I want me mammy!

Lambing has started for real now (we have our lambing time late because of the height of our land and the harsh winters we get here).

As I was out taking photographs around the farm today, I heard a happy 'Woohoo!!' cry coming from our large shed. It was my brother and he was there seeing this little lamby, who was born today. Unfortunately, the lamby's mum didn't take to him, in fact she just left him there in the field to die. It could be that his mum is a gimmer (the term for a sheep who is a first time mum). By the time my brother found the lamb, the poor little mite was barely breathing, and had to be resucitated with the kiss of life. He was brought back to the farm with his mum and they were left in the shed in a separated trailer so that the sheep could get used to its lamb's scent.

The 'Woohoo' was because when my brother went back to check on the lamb, fully expecting the worst, it was actually up on its feet.

He then tried putting the lamb back in with its mother, but mammy was having none of it - she stamped her feet and butted the lamb hard so it fell down again and my brother had to rescue it before separating them again. He'll now put both of them into the 'lamb adopter', which holds the sheep in place where it can't get to hurt the lamb, and allows the lamb to feed safely (as long as mum doesn't sit on it, as sometimes happens and is always tragic).

Keep all fingers and toes crossed - it is a tough few days for the poor little fella and he isn't out of the woods yet by any means.