Live Show 3 Lambing Live

Since the show last night, 90 lambs have been born. There are many more

on the way. Imminently on the way. We have some lambing in the back

corner as we speak. Things have been hotting up here today, so much so we

are running out of space. This is Lambing Live.

Welcome back to the main lambing shed here at the Dykes' family farm

on the borders of Scotland. Lovely to be here again. Thank you. Lovely

to have you, Kate. It feels even fuller in here today. It has been

incredibly busy over the last 24 hours? As we saw last night, we

kicked off with a live birth and then it was busy through the night

and it's been busy through the day, too. We could potentially have

another live birth. We have a couple in what looks like sort of fairly

advanced stages of labour. How long can labour last? It's really - it

varies. Others could take half an hour, some spit them out! It depends

when you call labour starting. If they have been going for an hour or

so, you need to have a look and see what the problem is. We will talk

about when you might intervene in lambing later on in the programme.

Let's just remind you of our first Lambing Live lamb that popped out

beautifully all by itself. Yeah. Textbook. Textbook, as you say. She

was expecting twins and Adam just helped ease out the second twin. We

then had another birth. They came thick and fast. Yeah, it was

excellent. A good night. This one, though, was born literally in the

last seconds of the show. You did have to intervene there. Why? That's

one we had been watching through the show and towards the end of the show

she was - she had gone off the boil a bit. I thought she must have

needed assistance. We put her in the pen and I found that the lamb was

coming head only and the feet weren't there. It wasn't correctly

presented. A lot of our viewers after the show were concerned that

the lamb wasn't in great shape. But our cameras are here 24 hours a day

and so they kept their eye on the little lamb and here it is, about 20

minutes later and, as you can see, dry, it's been well licked, the

bonding process has started. Up on its feet, looking for the teats.

None the worse for its abrupt entry into life. No different from a

normal birth. The lamb was fine and the mother was fine, too. The mother

was expecting twins. How did we know that? Hamish marks all his sheep

once they have been scanned. We might be able to get a shot of the

ewes in the shed here. You see the one in the picture there has a

distinct blue dot, that means she is only expecting how many? Single for

blue in the middle of the BOC. A red? Triplets. Some have no dots on

at all. It means they are going to have twins? That's correct. The ewe

that gave birth with Hamish's help at the end of last night's show had

no dots on her back. Did it mean that her second lamb was also going

to be problematic? Look what happened half an hour after we came

off air. Amazing. Yeah. The first lamb had paved the way and opened

the passage, as it were. A quick cough and a sneeze the second lamb

came out. Both those lambs doing well, bonded with mum? Yeah.

Everything is fine? Yes. We can go and check on them. Adam is in the

nursery with Hamish's wife, Susie. There it is. That lovely lamb. It is

fit and healthy now. This is Rocky. He is doing fine. He is alright now.

Let's give him back to his mum. There's Rocky's sister. The mule ewe

that I was just giving a bit of a hand to, is just over there, number

31. She has twins as well. Things are getting busy? They are. The

lambing pens down the bottom are full to bursting. There's been a big

shipment from there up to this pen. We call this the nursery. What

happens if the weather turns nasty and things fill up? Well, ideally we

would keep everything inside as long as possible. If we have too many

sheep, we have no option to start finding different homes for them and

finding sheltered fields for them. Tell me about the crook? This is my

piece of equipment for lamb-catching. A good little hook

for getting around a lamb's leg. Some shepherds make them out of

ram's horn? That is what would happen. They would get a horn from a

Blacky and make it into a nice crook. Cheap-and-cheerful option! It

is nice to see the lambs that were born last night and they are all

happy and content. Let's see what is happening back at the main barn.

Thank you, Adam. We are just keeping an eye on this ewe. What do you

think? How far off might she be? We have been watching this one for a

wee while. I'm still confident that there is no need to intervene just

yet because she is still making all the right signs. She is still lying

down and pressing. I can see feet just coming out there. What would

tell you that you did need to intervene? You said with the lamb

that was born last night, the mother had gone off the boil and she had

stopped lambing. What other signs would indicate that you would need

to help? Sometimes you can see the head coming without the feet. The

first thing you should be able to see is two feet. How - the perfect

presentation, if that is the right word, should be what? Do you want me

to demonstrate? I am! You want two front feet and a nose, the front

feet will be first, then the nose and it should be... Is that because,

basically, when it is positioned like that - I can make myself look

like an idiot, too! The shoulders are narrow, it is easier for it to

get through the pelvis? That is the narrowest position. The legs are in

like this and that makes the most torpedo shape for the ewe to get the

lamb out. Unfortunately, lambs don't always present themselves in that

way. Hamish has a night lamber who comes in after the show to keep an

eye on all these ladies throughout the night. He was presented by quite

a challenge last night. Just a head. Oh, no - the head is

coming first, but the feet are back. So, you need to get in there and

flick both the feet forward. There's one leg. Reach up to get the other

one. As you do so, she contracts in your hands. It is quite sore. Worst

for her, I would imagine. Come on! There we go.

