Live Show 1 Lambing Live

It is March. We are in a giant shared full of sheep. And we are

bound to be upstaged. Lambing Live is back.

Welcome to Lambing Live will stop behind me, you're looking at two

very new lambs that were born in the last couple of minutes. It is a

celebration and we hope an insight to the busiest time in the sheep

farming year. All over Britain, right at this moment, 77,000 sheep

farmers are sleepless and having frantic days in preparation for the

arrival of roughly 16 million lambs. This farm is no exception. I am up

in Scotland and this shared is basically a giant maternity ward.

All the ewes are expected to give birth over the next few days when we

were on air. We will follow the natural drama that entails. I will

have a quick look around to see if anything is looking close. We will

be keeping an eye on them through this next hour and for the 24 hours

until the series ends on Friday night. For we concentrate on the

sheep, I would like to show you a little bit around the farm. This is

the main lambing shed. If I come outside, you may be able to make

out, the fields is where the ewes turned out in the day. It is good

for them to have some fresh air and some exercise. Then they come in at

night. We will learn a little bit more about why they do that later in

the programme. Over here is the farmhouse, looking a little bit

abandoned at the moment. A lot of farmhouses are feeling abandoned at

the moment as the farmers are have moved into their lambing sheds to

keep an eye on their pregnant ewes. Above me, another giant shared. We

can get a glimpse of some of the cattle. We will be meeting them

later in the series. At the end, another important shared. That is

the nursery where the lambs go when they are a little bit older. This

farm is owned by a family called the Dykes, the brave people who agree to

be our hosts in this series. Let's meet them. I have climbed up the

slopes to give us the most fantastic view of this glorious borderland

country. And also of the the Dykes family farm just below me down

there. Hamish and Susie the third generation to farm here. They work

1000 acres of land. Including these steep slopes. Together, they have

1000 sheep of several different breeds. 75 cows, eight Highland

ponies, for dogs and two very boisterous ferrets. And it is home

to the whole family. I am Hamish, this is my wife, Suzy. And my

parents, Kate and John. Hamish has worked on the farm all his life but

recently Suzy has come to help him full-time. The the Dykes, farming is

a way of life will stop it is not something you get up to do in the

morning, earn a wage and then come home at night. It is a way of life.

I am here for a short term, I have the duty of care to look after it

and then pass it on. Suzy grew up on an arable farm but trained as a vet

in every nurse and loves her new role as sheep feeding technician. It

is not for everyone, or everybody would be doing it. We are lucky

where we live in a beautiful community, beautiful countryside and

we genuinely love what we do. We would not swap it for anything.

Hamish and Suzy live in the old farmhouse at the heart of the farm.

With their seven-year-old son. And a nine-year old Rosie. Try taking a

smaller bite, Rosie. Hamish's parents live just over the road. I

can do my own thing. I am retiring age, but I am not retired. John and

Kate take great joy in also breeding pedigree Highland ponies. She is

only four years old and this will be her first baby. But Hamish' soft

spot is for his dogs. They are sheep dogs that use barking to drive the

sheep. Speak up. Being a farmer could be a remote or lonely life.

But the Dykes have strong ties to the people around them and Hamish

plays in the village pipe band. A real, local favourite. The community

spirit is brilliant. The older I get, the more I appreciate it.

Joining other farmers, friends and family strengthens on is needed for

life back on the farm. You scrub up well. Not looking too bad yourself.

I am joined by Hamish. Thanks for letting us be here. It can be a busy

and stressful time for sheep farmers? You are very welcome, it is

a pleasure having you all here. We are here with very expectant ewes.

