2025 Started a little more sedately than usual.. A few days prior we gained an extra member of the team in the form of a 14 week old Border Collie puppy.. Floss!
She is a bonnie little dog, showing all the signs of being a a brave sheepdog so we are hopeful that one day she will be doing all of the gathering for us !
A week into her arrival, on the 5th of January we woke up to a good few inches of snow !! So lovely to see the valley covered in white and although it brought about a lot of extra work getting hay and feed out to the sheep there were also a few moments for some sledging & fun.
There’s something magical about the arrival of new life on the farm, but when that arrival coincides with half a foot of snow, it makes for an unforgettable experience. This year, we brought up 20 pedigree Blue Texels from home, a stunning breed known for their striking blue-grey fleece and hardy nature.
With the landscape blanketed in white, we had to make sure everything was in place to keep the ewes and their impending lambs safe and warm. The lambing shed was transformed into the cosiest maternity unit we could manage with thick straw and lots of heat lamps to hand, checking on the sheep at all hours to make sure they were warm and comfortable.
Despite our best efforts, the cold brought its own set of challenges. Frozen taps meant countless trips back and forth with warm water from the house just to keep things running and the long days getting food out to the commercial flock combined made it quite the challenge.
One by one, the lambs arrived and I was consistently amazed with their resilience and strength against the cold! Each lamb required close monitoring to make sure that they got the essential colostrum and were staying warm in those crucial first hours – and there were only a couple that needed to come inside for a little extra TLC.
Looking at them now skipping around the shed it makes all of the long days and unfreezing taps worth it !
We are very much looking forward to lambing the commercial flock in April – only fingers crossed conditions are a little kinder !