Her tongue is so large because her head has been stuck in the passage

of the sheep for so long and it took a while to get her out. It will go

down once she gets going. Go see mum.

Good work, that really was. The swinging, just remind us what that

is for? That helps to get the fluid out of the lungs, which is what

would happen when the lamb makes its first cough. That lamb had been a

bit stressed so it needed all the help it could get. Alastair said the

lamb is - the legs are back, so would you mind, can you demonstrate

again what that would be like? Maybe like that. Maybe like that. Coming

head first. He had to get the head back so that he could hook the legs

forward and get into that perfect position? You can't bring the lamb

out head first because (a) you have nothing to pull with apart from the

neck and the shoulders coming out together would be too tight and it

would end up with crushed ribs. So you need to get the head back in and

feel back to find the feet and flip them forward and then it comes out

fairly easily. Sounds easy. It really isn't. Let's cut quickly to

our lamb-cam. And see what is going on. All still looking quite quiet.

There are three there showing advanced signs. We will keep an eye

on them. As lambing time gets closer, sheep farmers all over the

country get more and more concerned about the weather. You may remember

last year that terrible late and very heavy snowfall really took its

toll for many farmers. So back in February, Hamish and Susie were

doing everything they could to make sure that their ewes were in the

best possible condition as well as keeping their fingers crossed that

the weather was going to be kind. Our pregnant ewes need a bit of

nourish ment. This is their first breakfast round. It might take them

a whee while to understand what we are doing. Feeding sheep in large

groups can churn up the ground. All those eager hooves getting in on the

action so we use a machine to spread the feed around. If we damage the

ground now, there will be less grass come springtime. It is the grass

that makes the milk and that is what they want. As soon as they have

lambed, they want grass, so we have to keep it for them. The months of

rain have taken their toll and our lamb now buckles under the strain.

-- land now buckles under the strain. This is the run-off from the

hill. When we get a lot of water like we did last night, it makes its

way this way, a little river. It's been one of the wettest winters ever

recorded. While I toil outside in all weathers, Hamish is preparing

the shed so we can bring our soggy sheep in. He's got his toolbox out

to fix up the water supply. It helps to know as many trades as you can

when you are in the farming job. I'm not saying we could do everything

that a plumber could do, or everything a sparky could do, but if

you can have a wee stab at the simple jobs yourself, it's - it

saves you a lot of time. Rather than having a plumber coming here for a

couple of hours and charging you ?100, you get the bits and pieces

and do it yourself. Today he is working on building some special

feeding troughs for the sheep. When I was younger, I always liked to be

making something, particularly out of timber. I liked doing woodwork

and stuff. As I got older, I started doing welding stuff and making

things out of steel as well. The more things you break, the better

you become with a welder as well. After weeks of rain, there is a

chill in the air. Today is lovely. It is cold, dryish and the ground is

a bit harder than it's been. There's a bit of bone in the ground as my

dad would call it! Much better for breeding sheep. I should think

before I speak! The weather here can change in the blink of an eye. I'm

frozen! Absolutely frozen. My fingers are numb and I can't feel my

toes. It is time that they came in. At least someone is enjoying the

snow. No! You missed! Oh! Come on. This is the first time the ferrets

have seen snow. They like burrowing in the snow. I don't think they are

fazed by it, are you? Over the road, John and Kate have gone to check-up

on two of their high land ponies. They are up in the top corner. Come

on, boys, come on! Highland ponies are built for these conditions. This

is Glen Garrick of Mendick - four-year-old gelding. And this is

Islesman of Mendick - a two-year-old colt. Without being fed they're in

reasonable condition. Quite fat enough. They're not showing ribs

anyway. Good boy. This is the ideal environment for Highland ponies.

These hills allow them to develop their muscles running up and down

the hills and it's a natural environment for them. No rugs and no

extra shelter but they seem to thrive on it. In the back of our

minds we all have the same worry about the change in the weather. If

it carries on like this, for lambing it'll be very difficult. The snow

usually comes at the right time of year. Before the end of February

it's fine but once it starts falling in March and April it gives you big

problems. With less than a month to go before the start of lambing,

there's little more we can do but wait and hope. The British weather

is something we all like to talk about. For farmers, it is crucial?