Could we expect to see lambs born to night? In theory, all these sheep

here should give birth in the next six days. We just missed 120 minutes

ago. I think there is another one over there just thinking about

starting. I am hoping we will get something in the next hour. I would

like to get our viewers involved in making sure we don't miss any

lambing. We have put together a package of signs of labour. Hamish,

if you can talk us through it. Sheep in this shared and she is pacing

around and scratching at the straw. Up and down, very restless. Licking

of the lips as well. And this position they get into with their

back legs spread out. The top lip curling up? Yes, as she goes into

contractions. You can see the signs a few hundred yards away. They will

quite often take themselves out of the main flock? They find themselves

a quiet corner but occasionally you get to sheep at the same time going

to the same corner. We have a Camara that can sweep up over the sheep and

see if anyone can spot anything that might be looking like it is in

labour. We will be keeping an eye on them. What I am interested in, I

said the sheep go out during the day, why do you bring them in at

night? We bring them in at night so we can monitor them and keep an eye

on them. Protecting them against predators, protecting them against

the weather. Able to assist with anything that is required. When they

have given birth, you put them in these smaller pens. These triplets

were born about half an hour ago, why do you separate them into here?

If they were outside in the fields and in a quiet corner, they would we

find to be left. But in a shed where it is a busy, if we left them

running around there would be a lot of model. It gives them a chance to

bond with their mother and their mother only. So it is a nice,

private corner to get on with bonding. It is a nice maternity

suite. Sheep have a habit of giving birth at awkward times of the day

and night. You have Alistair who comes in and helps you at night

comedy was here last night and at 3am, this sheep did not wait for

him. She gave birth incredibly quickly. She was expecting triplets.

As you can see, the second one came along. Quite a long time

afterwards, there can be quite a big gap? Yes, maybe the older sheep in

general tend to spit them out a bit quicker, but it varies. Then we can

see the classic labour signs again as she is about to give birth to the

third. Alastair reaches into give her a helping hand. He just made

sure it was out, and breathing. Here, you can see that ewe with only

two lambs. What happened to the third? She was scanned for three.

You do scanned them like human mothers? Yes, and ultrasound. It

lets us know from back in January to feed them accordingly, so singles

get fed less. We don't tend to leave ewes with three lambs because they

only have two teats. So we took the third one and left it over here.

This ewe was scanned for just a single, and she only had one. She

only have the one. I am amazed, I thought adoptions were more

complicated? She is an old ewe so she is quite motherly. It is easier

with an older ewe. To get it together after she has had her own,

is less likely to work, but because she had only just had it, there were

two lambs, very young and it was perfect. We will be learning more

about adoption later in the series, but let's join Adam with Suzy in the

nursery. We have seen the ewes in the shed, this is the second stage

of their life? Yes, they know what the mother

smells like, and now they can learn to find each other in a bigger

group. What age are they now? They were born a day ago. Yesterday and

through the previous night. They are still very young so they have got to

find their mothers, because she will be the only one to feed them? Yes,

if we find them and send them into the field without knowing their

mother, they will perish and won't survive. Can we see some good

examples? This unit at the back, very comfortable settling down for

the night, bedtime stories. If they cannot find their mother, what do

you do? We would put them back in the pen again. Don't get anyone

stressed out. Take away the other factors and normally at this stage,

they are fine and OK. It is incredible, that maternal instinct,

how she can call her lambs in a crowd. One of our viewers has asked

why they have paint spray numbers on the side. Good question. Each

brother and sister combination are family unlings, they have the --

siblings, they have the same on the side. At home we put the paint spray

number on the side of the ewe, so we have that as well. We used to have a

shepherd here and someone said, "Do you want me to write the number of

the lambs on the side of the if ewe and he said, "That's so amateurish."

Spray cans cost a lot of money, and we're Scottish, so we can't be

having that that either. All settled in here, all going well. Let's go

back to Kate and see how they're getting on in the main barn.

Well, Haim Serb just checking -- Hamish is checking on the ewes here.

