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• - Joyce Bishop plays nursemaicT . to a lamb; Above centre - fanner Stewart Lambert with new amvals; Above right and right


NEW LIFE: Above and below right


—just minutes old, a newborn is ~ ' greeted by mum


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<> , t ' ' in the newborn lambs byJoyp Bishop


It is still wet and very wobbly, and ^ -7 its first few attempts at finding' its feet end *■ in failure. It briefly.flops on to,its side only


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to try again as its mum administers a few- :■ well-placed licks to te twin, which is up in ' its spindly legs now and showing signs of ■ wanting something to eat-Wp-W'' W?:'Y ' . rw_: ,


: Stewart Lambeft,'<«;;.W


AM standing on a windswept hillside' outside Kirkby Lonsdale, looking on as ' a new-born lamb struggies to its feet.


bike to feed.and do a”routine check of the sheep. '


, "It's amazing," I say, as thejamb finally


-- .takes a few uncertain steps.'Silenced I ,,, wonder if I'm being sentimental' - -v


j Does he.still find it amazing? "Yes," he says "I do "


t Lambing had begun four days' ' r ■


. Beside"me is^farmerw > : g v -Y ;


C.earlier and, wlien I arrived dh a^' -. .fine but chilly. April morning; ! : - ‘ Stewart's day had' ■:


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who has taken me along on the farrfi quad . ■


begun badly with the arrival of still-bom twins.


There is no place for sentiment, however,


so Stewart had skinned one of the dead lambs and used its fleece as a snug coat for a triplet whose mum was struggling to


'M% feed heryoung trio, Thesurplus lamb was presented to the ewe that had


lost her twins. The idea is that she will


;9, be encouraged - or duped - by the ■ 1 .familiar smell of the fleece, into taking


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§ on another ewe's offspring. When it 1 works, it.is elegantly efficient; much more so^than ending up with a 'pet' lamb that needs regular bottle feeds. ^ . "Milk powder is about £40 a


; . t \ ba9 so it probably costs £50 to ? ! \ rear one by hand.to maximum .


fe -fY


WELCOME TO THE WORLD: h A newborn lamb at Krtridding? Farm in Kirkby Lonsdale ■


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h - \ weight," says Stewart. With ' ' • * Texels and Suffolks selling at | auction for between £60 and ' y


- maybe £70 - it is easy Xv to see that hand rearing •


■ A . eats away a significant y - l chunk of profit. :


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CY X Inevitably, however, there :?:


"You should be doing this," he says. And


before I know it I, too, have a lamb across my knee and a bottle in my hand.


Despite the additional financial and time


investment in these lambs, Stewart assures me that there isn't a farmer in the county that wouldn't do it.


... In the lambing'shed'-Stewart's


workshop, seasonally converted to • Bccommodate a dozen or so ewes, all expecting triplets — he singles out one for special attention. It has suffered a prolapse


and he is going to help deliver the first lamb. -


. 'Stewart urges me to feel the two tiny


feet, conveniently presented for delivery and, slightly further inside, the nostrils.


■ -Seconds later he gently delivers the lamb, clearing the membrane from its face and rubbing its side vigorously to encourage it to breathe. Mum shows no interest.


• of death among the 5-10 per cent that',-- ’ don't survive lambing.


.


are already a.- :;: , few needing a helping


hand from the bottle,.


.. including a ... .triplet that i


-. is probably . • only about ..•• .. -two thirds the '•


size of its siblings'and


-- Mewart swings it across one knee ' Y S presents a bottle and then turns to'


unabie to reach mum's milk. • c ' -


me' watching from outside the pen. ysDYts7 ' - ,1


have deformed limbs p r organs in the wrong pla'ce.


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- In the fields the young are at the mercy of a range of opportunist predators, although


this year-so far -no lambs have been : taken. Threats come from foxes and,- ■ ■


surprisingly, herring gulls and crows, which nave a penchant, respectively, for the ’


tongues and eyes of new-borns. fjerring gullswill work in threes, w i t h ;


.one in front as a distraction to the ewe as • . f?r® 9'yes birth. The other two are behind - ?ys Stewart/ describing a scene ■: ■; 1 •


reminiscent of a Stephen King horror novel.’ - I he quad bike routine takes place six or.;


The membrane is one of the main causes : .


:


, ."If the ewe doesn't lick that off, it can't .y - th e , " says Stewart: A handful of others


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seven times a day during lambing, allowing Stewartto keep a close eye on progress: ’ He also uses the visits to administer a spray '. of iodine to the navel of the new-boms, to ward off infection, and a dose’of antibiotic ' by mouth todeal with micro-organisms that ■ might cause the first milk feed to coagulate • 1


-in the lamb's'tummy. "It stops them getting .rattle belly,"he tells me, adding one more -:- term tomygpwing sheep vocabulary. . A: > - During ourjdrcuit of the fields, Stewart! also delivers jeake’ to the flock. This


supplementary cereal-based feed is -• given to sheep six weeks before and after lambing, to promote growth in the lambs .. and to keep the ewes producing milk. "They will jtake milk into,the middle of :


' summer," says Stewart: "Sometimes.you'll ■ ;


see lambs that are three-quarter grown- -- : almost knocking the ewe off her feet as -; ■ : they try to fe< d."


" - • Back in the lambing shed the ewe with v : -


the prolapse las still not produced her , ... . other two. young, aridStewa'rt steps into "A ; ; deliverthem.j"She's a bit hot," he says/and Z: a shot of antibiotics is administered. Ti ’ ’ In the relaty/e warmth of the lambing '


pens the ewa who lost her twins is showing no interest injher surrogate lamb.,"Give her ■ time," saysSjewart,-clearly unworried by her indifference. "It might take a day ortwo ■ - to accept it"|


•' - , • ^ As we leave he flips up the lid on a


warmingbox! Inside, a lamb that had - become wet and chilled in overnight rain is stirring.’Two hours earlier it lay motionless- - in the box. "Ifcok at that," says Stewart/-; delighted, "^hat a difference." -. _ . v, ; : . -:


' The wind has dropped by the time I leave; and, in the fields beyond the buildings; . ! :


there isasmattering ofsmall white dots; - spring lambs by the dozen.


- P n o t p s b y D A N IE b M A R T IN O


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LEFT: A ewe and offspring BELOW: The harsh realities of ’, J ■ farming life as Stewart Lambert must deal .with two stillboms -


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Wednesday,April 23,2014


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"It's amazing," I say, as


the iamb finally takes a few uncertain steps. Silence. I wonder ii I'm being sentimental. Does he still find it amazing? "Yes," he says. " Ido. "


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