Ready, steady … LAMB
It is the biggest and most anticipated event on the farming calendar – and a sure sign that spring really has sprung. No wonder so many of us tuned in to BBC Two’s Lambing Live with Kate Humble and Adam Henson earlier in the year.
So this spring, committed to getting involved in this annual rite of passage, I head to Aberhyddnant Farm in Wales with company Good Day Out to lend a helping hand as the farm’s outdoor lambing season begins. For one day only, I will be The Lady’s very own Kate Humble.
Good Day Out was founded by Julia Blazer in 2013 to provide educational days out for families who wish to learn rural skills and help with con- servation. And lambing is just one of those skills.
There are currently 77,000 sheep farmers in the UK and around 16 million lambs are born here annually. It is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week job.
Aberhyddnant Farm’s Paul Matthews oversees 220 acres of farmland, home to horses, chickens, the odd pig and 300 sheep, which this season are expected to produce about 400 lambs.
Paul keeps two different breeds, Texel Cross and Glamorgan Welsh, the largest of the Welsh mountain breeds. His day begins at 5.30am: ‘Whenever it gets light, I go around the fields and the sheds and check all the sheep. Then it’s a constant routine of dealing with any problems that might come up,’ he tells me.
‘I also have to do feeds throughout the day. I do a last check at midnight and then do it all again the next day.’
His daughter Nicola also helps out, giving the lambs their last bottle-feed (if they need it) at 11pm.
Some of the ewes don’t produce enough milk to feed to their young at first so their lambs are bottle-fed. This will be my first job.
‘We only top up very occasionally if a ewe isn’t producing enough,’ says Paul. ‘Also, sometimes a ewe might not make it, so then we bottle-feed her orphaned lamb.’
The lambs (with mum in tow) tend to come straight to you when they see the bottle. I had visions of an overprotective mother knocking me sideways, but happily when I pick up the first lamb, the ewe just bleats.
Sitting with me on the grass, amongst the daffodils, the lamb finishes off the milk in no time.
Wales isn’t the driest place in the UK and this is one of the reasons why Paul chooses to lamb later than on some other farms (lambing can start as early as January). The (Charollais) rams are brought to this farm on 5 November, which means lambing is likely to start from 1 April.
‘We’re 1,000 metres above sea level on a Welsh hillside and we get about 12 feet of rain a year so we want to wait until there is a chance of some decent weather,’ he laughs.
‘We also lamb late because we are organic and we like to wait until the grass grows. It’s a lot easier to lamb when they are outside on grass.
‘The sheep are a lot more settled in the fields and they can feed themselves if grass is available, too.’
This year, Lambing Live was filmed on a Scottish farm, which did all of its lambing in barns, but, where possible, Paul prefers it to take place in the open.
‘When a ewe lambs, the first thing she wants to do is get as far away from the other sheep as possible. Sheds are wonderful things, but they are built for farmers, not for sheep. It’s a very unnatural environment so it’s great to do it outside when the weather is nice – although we do still need sheds in case the weather is bad.’
And different sheep have different preferences. While the hardy Glamorgan Welsh ewes lamb outdoors, the Texel Cross ewes prefer the sheds. They’re a breed that has been ‘pampered a little too much’, Paul explains.
So does Paul ever tune in to Lambing Live – or is that a bit too much of a busman’s holiday? ‘I watch it for the build-up,’ he tells me. ‘I like to see the different farms and how they work.’
After feeding the lambs, I join Paul on his farm rounds. He has the ewes scanned so he knows which are expecting single and which are expecting twin lambs and they are put into separate fields.
There are certainly a lot of ewes ready to lamb. So how can you tell when the time is right?
‘They tend to wander off and find somewhere nice and quiet. Then they’ll just start pawing the ground and licking their lips,’ says Paul. ‘They are very apprehensive… if they are in the shed, they won’t come over to be fed.
‘But then they normally just get on with it; if they can do it on their own, it’s a lot easier.’
As fate would have it, we notice a sheep alone in the far corner of the field. We approach quietly and, sure enough, her lamb is on its way.
With a little assistance from Paul, it is born within five minutes – a very emotional experience.
‘People laugh at Kate Humble for getting emotional but there is something about a lamb being born,’ he admits. ‘You can do hundreds and hundreds and you still want to just stop and watch.’
Once it has been cleaned by its mother, the lamb attempts to stand. Like Bambi, wobbly at first, his first attempts are unsteady and he topples over. But eventually he’s up on all fours and looking for milk, a natural instinct – and I’m starting to well up all over again.
So how long will this year’s season go on for? ‘Sometimes it’s over very quickly, sometimes it can drag on. A lot of it depends on the weather,’ says Paul.
My very own Kate Humble moment over, I console myself in the knowledge that at least next year I’ll be a dab hand. I just hope Paul will have me back.