I'm going to take you to one of my favourite corners of the lambing

shed. Hello IDlers. -- tiddlers, here are where the orphan lambs are

kept looking sleepy and content. Come on then, you better come and be

on the telly if you're shouting. We say orphaned lambs, most of these

are not orphaned, they have mums. But they're either triplets that

haven't been able to be adopted on or their mums don't have any more

milk. You can e-mail us at Lambing [email protected]. To have lambs like

these you need rams. Many sheep farmers view the beginning of their

year as the ram sales, they take place all over the country. I went

to the Kelso ram sale with the Dykes in September.

This is the Kelso ram sale, the world's biggest single-day sheep

auction. More than 5,000 animals will be sold here today, all done up

to look their finest. There are 16 different breeds in 14 auction

rings. If you're a Scottish sheep farmer, this is a crucial day in the

calendar. The Dykes are here to sell 12 of their blue-face Leicester

rams. They look magnificent. Presentation is half the job. Just

before they go into the ring they get a face wipe and try to get the

straws off. All the wee things girls do in front of the mirror. Oh, you

notice! Thank you. Before they're sold, they have to undergo a breed

inspection to check they're up to standard. You check teeth, you check

testicles. One of my very favourite things on Lambing Live, I'm sorry, I

know it's slightly perverted, we're going to have a little check, just

for old times sake. Those felt fine to me. Happy? John, you are funny.

You're not going to be happy until about 10. 20 when all these are

sold, are you? I might not be happy then, either.

Inspection passed, I help to give them a final wash and brush up

before they head into the ring. Hamish and John are the first into

the ring. Traditionally this is the worst slot and they're concerned

that buyers might be unwilling to pay good prices this early in the

day. Their first ram sells for a solid

?720. Good start. Bidding is brisk. Susie is happy with the prices. Not

a bad morning's work. That's been the highest one ?950, lowest ?500,

so reasonably consistent price. Even John seems satisfied. It was all

right. Do you feel able to relax a bit? Oh, yeah, yeah. As muches a

ever relax -- much as I ever relax! Are you thinking of shopping

yourself? Yes, it's always nice to get your own sheep sold first,

because you know what the budget is. He's got a good mouth, good skin,

he's quite stretchy. Cheers mate. Hamish is looking for a ram to put

with the ewes to breed lambs for meat. You don't go for this type for

facial beauty, do you? What are you saying? That's a good long sheep.

Not quite the backside you would be hoping for. It's trying to find

something that's got everything. Yeah. That one there is catching my

eye. It wouldn't surprise me if 80 was John's favourite. Little nod

there. I might not be wrong with that.

It seems that his method of choosing a ram is a little more discerning

than my own. Teeth more than testicles? Well, you don't tend to

find many tupps here that don't have a decent pair of testicles. You're

more likely to find some that have substandard mouths. To be honest,

they look fairly good to me. You don't even need to grab them to know

that they're all there. That, for me, definitely would be my pick out

of this pen. Shopping is one thing, getting this ram for the price he

has in mind is another. You're thinking maybe 7, 8? I think

that's what he will make. I'm not sure I will spend that much on him.

Sure enough, the price goes higher than Haimish prepared to pay.

Yeah, I didn't bother going in there, because I think it would have

gone. 680 is maybe enough for the first one. We'll see. The ones that

you pick are the ones you can't afford.

Another breeder's rams come in and it's clear that Hamish has expensive

taste when the price tops ?700. Really to get a good sheep out of

this pen, you need to bid a bit harder. Finally, his luck's in.

With a bid of ?650, Hamish gets the right ram at the right price.

He's a good length. Nice, tight skin and he's got quite a sweet head for

the job, he should be good. Be his progeny that we hope to see being

born in March? March? Ive hope so. -- I do hope so. I do hope his

progeny will be born in March. ( Here's Hamish's dad John. All quiet

at the moment? There might be a few thinking about it. In that sale,

Hamish bought the ram. How did he get on? He did very well. Some of

his offspring have probably been born tonight. He wallings a good

buy. -- was a good buy. Blue faced Leicesters sold well. They did. We

kept up the same standard at last year roughly. We had quite a few

regular customers who came back again. That was very satisfying.

