Busy Time.

The sheep have kept us very busy and we now have a lovely run of lambs. They are now old enough to leave mum for a short while. This is playtime, big bunches of up to about forty run up and down the meadow, jumping and leaping as they go. If one is lucky enough to find a little hill or a stone to stand on he is king of the castle. This is a favourite game. He will try to defend the hill, then a combined effort of two or three lambs will manage to push him off. Then there is a new king and the game begins again. The younger smaller lambs stand back watching the game. When the big ones race off to the next game the little ones try to play too. This morning someone drove into the farmyard to tell us that a few lambs were playing in the road. We went up to look. There were two lambs in the road and two in the field. They had squeezed under the gate. It was great fun for them. Mother was quite distressed and was calling to them. We put some wood under the gate to prevent any more escapes and possible accidents. We have been very lucky with the weather so far. The forcast is very bad for the last day of January. Hopefully it wont cause too many problems.
There have been births in the cow shed too. So far we havn`t seen any born. We hear a cow talking to a baby and go to look. They are so sweet with their soft coats and big eyes.
The hedgerows are beginning to look pretty as the snowdrops and primroses start to bloom. The primroses are a bit early so I hope any cold weather we may get wont spoil them.

Lots of lambs.

The lambs are being born thick and fast.Every time you turn your back on the sheep shed another ewe starts to give birth. There have been a nice amount of doubles a few sets of triplets and of course the usual singles.Sometimes a single can be quite useful, if you are there at the birth it`s possible to adopt a triplet. We offer her the little stranger first. If she seems pleased with that one we put hers there as well. If she licks and talks to both it`s great. Thats one tame lamb less to feed. Although lambing is going with a swing the weather isn`t. The fields are saturated, it`s difficult to stand up because of the mud. At least it isn`t cold and all the rain has made the grass grow, when we turn the ewes and lambs into the fields there is plenty of food for them. It is a joy to see them running, jumping and playing. You know that they are healthy with a full tummy of rich milk.Life is really busy at the moment. I will post another update when I have another spare five minutes.

New year and lambs.

The first lamb arrived on New years Eve. Just one day early. He was a fine healthy boy, strong and vigerous. Of course we hoped for twins but one healthy
lamb is ok.
The second lamb turned out to be a single boy too. Some of the ewes are huge, no doubt when a set of quads are born I will be moaning about that too. The flock have
been coming in at night for easy checking and going out in the daytime. This morning I let them out and they went to eat their breakfast of crushed barley. When I turned my back for a while they had all marched back into the shed. Perhaps it`s too wet for them in the fields now.
The two new pigs have arrived. They are about eight weeks old . I havn`t heard what they are called yet, they look very sweet and naughty.
The cow shed is still awaiting the first calf. The cow`s bellies are huge. We are hoping to move them into a bigger shed with better lighting before the rush begins.
This will enable us to see them better at night. We hope they wont have any problems giving birth but you can never tell.
One of our little ducks is missing. One evening she wasn`t with the other ducks when it was time for bed. We have looked everywhere for her. There are no signs of feathers so we are hoping the fox hasn`t taken her. Perhaps she is sitting on eggs somewhere.I know it`s the wrong time of the year for nesting,but the ducks are still laying eggs every day. We will have to wait for four weeks to see if she comes out with some ducklings.I hope she does but I fear the fox has eaten her.