- Location
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
New member and enthusiastic young farmer @JamesRhys90 has kindly agreed to send in some of his blogs to The farming Forum on an adhoc basis as he embarks on his first steps on the farming ladder
I'm sure the good members of TFF will join me in welcoming James along and encouraging him along the way
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lambing 2015
This morning our final ewe gave birth to triplets and brought lambing 2015 (my very first) to an end.
Having only moved up to Scotland in October and bought the ewes in January, I wasn't really prepared for lambing, but I think that on the whole it's gone really well. On the whole, the mules made things really easy for us, and we would often get up in the morning to find they had lambed over night and the little ones would be clean, up and suckling. We did have to get involved with a few but there was only one really problematic delivery.
I think the biggest shock for me was just how exhausting lambing has been. Even though I've only had 16 to lamb, I feel like I've barely stopped over the past few weeks. Whether it's checking on the ewes, bedding up and mucking out, checking feed and water or feeding the pet lambs, there's always something to do. Even when you do have 5 minutes for a sit down, a cup of tea or to grab some food, your brain is always on, planning what needs doing, checking you have everything you need or making a mental list of what needs picking up from the agricultural merchants. You're always on.
Despite the long days and the exhaustion, it has been absolutely worth it. Our 16 ewes have been joined by 33 lambs, far more than we were expecting due to some confusion over scanning, and it is so rewarding to see them all running and hopping around in the fields.
So much has happened during lambing, and there's a million and one things I learned along the way, I obviously can't cram it all in to one blog, so think of this as a brief update. I'm sure I'll share more things and introduce you to some of the new arrivals in various posts in the weeks and months to come.
About the author
Having absolutely no experience, James packed in his office job in order to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer.
He started to volunteer on weekends in order to gain experience, before earning a full time job on an award winning beef farm in Gloucestershire.
He now lives in South West Scotland, working on building a flock of sheep while sharing his farming journey on his blog and other media outlets, including the NFU's #studentfarmer magazine.
You can keep up to date on James' journey by reading his blog: https://1manandhis.wordpress.com/ or by following him on Twitter: @JamesRhys90
Moderator footnote: James' blogs will be re-posted on here and you can leave comments on the respective TFF discussion thread, Tweet or direct message via Twitter or comment directly on the Wordpress blog
I'm sure the good members of TFF will join me in welcoming James along and encouraging him along the way
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lambing 2015
This morning our final ewe gave birth to triplets and brought lambing 2015 (my very first) to an end.
Having only moved up to Scotland in October and bought the ewes in January, I wasn't really prepared for lambing, but I think that on the whole it's gone really well. On the whole, the mules made things really easy for us, and we would often get up in the morning to find they had lambed over night and the little ones would be clean, up and suckling. We did have to get involved with a few but there was only one really problematic delivery.
I think the biggest shock for me was just how exhausting lambing has been. Even though I've only had 16 to lamb, I feel like I've barely stopped over the past few weeks. Whether it's checking on the ewes, bedding up and mucking out, checking feed and water or feeding the pet lambs, there's always something to do. Even when you do have 5 minutes for a sit down, a cup of tea or to grab some food, your brain is always on, planning what needs doing, checking you have everything you need or making a mental list of what needs picking up from the agricultural merchants. You're always on.
Despite the long days and the exhaustion, it has been absolutely worth it. Our 16 ewes have been joined by 33 lambs, far more than we were expecting due to some confusion over scanning, and it is so rewarding to see them all running and hopping around in the fields.
So much has happened during lambing, and there's a million and one things I learned along the way, I obviously can't cram it all in to one blog, so think of this as a brief update. I'm sure I'll share more things and introduce you to some of the new arrivals in various posts in the weeks and months to come.
About the author
Having absolutely no experience, James packed in his office job in order to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer.
He started to volunteer on weekends in order to gain experience, before earning a full time job on an award winning beef farm in Gloucestershire.
He now lives in South West Scotland, working on building a flock of sheep while sharing his farming journey on his blog and other media outlets, including the NFU's #studentfarmer magazine.
You can keep up to date on James' journey by reading his blog: https://1manandhis.wordpress.com/ or by following him on Twitter: @JamesRhys90
Moderator footnote: James' blogs will be re-posted on here and you can leave comments on the respective TFF discussion thread, Tweet or direct message via Twitter or comment directly on the Wordpress blog
