From the farm at Yockenthwaite

3:35pm Thursday 10th April 2008

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Looking out of the window this morning it looks more like January than April. From where I am sitting, I can see Raisgill across the valley, the sycamore trees surrounding the house are stark and bare and the house itself almost disappears into the landscape.

There is little if any green to be seen; the colours are browns and greys. The hoggs - last year's ewe lambs - that came back from wintering last week are congregating on the bottom of the Hagg and are quite obviously dissatisfied with their new home, as they have spent the last five months on a Cumbrian dairy farm near the seaside where there is actually grass on the menu!

Hoggets, or hoggs as we call them, are our flock replacements that will become the next generation of breeding sheep within our hill flock. They are currently just short of 12 months old and, in sheep terms, they are probably "teenagers".

Sending them away for the winter is a traditional practice on hill farms like ours and it serves two main purposes. It gives the young sheep a good start in life before they start to breed - they grow a lot in their first winter, it is an important stage of their life - and it also gives hill farms a rest before lambing time when grass growth is crucial.

In lambing time, the weather is the determining factor and a cold "hungry time" brings with it plenty of problems: no grass, no milk - hungry lambs. Even on a cold, wet day a belly full of milk could well make the difference between survival or death and, after birth, getting onto foot and having that first suck is crucial.

Many of our B&B guests used to think that lambing time was all about assisted births - a grand maternity unit for sheep. Far from it. There are probably only a small percentage of ewes that need help.

For the rest, nature takes its course - probably the most important task for the shepherd at lambing time is to make sure lambs are with their mothers (they are mothered up) and that they are full.

Contrary to popular belief, sheep are not all the same. Just like us, or cats and dogs, they have individual characters. On the whole there is an innate mothering instinct, but in some sheep it is just not there and, however hard you try, mum just doesn't want to know little Larry.

On Sunday night Edward had to lamb a shearling that was struggling to give birth to a big "tup" lamb - it was her first time lambing and afterwards she showed a complete disregard for the steaming, moving, gurgling heap of baby lamb that she had just given birth to.

She was brought into the back croft so that we could keep an eye on her. She circled her lamb, eyeing it from a safe distance; the lamb knew who mum was, but as he struggled to his feet and tried to follow her she kept edging out of reach, pretending to nibble at grass and the daffodil tops.

Eventually she decided to make a break for it over the wall and at that point the decision was made to pen her up. In this case, the story has a happy ending because mother and baby have bonded and are doing fine - but it is not always the case.