Student wins grant to help cut lamb death rates for farmers

A Perthshire student has won a grant to help fund her research into lamb mortality rates and animal welfare.

Charlotte Pritchard, from Scone, was inspired to carry out her studies after working on a farm during a hectic lambing season.

She saw off competition from hundreds of other candidates to win a £300 boost from recruitment specialist Gradconsult.

The 23-year-old was working in torrential rain on an upland farm at lambing time when she noted almost half the lambs being born died of hypothermia on certain days.

She said the deaths took a huge toll on farmers and she was determined to do what she could to prevent them.

“There are not only the severe financial repercussions but also the human cost of losing animals under your care,” she said. The graduate veterinary surgeon has lectured abroad about her work as a lambing technician and hopes to set up an education exchange with Ghent University in Belgium.

The funding will help keep the initiative going while she looks for longer term funding.

Rebecca Fielding, managing director of Gradconsult, said: “It is a truly admirable project, which offers great insight to the farming industry and all who care about the welfare of animals.

“We see in great detail the value of research in higher education and know how hard it can be as a new researcher or early career academic to get projects funded when you don’t necessarily have a track record.”

“We invited those individuals who have the imagination to make a difference and were taken aback with the response.”