Absolutely. Livestock farming in particular at this time of year, it

can make a huge difference. Down in the south, in Somerset, it has been

flooded, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire have been really

troubled. How wet has it been up here? It is one of the wettest

winters we have had. Every time we switch the television on, we felt

our problems were really small compared to the people down there.

When you are out in the field, you can make up quite a mess? You make a

huge mess. Everything is done mechanically now. Every time you go

in there with a vehicle, even quad-bikes were getting stuck! When

it comes to the weather and farming, it can make-or-break a year

financially? Very much so. Our feed costs for not this winter but the

previous winter were 40% higher than the year before. Goodness me. Now,

then, your wife, Kate, is keen on the highland ponies, how did you get

into them? We were both brought up amongst horses and we saw a sale in

the early 1970s so we went to that and finished up buying three. That

was the start of the ponies. And now, she is a very well-known judge?

Yes, we have been fairly successful with them. Kate has done quite a lot

of judging and last year, she judged the Royal Highland Show. That is

absolutely the pinnacle. Was she terrified? No, she's done a bit of

judging before, so she didn't bother. She didn't appear to. I was

really keen to catch up with Kate and find out more about these

Highland ponies, so I popped out to see these amazing animals this

morning. My word, aren't they lovely? You like them? They are

beautiful. We think so. This is your passion? Absolutely. Very nice

hobby. Why Highland ponies? It is they suit the type of ground we have

here, they are easy to show and ride and do anything with. You don't have

to rug them up. We wash them with a pressure washer. Do you? Absolutely.

Yeah. What was their main use then? Their main use was for carrying

deer, lay them across the back. They are sure-footed. They can find their

way down a mountain without slipping over? Absolutely. That is one good

thing about the ground we have here. What makes a good Highland pony?

They have to have good bone and not sloping over the tail head. They

must have a nice round bum, a good second thigh and a good head. They

should be nice and broad between the eyes and no white, a nice broad

muzzle. No white? No. If it is this white, it is to be above the eyes. A

wonderful mane. That is also very important. Good feather. Good

feather on the legs as well. Feather being the hair down the back of the

leg? Yes. How long have you been looking after them for? We started

1970. Did you? A long time. We bought two at a sale and it's gone

on from there. They are a beautiful breed. I'm sold on them! Would you

like to come back to the Cotswolds with me? The grass would be too good

for them down there, I think. Gorgeous ponies, but they have been

upstaged by this ewe. She's been in labour for a while. You thought it

would be a good idea to check everything was OK? Yeah. Well, I'm

having a feel and both feet are there and the nose. Should I try and

deliver it? Yeah. OK. Oh. They are quite... Very slippery.

It is very slippery. OK, girl. Come on, let's get that foot out. It is

amazing how much force you have to use - that is the first leg out.

Well done. Head out. Here we go. Come on. Come on. Oh. That is quite

a big lamb. That is quite a big lamb. Quite a big lamb. It was

needing it as well. Yeah. There we go. Oh. I can tell you, it is quite

nerve-wracking having to deliver a lamb live on telly. Thank goodness

you were here. Let's take you to your mum. While we talk about

offspring, Hamish and Susie have two wonderful kids called Rosie and

Murdo. They are lucky enough to grow up on this farm. Let's meet them.

Being part of a farming family is in our blood. Well done. That's an

interesting technique. Murdo and Rosie have started young. Well,

we're going to stop the sheep coming up here. Here they come now. Shh.

Brr. Last year, I came to work on the farm full time so I could spend

more time with the children. I think that one nearest is a Beltex and all

the ones with horns are Blackies. That's a Blue-faced Leicester. It's

got a nose like Daddy's, that's how you can tell, can't you? A big Roman

nose like Daddy's. I grew up on a farm and so did Hamish. He started

with ferrets... A tradition he's passed onto Rosie and Murdo. Come

on, wee ferrets, come on. He's a bit wriggly. They do like playing with

each other. Oh! Growing up on a farm means that everything can be an

adventure. Even hunting for your Christmas tree. How about that one?

It's a bit dumpy. That one there is quite thin and tall, if you know

what I mean? Yes, this one's quite good. You have to shout timber when

it's falling over. TIMBER! Crash. Right, Murdo, you have to carry it

home now. And everything can be a game. I'm getting eaten by the

hedge. Sometimes I watch the clouds from up here, count the birds.

Usually it makes me sleepy. Rosie's birthday comes the day after a storm

blows through the farm and we find a great use for one of the fallen

trees. What do you think, Murds - big bonfire for Rosie's birthday?

