New Lambs
There’s something about sheep. I don’t know quite what the appeal is. All animals have their charms, I’m sure, and I have quite the menagerie. But, man. Sheep. I could just be in their company for hours and never get bored. Which is why something truly exciting has happened - lambs!
On the 17th April, 2021, Connie had twins; one girl, one boy. My starter flock of rare breed Norfolk Horns was not supposed to start producing until 2022 but an unfortunate accident with a ewe lamb last year and the fortunate support of two lovely friends, meant that I replaced the lost sheep with a shearling ewe and she went straight in with with Montague. Almost 5 months later - twinnies!
READ; THE SHEEP HANDBOOK <- MY RECOMMEND NEWBIE GUIDE
READ; THE YORKSHIRE SHEPHERDESS <- INSPIRING READING
Honestly, I’m excited for multiple reasons. Firstly, of course, sheep! More sheep. Cute, wonderful, bouncing baby sheep. What is there not to love? But more than that is the fact that Norfolk Horns really are quite the rare breed - in fact, they’re included in the ‘At Risk’ category on the RBST’s 2021 - 2022 Watchlist. To be creating a brand new genetically diverse flock is something I’m pretty proud of and both of these lambs will hopefully go on to do their part in saving the breed. And lastly, they are my first ever lambs that I own. I’ve looked after sheep for others, I’ve lambed and considered myself a ‘keeper’ but never an owner. There was something really special about ear tagging with the number 0001 and registering them as the first Norfolk Horns with the Brimwood prefix.
MERCH - ‘I LOVE EWE’ T-SHIRT FEATURING NORFOLK HORNS
Now comes the joy of watching these tiny things grow. Even at hours old it’s hard to imagine just how they fit inside Connie. At a week old they’ve almost doubled in size.
As my sheep obsession grows there will no doubt be more lambs next year. Along with Connie, I have another two young ewes (born 2020) that will be tupped in autumn and, fingers crossed, produce lambs next year. In addition, I’ve managed to get four Jacob ewes too. So that should be 7 ewes lambing … and we’re only in April; there is PLENTY of time for me to acquire more sheep!
Spring is special, and bringing new life onto the farm, especially in the form of lambs, is pretty darn exhilarating.