Woolly Babes

Meet the three new additions to my menagerie. They could have positioned themselves a little better for the mug shot but the first light of the morning was pretty spectacular. The babes are here to stay so I can capture them in a more artistic image at any time.

It's been asked why I travelled just short of 100 miles to get 3 sheep when there are hundreds around here. I just love Herdwicks! They look cuddly, if you can say that of a sheep, and a couple I had in the past were so amiable that they would always be the first to arrive at the gate for a good scratch and petting session.

Britain probably has the largest range of native sheep breeds in the world and some are at risk of disappearing. Herdwicks are not on the rare breeds list but, in 2001 Foot and Mouth struck hard. 99% of Herdwick Sheep are found in the Lake District where, unfortunately, the disease eradication policy adopted during the epidemic required 30,000 head of Herdwick to be slaughtered reducing their numbers down to only 45,000 in total. Was it necessary? I'll leave the politics out of here.

As a breed, they are one of the hardiest so they don't require to be brought indoors to lamb, can survive under a snow drift if necessary, and are happy to live off poor grazing. Their wool is very thick and coarse, used for the most part in the carpet industry. That, I'm afraid, collapsed so the sale of wool won't offset the cost of shearing. On a high note, the meat is one of the tastiest, especially when grazed on the herb and moss rich fells where the local produce has been awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from the European union.

The paddock is full of lush grass but horse grazing has reduced the quality of it. I'll sow herb rich seed to enrich the species the sheep have to graze on as soon as, given the weather, it's feasible. All three of the ewes have been scanned and are expecting twins from the 12th April. I hope it's safe to say the lambs have survived the transit here! Watch this space for little black lambs!