How big can we make it? As big as it can get. OK. That'll work out just

perfect, won't it? Living on a farm can be quite isolating - so a

birthday is a great excuse for Rosie's friends to come over and

play. It's a chance to test the zip-wire Hamish has built. Sometimes

I think he's just a big kid himself - preparing a very special surprise

for Rosie's birthday. Think when Rosie sees it she'll know I made it,

not Susie. Make a wish. Make a wish. Oh! I'll never forget and I'll never

forgive. Don't know if Rosie enjoyed it but I thought it was great fun.

My birthday's really fun right now. I don't actually feel it, I don't

actually feel being nine. I loved my childhood growing up on a farm, I

hope my kids love it, too. I love that exploding birthday cake!

Now, to let you know how the lamb is doing. You can see gorgeous scenes

here of lamb and mum bonding. If you just look at the ewe's back, and

remember Hamish's marking system, she has the green mark on her back,

no spot so that means she is expecting twins. There will be

another lamb along shortly. We will keep an eye on her. In the meantime,

let's go and see some more lambs and their surrogate mum, hello, Susie.

This is what we refer to as the orphanage and orphan lambs. That is

not strictly correct at all, is it? No, we call them pet lambs. Their

mothers are alive and well, they couldn't cope with three lambs, so

we have removed one of them and put it in here until we find a new mum

for it. These could be candidates for adoption? Yes. If that ewe for

example had been only having a single lamb, you might have taken

one of these out of here and adopted it on while she was giving birth?

Absolutely. In the meantime, while they are in here, they haven't got a

mum to feed from so you are their surrogate mum? This big machine over

here is fantastic in that it automatically delivers warm milk

ready-mixed to the correct consistency to these teats. Will the

lambs automatically - will they smell it and latch on to those

teats? No, their suckling instinct is there, but they don't smell their

mother. They haven't got that connection to a rubber teat. We have

to let them know that a rubber teat is now what they want and convince

them to suck from that. This little one here looks like - oh yes, he is

doing quite well. You generally have to point them in the right

direction. The spot system means that they have don it all by

themselves and we don't need to worry about it anymore. This one is

spotless so it will need a bit of teaching. If we are not going to

make these lambs hungry, can you show us how you do teach a lamb to

suckle? OK. I will have a go with this one. They generally want to

push backwards, so I tend to stick them in between my feet and it is

literally a case of opening their mouth and sticking them on. And

holding them until they get the idea. This one with a spot is going,

"Hang on, I will have some of that!" This guy is not hungry at this point

in time. Right. That is, I suppose, the key thing with looking after -

look - listen to that. It's got the message. Slightly. So once you - do

you spend quite a lot of time basically observing these lambs?

Yeah, if you are walking past, you would tend to pop in all the time

and if you see somebody suckling all by itself that you haven't put there

and it doesn't have a spot on, you get a spot on it quick. Yeah. If

there is somebody making a heck of a noise, it is hungry. What happens to

them next? Presumably, they will have to be weaned at some stage like

lambs that are with their mothers? Yes. They are on milk for five weeks

and we introduce different feeding in that time as well. We get them

out to grass and they will grow on from there. They will end up being

exactly like normal sheep? Not exactly the same, they never do

quite as well as if they are been on their mother. It's an expensive way

of doing it and they are never as good. They never do as well. They

don't thrive as well. It is the next best thing. You are worth it! Yeah.

Farmers like Hamish have been selectively breeding sheep for

generations using years and years of experience to pick out the

attributes that they want. Now, technology is making this sort of

genetic choice even easier as Adam discovered.

I've come to Mid Wales to meet a very special flock of sheep. They

may look pretty ordinary, but everyone is like a top athlete. Dewi

Jones is head of this pioneering sheep-breeding operation. So what

are your team doing here? We're taking tissue samples from some of

these ewes. That entails taking a tissue sample from the ear, that DNA

then tells us really for that individual animal its

identification, so then we can work out who its Mother is and who its

father is. For Dewi - creating the perfect sheep starts with the right

genetics. His team will monitor every aspect of these sheep's lives

against their DNA profiles. So you're judging the animals all the

time, there's winners and losers. We are, altogether we have about 40

traits that are being recorded. We start through from lambing time and

right through to 8 week weights, weaning weights and 16 week weights,

there's a whole host of information that we use. Only the very best will

be bred from. So ewes have to be high achievers if they're to justify

their place in the flock. And so these ewes here are the sort of top

of your tree, they're the sort of ultimate girls, are they? Yes, it's

work in progress, so every year some of these sheep will be dropping off,

there'll be health issues, they'll be maternal issues, behavioural

issues that actually removes them from the flock, but the ones that

keep their place here, yeah, they're becoming very elite ewes. Dewi has

selected two of his top ewes - and wants to see if I can identify the

one that produces the best lambs, just by using my traditional

shepherding skills. Oh crikey. Right - I'll just check her teeth. And

they're perfect on the pad. Just check her udder, feels OK. I'll just

have a quick look at her feet, they look alright, she feels in good

order, she's a nice ewe. She's got nice, fine fleece. Right, I'll just

grab the other one. Good teeth, she's got a bit more meat covering

than this ewe, I mean they're both very, very good, I'd have either of

them in my flock, but if I had to chose now, I'd go for that one.

