewe and Lambs

Another gene which occasionally comes through in the sheep is big teats, this is a big problem in some breeds but is rare in Cheviot's and unheard of in Herdwick's and is a real issue as the lamb cant suck them and therefore perish if you don't get there soon enough. I have virtually bred the problem out but i was really annoyed with myself as i found a dead lamb today with a ewe with enormous teats, with an udder more like a goats and i remember it from last year. I had marked it to go in the inside flock so i would see it but had obviously missed it at scanning and so was to late. I caught her and will put a lamb on off a ewe with twins, once i milk her out by hand the teats will shrink down and the lamb will manage, but i will make sure i don't make the same mistake again.

Ewe with large teat

Anyway my cup of tea is calling and i plan to catch a quick view of the I.P.L 20/20 Cricket, its fast and furious and even if you cant see the whole match its good to see the battle of skills between the big hitters and the canny bowlers. Sent the kids out to feed the pony's and check round the sheep so will get control of the remote for 10 minutes and sit back and enjoy.

John

Day 9

Well another fantastic day BBC forecast gave heavy showers for this afternoon so glad they were wrong as i managed to get caught up on some fence repairs. The fence was washed down in the big floods two years ago and i planned to get it back up last winter but the field was far to wet so had to wait till now. Managed to get the old wire and posts back up using the tractor and loader and putting in some extra long posts at strategic places.

Repairing Fence

I made a big mistake and forgot to take my phone or camera when i went to check the sheep and just to rub it in there were three Red Kites playing in the wind thermals up on the intake from one point i was looking down on them as they swirled around looking for a meal. They do look a bit like Vultures when they sail round in circles but when nearer the ground they are really good to watch as they use there tails as a rudder and can turn direction quite quickly.

As there are no photos (apart from a tractor) i will take the liberty of showing you some old ones, hope you don't mind. As I have mentioned more than once, most of my cows are Blue Greys which is a cross between a Galloway and a Whitebred Shorthorn and are mostly bred in the Border Country but would have been very popular in Cumbria fifty years ago but lost out to the bigger continental breeds when they were introduced into Britain in the Seventies. Both the maternal breeds are renowned for there ability to live off poor grazing and great tasting beef. Because they grow slowly and live on the moors they are cheap to keep and don't need to be housed for winter so are making a resurgence as conservation grazers, they are also quite small but with the hybrid vigour they do produce well.

Blue Grey Cows

Hill cattle are traditionally kept to improve the grazing for the sheep as they will eat the rougher courser grasses and herbs which the more selective sheep will leave. When i took over the land at Park-a-Moor there had been no cattle there for about forty years and a lot of the land had been taken over by rough tussock grass. Both the conservationists and the agricultural advisers told me it desperately needed some cattle to tackle all this rough grass and improve the biodiversity of the area. So i started with a few cattle and then managed to buy a small herd of Galloway's and started breeding Blue Greys, sadly all the original Galloway's have now gone but i still have all their progeny and have some Belted and White Galloway's.

One of my Belties

As to the lambing, its flying along we had a load more twins lambed last night and this morning so we only have three left to lamb now, up on the intake there are a fair few to lamb but there are loads of lambs about now. The ewe with the big teat has taken her foster lamb and her teats are now some what smaller but i am still drawing a bit of milk of her to give the lamb a chance (it looks very full).

Hopefully i will remember to take my phone tomorrow and will get some photos.

John

Day 10

I did have to open my big mouth didn't I, so after having a fantastic day yesterday today was a bit of a wash out with heavy prolonged showers with hail and thunder thrown in. This morning was ok so got some more twins put out into the field, they did look a bit damp this afternoon when i checked them but all were ok.

Twin lambs keeping warm together

Twins and their mum's enjoying the evening sun

I have talked a lot about the ewes and lambs over the last few days but till now have not mentioned the Rams or Tips/Tups as they are called round here. The Rams are the pampered prima donna of the sheep world but only the select few get to actually do the business, no matter what the breed each one has specific attributes which as breeders the farmer wants to select for. So there are the breed characteristics such as colour and physical features and then there are the management choices. So you may want to breed to have bigger or smaller. fast growing or slow growing, lambing percentage, work resistance etc,etc,etc.
I am trying to breed sheep which need as little management intervention as possible while still retaining the breed characteristics. So once you have chosen your aims and objectives you select for those taints, some Rams i keep out of my own flock and others i buy in to bring in fresh bloodlines. But either way the rams have an easy life apart for one month a year when they have to work their socks of running round mating with as many ewes as possible. Each Ram is capable of mating with up to one hundred ewes in that month and will loose as much as half his body weight as they don't get time to do much eating and will cover several miles each day running round ensuring they catch as many ewes as possible. So for the rest of the year they laze about and recuperate, slowly regaining weight and building up stamina ready for the next November.

Cheviot and Charolais Tips with a few young pretenders

After a few days of hiding in the rushes the new Highland calf decided to come out and check out what was going on today and so i managed to get a nice photo of them both together.

Mum and Daughter

Hope you are enjoying the lambing so far and if you have any questions please ask and i will do my best to answer them.

John

Day 11

Well i am really tired tonight so this will probably be my shortest post thus far.

Been a good day with just a few spots of rain, last of the twins lambed at two o'clock this morning, i had checked her earlier and could see she was going to lamb but things were taking a bit longer than they should. Eventually she had one live lamb and a mummified dead lamb, this sometimes happens when they are carrying twins, if the ewe is under stress at any time during pregnancy it basically switch's of the blood supply to one of the twins. Its a self preservation device that make sure at least she and one lamb survive. Anything can trigger it such as a spell of bad weather, a change in diet, illness, being chased by a dog or any other stressful event. Anyway she was ok this morning so took her and the rest out and started tidying up the shed taking down all the pens etc.

