HAVING survived the rigours of lambing, many flock owners feel a justifiable sense of pride in watching their lambs blossom on the new spring grass and will quite naturally start to consider the possibility of showing one or two of their better progeny.
ORPHAN or surplus lambs are a fact of life during the lambing period. No matter how well you manage your flock during pregnancy, you will find the odd one or two ewes that suffer problems which frequently results in insufficient milk. There are also lambs from those ewes with multiple births.
ALTHOUGH lambing is probably the most demanding part of the shepherd's calendar, the succeeding few weeks still require a high degree of vigilance to ensure a successful enterprise.
THOSE few hectic weeks of lambing see the culmination of a year's shepherding. Unfortunately, no matter how well founded your efforts during the proceeding months, things can go disastrously wrong unless you familiarise yourself with the typical signs of impending birth.
IT might still be the depths of winter, but pedigree breeders and some commercial breeders will all ready be bracing themselves for the new season's lamb crop, so being prepared is essential if losses are to be kept to a minimum.
IT is vital that buying replacement or foundation stock for a farming enterprise that you are aware of the health status of the animals you may purchase.