117TG. Well, remember that number and let's go and speak to Janet our

geneticist and she can tell you what's inside these sheep. It's

impossible to tell just from looking, how a ewe - and its lambs -

might perform in the future. And for Janet Roden, that's what really

matters. All these records you've got on all the animals, absolutely

incredible. Oh yes, you've got thousands. Well, there's 16,000

records here that we're just looking at now, that we're scrolling

through. That was the one I chose, so how's she looking? Here you can

see her information as a lamb, born as a twin. She was 4.1 kilos when

she was born. So she's grown well. Yeah, she's grown well. You can see

that she's really, really good for lambing ease so she's obviously

lambed easy and her family have so we're pretty sure there's good genes

there for it ?she's really good for lamb vigour so her lambs are going

to get up and suck and not need much shepherding. Above average in muscle

and then if we look at litter size she's one of our best ewes. And also

you're looking at the growth of the meat and muscle as well? Yes, we

are. So for example, here we use computerised tomography, a whole

body scanning and you can see the muscle here and this one's got nice

plump leg muscle. So by choosing the genetics, you can then really

pre-empt how good the chop on the plate is going to be from the lamb

that hasn't even been born yet? Yeah, and even better, we're now

beginning to find things that we can select on from these CT scans that

actually make the lamb juicier and tender. Really? So how can you tell

how well she's performed overall? We combine all these things into one

score of the index. So you're looking at low, average, high and

she's very high so she's a good one! Yeah, very good choice! And you

chose the right one. Did I? Out of the two. And Dewi said that I could

have her if I chose the right one! Oh, did he? Ha-ha-ha. Well, we'll

have to argue about that one, Adam! I've got the trailer. HA-HA. Dewi's

top girls are mated with equally high performing rams. And as soon as

they're pregnant, the developing embryos are removed. These "test

tube" sheep are then sold on to farmers like John Scott, near

Inverness. What a wonderful place to farm, fantastic scenery. Not a bad

spot on a day like this. John's chosen the best genetics available

to create a tailor-made flock that suits his needs. We're looking for

the ewe that will go and find the one bush in the field and hide

behind it and have her lambs and the next thing you know she's come out

with a pair of lambs that are up and sucked and ready to roll. We've got

to breed sheep that require less involvement from us because it's

expensive, labour's expensive. Back in December, 450 of the Welsh

embryos were surgically implanted into some of John's ewes. And today

he's scanning to see how many lambs they're carrying. Two embryos were

put in each of the surrogate mums. So, John's hoping for a lot of

twins. OK, ready for the first one? Embryo 2. Embryo 2, twins - that's a

good start. Yes, that's a goodun, just what we're after, ideal. Once

the sheep are scanned, they're marked up - blue for singles and

orange for twins. Embryo 1. Embryo 2. Embryo 1. Embryo 2. Embryo 2,

good girl. Oh this is going pretty well, isn't it? Yeah, you can come

more often! That's a big sheep. A real podgy one. Yeah, that's the

sort of ewe I like, she's just going to hold her condition well over

winter, I'm not going to have to feed her a lot. Empty. Oh no! Twins,

twins. Ah, John! From what we're getting so far, quite successful.

Yeah, but don't get too excited too early. The final count is what we're

after. Go on, good luck, missus. It's the moment of truth. Embryo

transfer is not always successful. But John hopes that from 450

embryos, he'll get at least 225 lambs. As he counts up the orange

marks, I tally the blues. I think I've got just 75, quite crucial but

I'm pretty sure. So you have 75 embryos held and you had 62. 62, so

we double yours because yours were all twins. So I have 124 and you

have 75, that's 199. Good maths. And we wanted... Ah, so that isn't very

good then, is it? No. Not ideal. Not brilliant. So that's less than 50%.

Ideally, we would have been looking for a few more, yes. This may not be

the result John hoped for - but it's just the beginning. For this year at

least, it's about quality not quantity. So you've still got the

best part of 200 supersheep being born on the farm. If we get 100 odd

ewe lambs, 90 odd tup lambs on the ground, that'll be a nice split for

us. That's a good start to the flock. Embryo transfer may seem like

a leap from tradition. But it does guarantee the very best lambs for

the job. And in a few years' time, John hopes to be reaping the

benefits from his flock of supersheep. It is all happening in

the lambing shed. Kate is looking at a ewe that is close to birth over

there.: : This one here, the water bag has started to appear. She is

very interested in the lambs in the nursery, so classic signs that she

is very much thinking about lambing. I will keep an eye on her. Wow!

