In the early afternoon, we bought a Herdwick ewe and her lamb. Driving them to the field along an old railway track really put our 4x4’s traction control to the test.
Hamish said the ewes had no teeth. Charlie let me choose one, and when Hamish held her and checked, he found she had a full set of teeth and looked disappointed. We also noticed he wanted to keep his other ewes penned somewhere else.
We had no trouble leaving the field with our loaded trailer until we hit an incline after a sharp right turn. The 4x4’s road tyres, not meant for off-road, spun and steamed as Charlie tried to steer through the wet, tall grass. Just eight feet from the gate, the 4x4 lost traction, but Hamish kindly gave us a tow.
We chose an older ewe from a herd of a few hundred. She seemed calm, but both she and her lamb looked confused. In the herd, we saw signs of fluke, like lowered heads and bowed jaws. Back at the farmhouse, we gave both the ewe and lamb oral wormer before moving them into the poly tunnel.