Lambing is my favourite time of the year and this one has been no different.

My daughter, Gina (who is a nurse) comes to stay with me during the lambing season and adapts her skills well to this job!  Together we are a team, and we take it in turns to get up through the night to make sure we are taking the best care of the ewes and their lambs.  Each lamb born gets the attention that they need until they are underway, bonded then banded and escorted to the lovely green grass that Orkney offers.

We had another successful year with 7 sets of triplets, a set of quads, and a number of twins and single lambs.  When we have triplets, we adopt one of them them onto a ewe that has had a single lamb which we find is best for the mother for feeding.  We do have one mother with triplets, but we ensure she gets extra feed to keep a good milk supply.  Now all the ewe’s lambs are out in the fields so the mother can graze and the lambs thrive.

I am so looking forward to seeing the lambs growing up, and for shearing time when we can use their lovely soft fleece in our products at Orkney Tweed.

But…its not all about cuddling fluffy lambs, its really hard work mostly involving shovelling shit!