New-born lambs a big attraction
Sorrel Sands, of Shelley, completed her first half marathon after losing five stones in weight. Below: Sorrel with her daughter Nell at the start of her fitness journey FINALLY, the clocks have gone forward, the evenings are lighter, it has stopped raining and we have had a couple of brighter and warmer days.
The first hints that spring is approaching are starting to appear.
At Donaldson’s Vets, nothing heralds the end of winter more clearly than our Farm Animal Diary which starts to fill with calls to sheep farms to assist with lambings and this year we seem to be busier than ever.
We have a great many sheep farmers who have little call to use veterinary services for a large portion of the year. It is easy to forget just how many sheep there are in the region. And then March arrives and there are some shepherds who we might see two or three times every day!
Clients with cats and dogs are often amused to see 4x4 pickups and sheep trailers parked up outside our surgeries at this time of the year while one of our vets is inside the trailer delivering lambs. Often, by the time the lambs are born, we have a crowd of onlookers who have detoured en-route to the surgery with their pet, to witness the birth.
Occasionally, the lambs are just too large to be born by natural means and a Caesarean section is required. At our newest surgery at Abbey Road, Shepley, we have a custom-built Sheep Caesarean Theatre, complete with unloading area, brightly lit theatre area and easily cleaned flooring. This room has been well used over the last few weeks. At other surgeries, the expectant ewe is brought into the surgery (much to the amusement of the waiting cat and dog owners) to have the Caesarean operation performed.
After a hard day at the practice looking after other people’s sheep I go home to my own ewes and lambs!!
I have a flock of pedigree Southdown ewes and we too are in the midst of lambing. Most of our ewes are carrying Texel x Southdown lambs. With two- hourly checks through the day and night, we usually try to co-ordinate lambing to happen over a short but concentrated period.
That has not worked very successfully this year with our eldest lamb having just turned four weeks of age and yet we have several ewes who seem to be happy to relax in our lambing shed on a bed of fresh straw, listening to the radio and seem to be in no rush to subject themselves to the rigours of motherhood!