You've got the following crop of lambs that will be sold this autumn?

Yes. They've been evicted from inside to let the ewes it to lamb --

in to lamb. Happy to get good prices? I think they are as good as

the other ones were last year. We little in hope. Role has changed and

you've moved just across the road. You've got your own farming going on

over there, with your blue faced Leicesters. Yeah, it's something

that keeps me out of Hamish's hair. Let's see some of ewes. You have the

blue-faced Leicester ewe there looking proudly down at her little

lamb. They're a very different looking sheep. Yeah, they're tall

and elegant, some people would say. They cross very well with all the

hillhill breeds. Lambs are going to be quite valuable if they grow up as

good rams. The rams should be valuable any way. We live in hope.

The prices we get at Kelso keeps us going for the next year. But it can

be tricky to look after, can't they? They don't have the benefit of

hybrid vigour that the cross-breeds do. They do take a bit more looking

after. They have multiple births, which makes it more difficult. You

busy? Keeping mes out of mischief any way. Thanks, John. Of course,

when it comes to lambing, have you to get the ewes pregnant. The

gestation period of a sheep from mating to birth is five months. The

rams go in with the ewes five months ago. That time of mating in sheep

farming is called tupping. The rams are often known as tups. In October

the Dykes were busy getting their ewes ready with help from a rookie

shepherd called, Kate Humble. It's early October, and I'm helping

Hamish gather his ewes in ready for tupping. It's a chance for me to see

the dogs in action. Very different style from a collie

or Welsh dog. They do everything by barking. There's no running up and

nipping at the he's or anything like that. They stand behind and go,

woof, come on, woof. That will do. These ewes need to have their

version of an MOT, to make sure they're in peak condition for the

rams. My first job is to sort them into breed types so we can compare

like with like. Texels here. That one there... That's one, yes. Mules

straight on. I would stand here. OK. Let them pass you. That's the way to

go. Feels like my kind of initiation test and it could all go very, very

wrong. Two texels to start. I think you're a texels and you're a mule.

Definitely one mistake there. Oh, dear. Steady. I feel like I'm going

to get marked at the end of this. We will count the mistakes, for sure.

There's one very obvious mistake over there. That's a mule there,

yeah. Three I think. Hamish gives each ewe a health check to see if

they might have worms. You run your hands up and down and you can feel

the ribs. You can feel the rib on top. Here you run your hands up and

down and you can't really, there's less. She's much leaner. That would

suggest that she may have a worm burden. Right. We'll give her a

drench. Using what's known as a drench to get rid of conditions like

worms and parasites means that the ewes are more likely to conceive and

give birth to healthy lambs. I'd say she's quite lean. She's not. She is.

Every ewe also gets supplementary minerals in the form of two large

tablets called boluses. Gillian, the shepherdess, demonstrates how it

should be done and then it's my turn. You have the the gun.

Basically, you load it in there and put it right down the throat. Just

over the top of their tongue. Yeahment There's two boluses. They

go in the gun at the same time. Basically these minerals that are

deficient in the ground, this is a way to replace them? Yeah. A hell of

a mouthful, isn't it! No wonder you don't really like the

idea. Go on. Oh, dear. If you drop them on the ground, they might pick

them up and eat them themselves. I can't help feeling I'm letting the

side down. I think the secret is to hold the head up. If you let the

head drop, they can spit them out. Did that work? Brilliant. She was

slow to start with, but she's got the hang of it now. In about six

hours, we'll have this lot done. Even though I have my own sheep and

I'm a lot more experienced now, it's still not instinctive. There's still

so much I don't know. You watch Gillian and she just does it, it's

like automatic, click, click, click. Go on. The final stage in the sheep

MOT is a chemical bath to treat skin conditions. That's a fantastic

medieval looking tool there. Hand made by my fair husband. I'm

impressed. Quality craftsmanship. Look at that. It shouldn't break.

