How quickly time passes – it’s lambing time again. Last summer’s heat wave left me desperate for grass to feed the sheep and lambs, so I decided to keep one less ewe and, as they usually have twins, it would be three less mouths to feed this summer. Bryony had developed some sort of allergy and I had to keep putting ointment around her eyes, which seemed constantly itchy. So I am afraid her number was up.
Beth, as usual, was enormous just before Easter and looked fit to burst at any moment, while Katy has such a wonderful fleece that its a job to tell how much is sheep and how much is wool. They both seemed to spend a lot of time sitting in the shade and panting whilst I nipped up and down the garden to check on them. Just about the only time they make use of their shelters is to lamb and so seeing Katy going in and out of the wooden shed was a pretty sure sign things were going to happen shortly. Sure enough on my next visit she was in the shed with 2 wet little new born lambs. I always spray their
navels with antiseptic as there are several diseases that can develop if one does not do this. A girl and a boy, a little small, but then Katy is quite petite. Katy got up and the 2 little ones staggered towards her. Then she looked at me as if to say “Whats wrong with the other one” and there in the corner was another lamb! Our first ever triplets! Another little boy. The 3 were all the same size and all disappeared under Mum for a drink. As ewes only have 2 teats I do not know how they all manage, and one can not see for wool, but manage they do! Often one triplet will be smaller than the others and the mother will reject it, but Katy is a great mum and loves them all and all have prospered. Beth had twins the next morning and is taking care of both, so 5 little lambs are running races and having fun in the garden, not the 4 I had intended.
The Carrion Crows built their nest in a Silver Birch tree in full view of our main windows. Just to get their names in print again I thought! But it was not such an exposed place once the leaves came out. Now one can only just see it if one knows where to look. I often see the parents gliding out of the tree to perch on the Wendy House roof. They look so graceful and are masters of the air that one forgets they eat young birds. I never know whether to play gamekeeper or say “Every thing has to make a living” and let them be. This pair are real characters and we would miss them if they were not around. Maybe they would like to catch some young rabbits for a change, we are getting over-run with them!
Wendy Bathurst