Waiting for lambing time

Waiting for lambing time

It’s the quiet before the storm on Stuart Luxton’s farm

Hello again - I hope that 2020 is treating you all well.

Things are not very exciting at this time of year on the farm. We are just treading water - literally - until we start getting ready for one of our busiest times of the year when the farm become a maternity unit.

All the ewes have been scanned to see how many lambs they are expecting. Fortunately we are having a few less lambs than normal with the average at about 1.9 lambs for each ewe.

I think I must be getting old as I was relieved that it wasn’t 2.2 like it has been some years! By the time you read this the lambs will be just starting to arrive, let’s hope the weather has improved and we have some lovely spring grass.

We have had a lucky escape on the farm, one of my collie dogs Jilly, who is usually riding side saddle with me on the quad, cut her leg badly. She severed her tendons which may have meant that she would unable to work or worse. We are fortunate to use North Park vets, who were unsure of her outcome following surgery. Thankfully the operation was a success and with rest and evenings by the Aga, she has made a very good recovery. The only problem now is that having spent a lot of time convalescing in the farmhouse, she now feels the kennel is beneath her!

I have been looking for two ewe lambs for my youngest child Sam. My older two children both had two so it seemed only fair that he did. Just before Christmas we had an offer of two pedigree Blue Texels. In the photo are Disco and Diva the latest addition to the farm. I hope that these two have a long and healthy life.

Unfortunately with farming that is not always how things work out - usually when you get something special or personal, they have a nasty habit of finding an accident.

Years ago I brought my eldest child two Jacob ewe lambs. They were treated with kid gloves, even to the extent that I didn’t want them stressed by being shorn with all the other ewes. Instead I got them in the shed quietly one day to do it myself. True to form, one had a heart attack and died!

After the madness of Christmas, the shop has been much quieter of late.  It’s a sign of the times but one of our best sellers this time of year is the diet sausages and burgers!

Stuart Luxton