What do I use this for? Well, you want to get the sheep's head in this

bit and dunk it to make sure its head goes under. If you need to pull

a sheep back, if it hasn't gone under and you want to pull it back,

hook this around its neck and pull it back. They come. They are quite

enthusiastic about it. It is like an unruly children is swimming party.

This smells. It is not a pretty bubble bath. After their dip and

drip dry, the girls are ready for the Rams. As soon as Iran goes in,

they are ready. Desperate, Suzy says. Such a den of iniquity appear

in the Borders. The television is rubbish around here. She is

incredibly enthusiastic. This is your first full year on the farm

because you had a job before. What has it been like? OK so far, no

major fallouts. Hamish does not shout too much because he knows he

will only get beans on toast. Living on the farm and working with your

husband, is it tricky? No, it is nice to be involved and understand

what is going on on a daily basis and be here for the kids. The

cameras were with you this morning and we filmed you doing some

lambing. What was going on here? Hamish noticed this ewe had stopped

pressing and was eating again, so he was concerned there was an issue. So

we looked and there was a lamb coming out backwards, but sadly it

died. But then he helped the second one and it is alive and well.

Wonderful. There she is licking it. So the death of the lambs is part of

the life and death of the season? Sadly, it is. She was a triplets and

had Hamish not got the first one out, we would have lost all three of

them. And here she is. They look content now. I would like to get one

up. If you lift them up and they have a nice stretch, it means they

are nice and healthy. Yes, big stretch. She is mothering them well

and they are full of milk. But I bet it has been busy? It has, but the

weather has been good and everything is fine. Susie is busy working on

the farm for the first year, on top of that we have been following you

around with the cameras. Take a look at the first instalment of her video

diary. It is early autumn, beginning of this sheep farming year and my

first year as a full-time farmer. We have been busy getting the ewes to

be put in with the Rams and I am black and blue. It is my thighs that

get it. Hamish is working hard, he has gone to take four of this sheep

to market. Meanwhile, 350 miles away in Wales, some special sheep are

getting ready to join us. My lovely husband has decided to buy some

sheep red by Kate Humble. They are a hardy breed, known for their

distinctive markings. I am not sure what they will make of their new

home in Scotland. Hello. Hopefully they will do you proud. The children

have taken to the Welsh boys. The one with the woolly chest. But

Schreck is not so welcoming. These guys are ready for work. Asserting

their authority. Trying to distract them with some young ladies, it

might help. Either and I went on a blind date with 150 ewes. These are

sheep still in their first year that will be first-time mothers. Anything

we get from them is a bonus. We use smaller rams to give them smaller

lambs. Iva and Owen have a lot to prove. It is their first time in

action. We need to see how they are getting on so every six days we

round them up. Just the ones with the horns. They have still got lots

of fighting spirit in them. Now we have taken them away from the girls,

they have started fighting again. Scotland against Wales. This is the

Craven. When a ram jumps a female, it leaves a mark. This is well worn,

so he has been doing some work. We will now replace it with a different

colour, so in the next six days, the sheep will get a red mark on their

backside. At lambing time we will have a good idea who will be lambing

and when. Now they can paint the town red, so to speak. Hopefully we

will be seeing lots of red marks in this field very soon. Your Icelandic

sheep was not very welcoming to my boys. Very bad behaviour. Just like

the six Nations. Is that what they do, especially that time a beer?