Exciting stuff. That technology in farming, I was amazed by some of

that. Is that the sort of thing you do here? It is not something we have

adopted here. We are a bit old-fashioned. We work away without

technology, but it is not to say we don't use the figures when we go to

choose our rams when buying them. More in pedigree breeding, John,

those sorts of farmers are using it more often? A lot of people are

using artificial insemination, implanting embryos into surrogate

mothers and so on. A lot are recording as well. Recorded rams are

making a premium. But we haven't got round to doing that yet. Do you

think that that replaces shepherding skills? It certainly compliments it.

It doesn't replace it. You can have all the figures in the world, if you

don't look after the sheep properly, you are not going to get the

results. With all these ewes lambing, these pens will be full

soon. There is going to be a lot of sheep moving through here. That can

be a nightmare. Let's see how it all works.

Hamish and his team bring the ewes into the lambing shed so they can

give birth in the warm overnight. The following morning, any ewes that

haven't given birth are sent back out into the fields. The new mums

and their offspring stay in the shed. With more than 30 lambs born

every day, there is a constant demand for space. As soon as he is

happy they are doing OK, Hamish moves the lambs and their mothers

out of the lambing shed and into the nursery. The nursery gives them a

bit of time to cement the maternal bond, crucial for the lambs'

survival in the big wide world. Then, a couple of days later, they

are released into the fields. Come the evening, the still expectant

ewes return to the lambing shed and it starts all over again.

It is like army manoeuvres? It is. You are moving stuff around all the

time. We are having a quick check-up on the ewe that lambed earlier. She

is expecting another lamb, no signs of that yet? No, she is

concentrating on her first lamb at the moment. She will do that for a

wee while longer and then she will lie down and start pressing for the

second one. Let's go over to the nursery now because obviously these

ewes and lambs are at the next stage of the sheep conveyer belt. The

thing that is really interesting - I have been spending every morning

with you trying to learn this system. Yeah. You seem very familiar

with all your sheep, things like ages or whether they have lambed

before. You are not going around with a clipboard and making notes.

What is it that helps you remember what sheep is what, when it was

born, whether it's lambed before, whether it is an experienced mum,

all those things? It is not really that complicated a system. I

certainly don't claim to be one of these people that can recognise

every sheep as an individual. But now all the sheep are tagged, we use

a different colour tag each year that we... This ewe that is standing

in front of us here, that has the plu tag on one side -- blue tag on

one side - both blue tags - what does that tell you? That tells me

she is two-years-old. These all had the chance of the tup as e-year-old

hogs. We were able to keep a hold of them. Some of these lambed last year

and some didn't. The green tags? These are old sheep. They have had

five crops of lambs now. You know they are experienced mums? Yes. The

other thing that happens is, once the ewes have lambed, Hamish comes

and does a ward round in the morning to check-up on all the rams, all the

lambs, and do various jobs that need to be done before they can move on

to the next stage. I came along yesterday morning to sort of help.

There's your mum. I enjoy this part of the job, going around all the

ewes and the lambs in the morning and seeing the lambs that have been

born through the night. It gives you a good idea of the quality and the

size of ones that are being born. Hamish's first job is to dock his

newborn lambs' tails. Put it on to the tail and it squeezes the blood

supply off and within a week, the whole thing drops off.

My Welsh sheeps, we leave the tails long.

I think in hill breeds, they would leave the tails long for sure. These

sheep are low-ground sheep, keeping the tails short prevents fly strike,

that is when if the tails get dirty, the flies are attracted to the muck

and lay their eggs and you get the maggots going into the sheep. It is

a the devastating thing... Can they kill a sheep? Oh yes. Reducing the

amount of muck on the sheep helps. The same rubber band technique is

used to castrate Hamish's young ram lambs. It gives them half an hour of

discomfort. You are castrating all your male lambs? All the male lambs

are getting castrated. You tend to find, if these lambs are around for

a long time through the late autumn and into the winter, they start to

become a nuisance because that is when the females on the farm are all

getting in season. The final job is to give these newborn lambs a number

to help keep track of them. We number the pairs, the brother and

sister and they get the same number. It identifies them as being with

each other. Would you like to have a go at doing the marking? Go on then.

I'm warning you, I'm very bad at spray painting. I'm no Banksy! What

do you think of that? I did warn you! As long as you get two the

same! And no more like it! LAUGHTER

Rude and ungrateful! I tried my best. She is getting better at that?

