The past week has been one of two parts. During the first half the temperature fell to below zero, with frosty mornings followed by sunny days, although there was some fog around. Then the temperature rose, which brought with it overcast skies and a damp feeling, but fortunately there was only a sprinkle of rain here on Manor Farm.

We have recently had a visit from our agronomist to try and decide what to do with the unplanted 100 acres of our arable ground. Some varieties of winter wheat can be planted up until the end of February, so if an opportunity arises we may be able to get some of our seed in the ground, but it was decided that whatever happens with weather we have some fields that are still going to be too wet to plant. At the moment the plan is to leave these fields fallow.

After the first 140 of the early lambing ewes had given birth, lambing came to an abrupt halt. This lull allowed Kevin and his helpers to do some sorting out before the remaining 40 ewes have their lambs. The reason for the quiet time is that the rams were added to the flock for two reproductive three-week cycles. Therefore the last 40 early ewes should all have their lambs in a few days time. The newborn lambs and their mothers all have coloured numbers sprayed onto their sides to enable Kevin to check that all is well between each ewe and it’s offspring. The first ewe to lamb was marked with a 1, as were her lambs . The numbers were then given in ascending order, making it easy to spot the youngest and oldest lambs born. Seventy ewes with the oldest lambs have been moved to another barn where the lambs are being fed with what is called a creep feed. Creep feed is fed in the form of pellets which only the lambs have access to, by putting a barrier around the lamb feed with spaces that only they can get through. Providing creep gives the lambs access to solid food with extra nutrients .

During the week the ewe lambs, born spring 2019, were gathered from a field they were grazing and brought back to Manor Farm. They have been put into a barn where they will be fed some grass and maize silage. By doing this it allows the replacement ewe lambs to become accustomed to the surroundings and feed they will be given when they give birth to their first lambs in spring 2021, so minimising any stress .

All the lambs being finished for sale into the meat market are now in a barn on Chiverlins Farm and it is Kevin’s father Francis, who is responsible for their feeding, bedding up and ensuring that they have no health issues. If Francis suspects a lamb may be unwell it will receive the appropriate treatment.

The flock of elite and main flock ewes have been vaccinated to protect them from a number of clostridial diseases. The immunity they acquire will be passed to their lambs at birth via their colostrum. Colostrum is the first milk a mammal produces once it has given birth. It is highly nutritious and contains antibodies, which are able to be passed to the newborn lambs for the first 24 hours after birth, although after 12 hours the absorption of antibodies starts to decline. Therefore it is essential for all new born lambs to receive an adequate supply of colostrum, if possible within the first 12 hours. The elite and main flock ewes have also been split into the lambing groups according to the number of lambs they are carrying , so they can be fed an adequate diet .

Ian has been helping Kevin with sheep work , but managed to find time to remove all the manure from the yards housing our beef cattle, then bedding them up with plenty of fresh straw.