Up on the hill there are still a fair few of the singles still to lamb but its great to see all the little white lambs running about or just dozing in the sun,. Spotted one today which had a black patch o0n its back sort of like a saddle, it was a good way off but will try and get a photo if i see it again. Caught a few of the older lambs sunning themselves and they were soon up shouting their mothers as soon as they saw me on the quad.

Ewes with week old lambs

As it was such a nice morning i took a couple of shots of the view from the intake looking down on Coniston Lake, you can see a few of the ewes and lambs spotted about in the fore ground.

Looking South West

Looking North West

I have had a few questions over the last couple of days so here are the answers.

The Highland Cows are first time calvers but are a bit older than most as they are nearly six years old, they had been on a small holding before i got them and had been really well looked after but had never seen a bull. Normally most cows would have there first calf at two to three years of age but being late starters has not put them off and they both seem to be really good mothers.

The Ponies are Fell Pony's and the bigger ones are geldings and the slightly smaller ones are in foal Mares, they are not mine but are sharing the grazing with the cattle. Will try and get a photo of our ponies tomorrow.

Cheers for now

John

Day 12

Just got in from rolling one of the silage fields and enjoying listening to the football on the radio, an amazing game by any standards, don't support either team but still enjoyed the twists and turns. We roll the fields just before we shut them off for making a crop of silage or hay, it levels out any ruts or hoof marks made over the winter and makes sure the field is in good shape ready for the mower when it gets cut in about six to eight weeks time.

Its been another cold but nice day here, got up at 5.30 this morning and every where was white with frost, it soon went but remind cold till late this afternoon when it snowed on the hills and then all of a sudden the sun came out and we had a fantastic evening.

Snow storm further up the valley

And then the sun came out

Once i had fed all the stock this morning my Dad helped me mark up a batch of the lambs which were born earlier to the draft ewes. As the ewes get older they cant cope with living on the hills and rearing a lamb so we draft them out of the hill flock at five to six years old and they spend another few years living on the lower pastures. These ewes are usually crossed with what is called a terminal sire which is bred for its meat such as the Charolais ram in Sundays blog. These lambs will be destined for the market in the autumn as being crossed to a faster growing sire and spending the summer on the better ground they will grow much quicker then the fell lambs. Unfortunately i didn't get any photos of them but will try and get some tomorrow.

As i said yesterday the twins have finished lambing and i tied up the shed and the ponies are now using it for there night time quarters. We have four Dartmoor ponies which we got from another National Trust property who had rescued them as foals when they were in a terrible state. Once they were given a clean bill of health we picked the four up and they have come on leaps and bounds and are doing really well. They have been out all winter but as they are young we are trying to get them more use to be handled so its handy to have them in each night for a while so the kids can groom them and lead them etc.

Dartmoor Pony's

When i went to feed the cows outside I found another calf had been born and it was in a really sprightly mood, this one is out of one of my Blue Grey Heifers and is a nice little calf.

New calf

While i had the phone out taking some photos of the calf managed to get a nice family group photo of the Buffalo and his parents.

Apologies for the lack of Lambing info today

John

Day 13 & 14

Well what a disaster yesterday, firstly i managed to drop my phone and somebody ran over it and then i was just getting ready to do my blog and the keyboard started smoking and packed in. It was nothing to do with my typing speed or some Jimmi Hendrix inspired art form but a bit of faulty wiring. ( I am blaming the kids)

So with new keyboard in place and phone codged up we are back in action for my final instalment. doesn't seem like a fortnight as the days have flown by. Most of the sheep have lambed now but i managed to get some nice photos with the patched up phone yesterday. I am always amazed at what you see when your out and about and i got a nice photo of a big fat Caterpillar who was sunning himself in between the showers. I am no expert but the folk i have asked recon its either a Fox Moth or an Oak Egger Caterpillar, both fit the bill on the habitat and life span so if anyone can add any more info please get in touch.

The Caterpillar

I also heard the Cuckoo which is another sign that Spring is here, I bet its finding a bit cold, as the last few years its been a good 10 degrees warmer than it has been recently. The cotton grass is also starting to flower by the beginning of June the wet areas will be a sea of white as the flowers sway in the breeze.

Small clump of Cotton Grass

With the rain showers and strong winds yesterday the sheep were sheltering in among the trees and rocks and looked quite content grazing while their lambs lazed, that is till i came along trying to take some photos, not sure if it was the camera or the fact i was off the quad but they quickly rounded their offspring up and headed over the hill.

Ewes and Lambs grazing among the Birch trees

The camera shy sheep exiting stage left

Although i know the intake and the Fell really well i do very occasionally struggle to find the quad when I leave it to either look at a ewe more closely or when gathering to go where the quad cant. On most occasions i leave the quad running as it does help if you can hear it as you forlornly search amongst the crags and
dips. Its made extra difficult in  summer when the bracken is up as it can be twice the height of the quad and in some places a good 8'high, in those areas you have to be really careful not to hit a rock or drive off a crag. Anyway enough rambling, after taking the photo of the shy sheep i walked back up to where i left the quad only to find i had gone up the wrong ghyll and it was a few crags over.

Spotted the quad

The Bilberry and Heather are doing really well on both the Fell and the Intake and its really pleasing to see how much the area has changed since i took it on twenty plus years ago, the next thing we hope to do is to plant some Juniper as it is a plant which has been in decline for the last couple of hundred years and is one of the three native conifers. We have already planted some on the fell and they are doing really well, they only grow very slowly at a 1cm a year for the first few years but its great to see the little plants get going and in a few years they will start to thrive and look like a small forest of Bonsai.

Anyway apologies for missing yesterday but I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings over the last 14 days and have learnt a little bit about life on a Lake District farm.

John