I wouldn't be so sure! Quiet. I will talk about castration now, so watch

it! Regulations on castration. Presumably, there are some? What do

you have to do? It seems to me that you are doing them incredibly young?

They have to be done before they are seven-days-old. So, really this is

the only time to do them. If they are done when the lambs are up and

it's dry, then it is fine. Presumably, that means - apart from

breaking the law if you do it later than seven days, once those things

that you have done, the tails, the castration, the marking, they can

just then get on with growing up. That's right. Once these sheep have

gone out of the shed, and out to grass, we don't need to see them

again for six weeks. Right. You must get the castration done before they

leave the shed. Do you castrate your male rams? We do. We leave the early

born ones because we know they are going to reach the market in 16

weeks' time. The lambs that are born later in the lambing season, we do

castrate because they will reach sexual maturity in the autumn and be

running around chasing the ewe lambs and not putting on any wait. Yes. We

will talk about ear tags. You were saying how useful they are apart

from anything else for being able to tell the age of ewes later and that

kind of thing. You haven't been tagging the lambs, why not? Well,

the lambs - there's different tags for lambs that you are going to keep

as replacements that are going to go to the breeding flock and different

tags for lambs that are going to go to slaughter. At this stage, it is

quite impossible to tell which ones will stay on as replacements. And

tags in the ears, at this early stage, I think can open the door to

other infections and get caught in things: If they have had a ring

around their tail, the last thing they are thinking about is having

their ears pierced? Exactly. For people who are thinking about

keeping sheep, there are lots of rules and regulations. Yes.

Absolutely. Let's find out what the next stage is for these little

lambs. They start out life in these pens and then we let them out into

the big shed. Is it important for them to have this interim period

where they go out into a busier shed with other ewes and lambs? Yeah, it

is quite important to let them out here. They are out in this big pen

and they will have an hour or two to get used to finding each other. And

then they will go up to the nursery for a couple of nights. The lambs

will be bigger, stronger, wiser so in two days, they will be able to

run out in a big field with 50 or 60, 80 ewes and still find their

mother quite happily. Yes. You see the lambs starting to use their

voices. And that is when the mothers will get used to the lambs' voices.

It is really interesting watching them, isn't it? You see the ewes

sniffing a lamb. You are not mine, and nudging it away. They can be

quite brutal? That's right. That is not very motherly. I suppose it is

not her lamb? It is not her lamb. I don't think it will get a suckle off

her in a hurry. It is important they learn these lessons? It is. Once

they go out into the field, if they get lost on a wet, cold night and

they have an empty belly, they will die. They have to get it right now.

That is one of the great shepherding skills that they have here. They are

looking after them so well so they rarely get lost. Well, out in the

field is of course the next stage, so they go from this big shed into

the nursery and then I went with Susie to help load some of the lambs

and their mothers from the nursery and we brought them out into the

field. They come out in a muddle, don't they? Yes, it is a mess. You

would think how are they going to find och other? Having had two or

three nights in the shed, it is amazing how quickly, you give them a

few minutes and they start bleating and they soon find each other. It is

- it is the epitome of spring, that sight, the happy ewes and lambs

altogether? It is a farmer's dream. You walk out in the field on a

spring day and you see your lambs all settled up and the grass is

growing, your job is done. Yeah. You can put your feet up. Pretty much.

No feet up tonight. Let's have a quick scan around the shed. We have

got at least three or four, you can see a water bag hanging out of the

back of that mule there. There are several in - one is laying down

there. So, yes, it is a busy night in our sheep maternity ward. While

we are looking at those ewes, you will see that many of them are what

are known as mules, or cross-bred sheep. They are a mixture of

blue-faced Leicesters and what's called the Scottish black-face. Now,

Hamish and Susie do have a herd of Scottish black-face, they live out

on the hills and I went to meet them earlier in the year.

Come February, most of the Dykes' sheep are grazing contentedly in the

fields close to the farm. Today, we are heading out to round up a very

special flock that live high in the hills. Shut this in case the horses

come through. Rising 1,500 feet above sea-level is Mendick Hill. It

is home to the Dykes' flock of Scottish black-face sheep. Hardy and

wild, these ewes are only rounded up a few times a year. And they kind of

know the route? The sheep do know the route but they also get quite

wise and they know the escape routes as well if they think you're gonna

try and slip by you. Bringing the sheep in is known as "gathering the

hill" and it's here that Hamish's faithful Huntaways come into their

own. Absolutely trembling with excitement. Is this a highlight day

for them? In these two cases Jess is quite old and wise, she's good at

knowing where the sheep are meant to be going, but we've just learnt

recently that she's a bit arthritic in the front right shoulder. Will

she be able to cope, do you think? Oh yeah, she never overexerts

herself. Very sensible. Doug has a bit of power and noise and he can

woof them up from behind. Do you want to hear a Huntaway bark? Doug,

speak up. Now look at the sheep. That's amazing. So as a team they

work quite well, do they? If you could get something, a balance of

the two would be spot on. Don't listen to him, Jess!

