A ewe gave birth to triplets, but one lamb did not survive. She was left with two black-and-white lambs.
Assistance was required due to the mess.
Charlie refers to the process as cleansing, while I view it as quite graphic. I am unsure how he manages newborn lambs without gloves.
The driveway will be resurfaced again this autumn.
While our L200 is unaffected, the mud significantly impacts the farmhouse, particularly the kitchen, which requires frequent mopping to remain clean.
Three pens in the poly tunnel currently house five lambs and three mother ewes. We are monitoring for signs of watery mouth, and all animals appear healthy.
We visited Harbo in Hawick to purchase wormer for the ewe lambs. This treatment will protect them from flukes and tapeworms for three weeks.
Making a pen on the driveway.
Sheep are lured from the paddock by baiting them with food; shaking a bucket keeps them moving. If one or two sheep remain behind, the flock may panic, making it harder to capture. Reducing their anxiety encourages the remaining sheep to rejoin the group.
The trough is brought into the pen, prompting the flock to follow, unaware of our intentions.
Close the pen, remove the trough.
Charlie prepares the drench gun and administers one dose to each sheep, marking each with a red dot.
We place them close together to facilitate handling and prevent them from jumping out. They remain in this arrangement for approximately five minutes.
This is the spray I used to identify wormed gimmers, as Longtown auction does not permit the sale of wormed livestock until the withdrawal period has passed.
Although I bought him new overalls, Charlie continues to wear his old ones. He takes the same approach with other clothing, but always smiles when the work is finished.
The remaining gimmers were kept in a calf creep separated by a hurdle. One ewe, which was not wormed, is being transported to the Longtown auction after aborting her lamb.
While returning to Ancrum, I believe I saw Stewart Copeland in Denholm, which was quite unexpected.
It is important to watch over the lambs’ welfare because some ewes do not care for all their offspring and may harm one lamb to focus on another.
This is our final visit to the poly tunnel for today. We will only return tonight if the CCTV system alerts us to ewes in labour.