First lamb of 2016

Lambing started yesterday with a nice strong ram lamb born first thing in the morning. I move the ewe and her lamb away from the lambing shed, where all the other sheep are waiting to lamb, so that they can bond. They will then be in a pen for a couple of days where I can moniter the lambs progress and see that it is drinking properly. The ewe will have a general checkover, feet etc and be clipped around her back end, which is called dagging. This helps to prevent flystrike in the summer. Before turning them out for grazing, they will be treated for tics (which cause a hideous disease) and marked.