Herdwick

The drive to the field, along a disused railway track tested the traction control of our 4x4.

Leaving Woodburn we met Charlie's friend in a lay-by, we then proceeded to his field. He left his white van at the gate whilst we drove our 4x4 through.

The shepherd told the ewes as having no teeth, Charlie let me pick the ewe, as the shepherd held the ewe he checked for teeth and finding a full set he seemed disappointed; we noticed his other ewes he wanted to keep were penned elsewhere. After the ewe and lamb were ushered away the remain flock where discharged into the field.

Charlie tore out a filled in page from his livestock transit book whilst the shepherd scanned the ewe / lambs ear tags. We parted company, with ewe and lamb contained in our trailer.

Driving away from the field with our trailer loaded was not a problem, until we approached an incline following a sharp right turn.

The 4x4 road tires, not made for off-road, whizzed steam as Charlie zigzagged the slip between wet blades of long grass. A mere eight feet from the road gate the 4x4 declined to grip, but the shepherd kindly obliged us a tow.

Our elderly ewe we picked out from a herd of a few hundred appeared calm, both the lamb and yew were definitely bewildered. Among the herd we noticed symptoms of fluke (dropping heads, bowed jaw lines), returning to the farmhouse we oral wormed both ewe and lamb before they entered the poly tunnel.