2023 was a good lambing for us following a record scanning percentage. There are some exciting prospective lambs on the ground and we look forward to seeing how they perform in the coming months as they grow and mature.

Selecting for ease of lambing and good maternal traits is something we have done since the start of the flock and we have found now the families that are working well and removed those that don’t. Obviously we are dealing with nature and something unexpected always happens!

We have tested our colostrum for the last few years using a Brix refractometer that was bought cheaply on Amazon. This quickly shows colostrum quality and is a useful indicator of if ewe nutrition and is directly correlated to lamb survival. Also over the last three years we have taken the opportunity to tube every lamb with colostrum as soon as possible after it is born. This has significantly reduced early losses and also meant that lambs have had better early growth. Equally importantly it has provided peace of mind and meant that we can leave the lamb that was born before bed confidently knowing it has had milk.