Yes, just before mating time. They also display some distinctive

behaviour when they do meet the ewes for the first time, it is like

foreplay? Yes, they will walk around and sniff them and smell them to see

if they are in season. They have a gland in their top lip and they can

tell if she is in season and whether she can accept the ram or not. Not

very romantic, give her a quick kick to see if she is up for it. The boys

did perform, I think. We will see the results of the scanning in

tomorrow's programme and hopefully we will see some lambs this week. I

have been lambing at home. And a bit of an insight into what you might be

expecting, these were born in the last couple of weeks. What do you

think, Adam? Absolutely lovely. Very good spraying. 16 was my top figure,

but what do you think, if you had a lambs looking like that would it be

a disaster? Not a disaster, but it might be the only Welsh mountain

sheep in the Borders. Hopefully the boys have done you proud. We will

find out later on. There are more sheep in Scotland than people. A

couple of months ago I went to see two passionate farmers who keep the

breeds that dominate and they are remarkable. It was lovely to see

them. In the North of Scotland, over 200 years ago the land would have

been farmed by smallholders with a couple of cows and a handful of

primitive sheep. Then came the clearances. Estate owners saw an

opportunity to make their land more profitable, so moved people off to

make way for the sheep. The first to arrive where the Cheviots. Highly

prized for their wool, they were brought up from the hills on the

English border. This estate on the north coast was one of the first to

be settled by the Cheviots. It is nice in the summer. This pedigree

flock is raised by Joyce Campbell. Nice and quiet. Getting right on the

cliffs? They are quite settled. They walk in the heather and rough

ground. Make a living. They are a productive animal? Yes, they will

make the most of the Touraine they are in. The Cheviots had to toughen

up for their new lives in the Highlands. They adapted and today's

Cheviots are ideally suited to the rough ground. Joyce's flock roams

over five point 5000 acres. And to get a closer look, I am going to

have to catch one. -- 5500 acres. Well done. Have I got a good one?

She is not bad, he nose could be more black. It is good skin, it

springs back from you. Has a nice fibre in it. You can understand why

they wanted them? She is in good condition. That is a lag of land

there. The tasty bit. -- leg of lamb. What about the hair on her

face? I like them to be nice and smooth and silky. They produce more

milk. That is what I find. I love them. They are my way of life. You

have to live with them all your days so you like -- happen to like what

you are looking at everyday. Like wife! The Cheviot is still valued

for its meat and fleece, but in the 19th-century it fell out of

popularity when wool prices dropped. It was time for a new sheep to enter

the arena. In came the Scottish blackface. This is now the most

common pure breed of sheep, not only in Scotland but across the whole of

the UK. Robert works a pedigree flock of more than 1000 Scottish

blackface is on his family farm in Ayrshire. How do you check your

animals? It takes a while. Like the Cheviot, it can fend for itself in

harsh conditions, but everyday Robert likes to check on his

favourites. Can you recognise individuals? Yes, just like people.

You love them as a breed? I grew up with them. The family are

award-winning breeders and Robert knows exactly what makes a good

blackface. A Scottish blackface needs to have had shape, good

thickness. A leg in each corner. Thick muzzle. A good brow on her.

Like a forehead. The colour of the face? Can be black, it is

preference. Horns need to be wide. Why this colour? Just put a bit of

colour on them for the show. Make them stand out a bit. Tonight is the

biggest social event in the Scottish blackface calendar and Robert has

got to get his girls looking their best. After a wash and brush up,

they are ready to go. Stock judging is a bit of fun. Families from far

and wide have come to take part. The idea is to range the four sheep in

your order of preference and try to match what the official judge

thinks, a bit like sheep bingo. I feel nervous actually. Do you? Yeah.

There's a bit of pressure. Right. Concentrate, Adam. Here we

go. I'm trying to remember all the

things he told me - broad muzzle, nice wide, good shape, alert. Yeah.

I like the skin of red. But I prefer the look of yellow. The sheep are

identified by different coloured tape on their horns. These colours

are then abriefiated for the score sheet. Red tape A. Blue B. Blank is

X, yellow is Y. This is very difficult. Is it harder than you

thought? I got B right. I put the old boy Y

last and he put it second. He doesn't know what he's talking

about, this man! It's not a great start. But my chances should improve

now Robert's girls are in the ring. I'm determined to get one lot right.

You'll get it this time. They're looking well. I really like them.

