With great excitement we welcomed Alex the sheep scanner to the field last Saturday. Always an exciting time for us, and more so this year as we used our new ram Humphrey. If you recall we collected Humphrey from Luton back in the autumn, and when put with the ewes he was very keen to prove himself. As Alex unfolded the scanner, we had fun predicting how many we thought he had caught. This year we only put our six best pedigree Zwartbles to the ram as we have only just finishing lambing the Poll Dorsets. The first four all scanned for triplets, then twins, then a single, a lot of lambs!

I think Alex was as shocked as we were. Having used the raddle though, we have a clear two-week window when we will be lambing and having scanned, we can prepare better than if we had not. The ewes that have scanned for multiples will need their diet carefully monitored to avoid twin lamb disease. This can occur towards the end of the pregnancy when the ewe does not have enough energy to meet the demands of the foetuses, the ewe will decline over a few days and ultimately die. Having such a small flock we have the luxury of knowing each ewe individually and will be able to tell quickly if they are off colour or out of sorts.

Unfortunately, the field is currently still far too boggy to take the ewes back. We have never seen it so wet underfoot, so the flock are still on winter grazing. We need to move them as soon as we can, as the grass needs the opportunity to grow, however if we bring them back, they will be knee deep in mud within days, ruining any grass we have. On the plus side, by now we will be supplementing with hay, which we have not had to yet, the irony though is that the hay is the far side of the boggy field which we are unable to get to with the trailer, again without churning up the mud and wasting the grass. Certainly, a very different winter for the field.

The Poll Dorset lambs have grown quickly and are now almost ready to be weaned from the ewes. They are now so tall that they almost have to limbo underneath to reach the milk, which clearly, they no longer need. They graze the paddock now and nibble at the sheep food and often the ewes kick them away. It is going to be a noisy few days as they call for each other, the ewes did a grand job for first timers, but now need to get their condition back.

By Tria Stebbing