As BBC's "Lambing Live" seems to be so popular and everyone wants to know what lambing is really like, I thought I would try and keep a a blog going for lambing at Overtown. I can't guarantee to write each day but I will do my best to give a flavour of what it is like lambing 350 ewes indoors during April, nearly 1000 feet above sea level, here on our organic farm in the Cotswolds.
It is a little over 48 hours before lambing is officially due to begin and at the moment, it feels a bit like the lull before the storm. The weather is beautiful and it's perfect for getting lambs and their mothers out to grass within a couple of days of birth....or it would be if we had any grass! The ground is incredibly dry and although we had some rain earlier in the week you can almost hear the newly emerged corn begging for a drink to lay the dust. The warm weather will get the grass growing a little but it's water it really needs. However, this is April and I know from bitter experience that today's sunshine is tomorrows howling gale. I suspect in a week or two we will be looking at the rain and wishing for sun but for the moment the sun is shining, the skylarks are singing, the hedges look greener by the day and the lambing sheds are being mucked out and disinfected ready to get the sheep in. Better crack on!
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