That little ewe is lovely. She's a cracking of a ewe. I've put her

last. I've got last as well. She could just do with a couple of

inches bigger. Just not quite there. It's A, B, Y and X. I got the last

one right. I got the first and last one right. Even Robert didn't place

his sheep in the same order as the judge. In my books you're not doing

too well at the moment. If you could try to step up to the mark? I'm

doing really well! With so much variation in the sheep, it all comes

down to t judge's personal preference and a bit of luck. Yes!

Oh. I got one. You're learning, you're getting better at this, I can

tell. You're coming around to my way of thinking.

You are shamelessly competitive. I know. Ridiculous. You'll never make

a judge, though. Really quite difficult. Clearly. And very

subjective in a way. . It's down to the judge's choice, like it is in

proper judging out in the show ring. Yeah. Fascinating stuff, though.

Now, some of you have already been E mailing in your questions to Lambing

Live, including Beatrice Smith and she wanted to know about Humble the

lamb and how is she getting on? You may remember in the first series, I

certainly could never forget when I delivered my very first lamb.

What you're going to feel, if you slide your fingers in very

carefully, you can feel a foot. Get hold of those two legs and gently

pull slowly down. Do I need to support the head? It will just

happen. It will slip out. That's it. Carry on pulling all the way around

to the front and show mum. That's it. Turn her the right way round.

There I was with my ever patient teacher, the wonderful Kate Bevan.

You did a great job. Do you ever get bored TV? I don't. Corny as it may

sound, I have seen thousands of lambs born and every one is special.

It's an amazing moment. It really is an amazing moment. I will never

forget. It as to Humble the lamb, which that lamb was named, thanks to

the Bevans, she didn't turn out terribly well. Have to put in a

disclaimer. The lamb was a bit wonky and it couldn't keep up with its

brother and mother. It became a pet lamb during the series. We bottle

fed it and live on television on the last show, Kate said, Adam, little

Humble, I'd love to keep her, but I haven't got any sheep at home. Will

you look after her until I get my own sheep? She's back on my farm. I

still have her. How many years ago was that? About four, I think. This

was Humble filmed just last week. I was actually up to see her as well.

Looking a little different. Still has a black head and her body has

gone silver. She's still quite wonky when she walks. We haven't been

brave enough to put her in lamb. She's just a pet. I keep her just

for you. Would you like her back? Not particularly, no. But there you

are, she's doing very well. We just have time for one more. This is a

great question from Josh William in Northern Ireland. He wanted to ask

whether it was true that ewes can actually abort their lambs,

obviously before they lamb them, if they're threatened Well, in a

situation like this, we're not causing any problems working around

the sheep, you can work amongst them. If you chase them a lot, when

they're heavily pregnant in the fields and particularly if a dog

gets up behind them, that can cause serious problems. That's why it's so

important at this time of year, if you do have dogs, like me,

absolutely obsessed with my dogs, put them on a lead when you're going

through fields full of sheep. They may not be ewes in lamb, but the

likelihood is that they will. We will keep your questions coming in

to Lambing [email protected]. We have three more days to answer them. In

the meantime, back in the autumn, the time came for the Texal ram that

Hamish bought at Kelso to be put to the test. Would he prove a good

investment or would he be all good mouth and no testicles? By late

October, it's time for tupping to start in earnest. Before our rams

meet the ewes, there's one last job to do - round up what we call the

teasers. These tupps are had a vasectomy. They can't make lambs any

more. They've had an operation and live a very care-free life now. The

teasers' job is to get the ewes ready to breed. It gets them off

lating. The idea is that they will fall pregnant more easily when the

real rams take over. These guys have a blessed life. No

results to prove themselves, no off spring to answer for and they tend

to live for quite a long time as well. The teasers job is done for

this year. We're taking them out to make way for the rams. With over a

thousand ewes and three different types of sheep on the farm, we work

hard to make sure we'll have enough lambs come springtime. This is the

ram that we bought at Kelso. Quite pleased with him. I just happen to

notice that his feet aren't as good as they might be. They're a little

bit overgrown. As long as I do everything I can, I can't blame

myself for. It hopefully he will go and do a job for three weeks and get

everybody in lamb. A lot is riding on these rams, it can be an anxious

time. You hope that the tupps are going to go out and do what they're

needed to do now, that's just a leap of faith, really and nature. You

can't do anything about that. You've just got to hope they know what

they're up to. The tupps are a vital part. There is one tup for 50 ewes.