As well as lambing days, Good Day Out also offers felting workshops, hawk walks, helping wildlife and animal sanctuaries, and the opportunity to help look after (very cute) hedgehogs: 01874-749092, www.gooddayout.co.uk
Accommodation was provided by The Tanners Arms, an early 18thcentury inn: 01874-638032, www.tannersarmspub.com
Aberhyddnant Farm also runs holiday cottages: 01874-636797, www.abercottages.com or email enquiries@abercottages.com
So this spring, committed to getting involved in this annual rite of passage, I head to Aberhyddnant Farm in Wales with company Good Day Out to lend a helping hand as the farm’s outdoor lambing season begins. For one day only, I will be The Lady’s very own Kate Humble.
Good Day Out was founded by Julia Blazer in 2013 to provide educational days out for families who wish to learn rural skills and help with con- servation. And lambing is just one of those skills.
There are currently 77,000 sheep farmers in the UK and around 16 million lambs are born here annually. It is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week job.
Aberhyddnant Farm’s Paul Matthews oversees 220 acres of farmland, home to horses, chickens, the odd pig and 300 sheep, which this season are expected to produce about 400 lambs.
Paul keeps two different breeds, Texel Cross and Glamorgan Welsh, the largest of the Welsh mountain breeds. His day begins at 5.30am: ‘Whenever it gets light, I go around the fields and the sheds and check all the sheep. Then it’s a constant routine of dealing with any problems that might come up,’ he tells me.
‘I also have to do feeds throughout the day. I do a last check at midnight and then do it all again the next day.’
His daughter Nicola also helps out, giving the lambs their last bottle-feed (if they need it) at 11pm.
Some of the ewes don’t produce enough milk to feed to their young at first so their lambs are bottle-fed. This will be my first job.
‘We only top up very occasionally if a ewe isn’t producing enough,’ says Paul. ‘Also, sometimes a ewe might not make it, so then we bottle-feed her orphaned lamb.’
The lambs (with mum in tow) tend to come straight to you when they see the bottle. I had visions of an overprotective mother knocking me sideways, but happily when I pick up the first lamb, the ewe just bleats.
Sitting with me on the grass, amongst the daffodils, the lamb finishes off the milk in no time.
Wales isn’t the driest place in the UK and this is one of the reasons why Paul chooses to lamb later than on some other farms (lambing can start as early as January). The (Charollais) rams are brought to this farm on 5 November, which means lambing is likely to start from 1 April.
‘We’re 1,000 metres above sea level on a Welsh hillside and we get about 12 feet of rain a year so we want to wait until there is a chance of some decent weather,’ he laughs.
‘We also lamb late because we are organic and we like to wait until the grass grows. It’s a lot easier to lamb when they are outside on grass.
‘The sheep are a lot more settled in the fields and they can feed themselves if grass is available, too.’
This year, Lambing Live was filmed on a Scottish farm, which did all of its lambing in barns, but, where possible, Paul prefers it to take place in the open.
‘When a ewe lambs, the first thing she wants to do is get as far away from the other sheep as possible. Sheds are wonderful things, but they are built for farmers, not for sheep. It’s a very unnatural environment so it’s great to do it outside when the weather is nice – although we do still need sheds in case the weather is bad.’
And different sheep have different preferences. While the hardy Glamorgan Welsh ewes lamb outdoors, the Texel Cross ewes prefer the sheds. They’re a breed that has been ‘pampered a little too much’, Paul explains.
So does Paul ever tune in to Lambing Live – or is that a bit too much of a busman’s holiday? ‘I watch it for the build-up,’ he tells me. ‘I like to see the different farms and how they work.’
After feeding the lambs, I join Paul on his farm rounds. He has the ewes scanned so he knows which are expecting single and which are expecting twin lambs and they are put into separate fields.
There are certainly a lot of ewes ready to lamb. So how can you tell when the time is right?
‘They tend to wander off and find somewhere nice and quiet. Then they’ll just start pawing the ground and licking their lips,’ says Paul. ‘They are very apprehensive… if they are in the shed, they won’t come over to be fed.
‘But then they normally just get on with it; if they can do it on their own, it’s a lot easier.’
As fate would have it, we notice a sheep alone in the far corner of the field. We approach quietly and, sure enough, her lamb is on its way.
With a little assistance from Paul, it is born within five minutes – a very emotional experience.
‘People laugh at Kate Humble for getting emotional but there is something about a lamb being born,’ he admits. ‘You can do hundreds and hundreds and you still want to just stop and watch.’
Once it has been cleaned by its mother, the lamb attempts to stand. Like Bambi, wobbly at first, his first attempts are unsteady and he topples over. But eventually he’s up on all fours and looking for milk, a natural instinct – and I’m starting to well up all over again.
So how long will this year’s season go on for? ‘Sometimes it’s over very quickly, sometimes it can drag on. A lot of it depends on the weather,’ says Paul.
My very own Kate Humble moment over, I console myself in the knowledge that at least next year I’ll be a dab hand. I just hope Paul will have me back.
As well as lambing days, Good Day Out also offers felting workshops, hawk walks, helping wildlife and animal sanctuaries, and the opportunity to help look after (very cute) hedgehogs: 01874-749092, www.gooddayout.co.uk
Accommodation was provided by The Tanners Arms, an early 18thcentury inn: 01874-638032, www.tannersarmspub.com
Aberhyddnant Farm also runs holiday cottages: 01874-636797, www.abercottages.com or email enquiries@abercottages.com