One ewe wrong is a couple of lambs missed. One tup wrong is potentially

100 lambs missed. Our new ram is going in with the mule ewes. His job

is to produce meaty lambs for the table. Well, the boy from Kelso

seems to know what he's doing. I'm not sure if that was a direct hit,

but close to the target. This is the beginning of the year for a sheep

really, the tupps have gone out and basically we're sewing a crop in a

manner of speaking. Hopefully we'll get a good crop of lambs. By

Hallowe'en, all the work on the farm is geared towards tupping. But

sometimes up need a break from sheep.

Which animal needs rescuing the most, do you think? A ghost. With

jagged teeth? Yes. Yes. Amazing. It's quite easy to tell it's a

ghost. -- a wolf.

The rams are working hard and as autumn rolls on it's starting to

show. The Kelso ram has been getting a lot

of exercise. They've lost a little bit of condition. You can see their

belts are needing tightened. We will change the crane on it. The

harnesses on the rams are used to hold crayons so they leave a mark on

every ewe they mate with. Can't see it working here on these ewes, so

any green mark you can see is a result of having been mated with the

tup. Absolutely no concern was this field whatsoever.

Every ram on the farm needs to be checked and the crayon changed every

six days. So it's all hands on deck. We're catching a tup each here,

because there are three. We will catch one each and there will be one

left over. The last person to catch their first tup catches the third

one, all right? OK. Hamish started playing rugby, probably at college

and he enjoys a good scrap, I think. He's certainly a lot quicker than I

am at rugby tackling things. That wasn't very elegant. Are you

all right? Hamish was first. I'll catch the second one. This is

your typical ram, much smaller than any of the other breeds. Oh,

botheration. It is quite remarkable that that ram this size is able to

mate ewes that size, because these are big sheep. But the breeders tell

me it's amazing what they can do on their tippy toes. There's quite a

lot of green on the back ends of these sheep, so something must be

working. You chuck me a crayon, please? I don't think they make

harnesses small enough for these sheep. Oh, gosh, bad breath too.

Two down one to go. Hamish is only too happy to test his rugby skills a

second time. We just have to wait until lambing

to see if all our weeks of hard work have paid off.

I tell you what, I am impressed by your ram wrangling skills. You're

both so strong. Those rams, it's like trying to

catch a greased pig. There's no hair to hang onto. Brilliant. We are back

in the main shed. Frustratingly, there's lots showing little signs.

Quite a few look fairly imminent, but it will have to go some in the

next three minutes to see any live this evening, I'm afraid. Some

little lambs are looking very sleepy, the orphan lambed, that are

curled up looking absolutely adorable in a great big pile. We

will be here throughout the night, so we won't miss anything. You will

see all the action from the lambing shed if you join us again tomorrow

night. We've also got some lovely other stories for you, including

we're going to meet the Dykes' cattle and finding out whether their

bulls made the grade at the cattle sale. I'll be in search for the

elusive ancestors of all British sheep. And I have a go at curling.

All I can say is that if I had been on the team at Sochi, things would

have been very different indeed. I have no dignity left at all.

That was hopeless. It was a little hopeless. All I can say is just try

it. It was exhausting! We will be back here at 8pm tomorrow night, as

I say, we won't be leaving the shed. So you'll be assured of plenty of

action. We look forward to seeing you then. A very good night.

Bye. Good night. Bye.