As we begin our climb, the sheep predictably disappear, and I realise

how much ground there is to cover. Wow. Amazing, isn't it? So how far

does the farm extend? Just on the backside of the hill, and down to

those dry stone dykes in the green fields. Is the hill yours? It's

Hamish's. "Hamish's Hill". It's ours. So what's the plan? I'll get

you and Susie to just walk along the face, and we'll get them all forced

down onto the flat. And we'll drive them back down towards the farm.

How's your barking? Woof woof. Hamish takes a precarious route,

circling round Mendick to gather the scattered flock - whilst Susie and I

prevent them from giving him the slip. I have to stop and look at the

view frequently. How does it feel standing here looking down on your

farm? I've always appreciated it, I've always loved it. I don't

actually want to go down the farm, drive and leave. If I don't ever

have to get in the car and drive, that's fine. There he is.

Once in position, Hamish lets the dogs go to work. They're in their

element, using their bark to show the sheep who's boss. Doug, speak

up. Doug's away. It's the best sight in the world,

isn't it? Shepherd, dog, sheep, landscape. Life doesn't really get

better than this. No, it's pretty good. I wouldn't swap a massive

salary for this. No. The Blackies spend most of their

lives on this hill. The last time Hamish brought them in was back in

Autumn. Are you pleased with the way they've overwintered? I think

they're OK, yep, I think fine, it is nice to catch up with them and get

them in and gathered up and then you know, it gives you a better idea of

just how they are doing. We leave them up here for quite a few weeks

at a time and you don't really have an idea until you start gathering

them what kind of fettle they're in. I've heard so much about them, but

I've only ever seen them as dots on the hillside, so to actually get

into close proximity with them. I sort of imagined them to be much

more wiry somehow but they're such good-looking sheep. They are feisty,

aren't they? Good catch. These expectant mums are more skittish and

less used to being handled - but it's important for Hamish to check

they're in good condition. The legs and everything have got to be in the

right place, mouth's got to be in the right shape. Yeah, this one,

she's in pretty good fettle, actually. For me it's a good chance

to see why this breed is such a favourite amongst farmers across the

UK. They're quite solid barrel-like sheep, aren't they? Broad muzzled as

well, aren't they? Everything about them is quite kind of chunky and

built to withstand bad Scottish weather. Yes, that's right. It's

quite a symbolic sheep, and there's quite a lot of respect for them as

well being so hardy. Come on, let me have a look at your bottom. Not you,

Hamish! I noticed that you keep the tails, you don't dock them. You're

lovely, aren't you? And I wonder how many lambs you've got in you. Not as

nice as the Badger-faced Welsh Mountain obviously... No, clearly.

Job done. These sheep will be checked and scanned tomorrow before

heading back to their wild home to weather the last few months of

winter before lambing in Spring. They are wonderful sheep. There is

something about - they do fit so well on a Scottish hillside? They

look the part. They do. As for these two, they have completely stolen

everybody's hearts. We have had so many e-mails about them. Jess, you

are just too soppy. As for you, Doug - it has been a long day! Lots of

you have been e-mailing in to [email protected] and Adam, we

have had a couple of questions. One person wanted to know whether lambs

are born with teeth. Can you show us? I can. Here we have a little

lamb. I will open its mouth for you and show you it isn't born with

teeth. They grow as it gets older. OK. Then, while you are there, how

can you tell how old a sheep is? Right. An adult sheep, they only

have teeth on their bottom jaw and you can see this ewe has grown two

teeth in her first year and then she will grow two more and then another

two, so they grow two teeth every year. So two teeth is one year, four

is two years, six is three years and so on. They get eight teeth and then

they are full-mouthed. Brilliant. Now, tomorrow, very sadly, is our

last show. It's terrifying to think about that. But Adam is going to be

showing you just how hi-tech it can be to grow grass. And Susie and

Hamish are finding out whether their lambs will make the grade. And for

all those fans of these beautiful dogs, yes we have been listening to

you, yes, we have seen your e-mails and we have answered your call. We

have made a special film, none of us need to turn up tomorrow night, we

can do an hour-long programme on these two dogs. Now, we should have

a final scan around the shed. I don't think anything is absolutely

imminent. What do you think, Hamish? I don't think we will get anything

in the next two minutes. You don't? Our cameras will be here so you will

miss nothing. Join us tomorrow night at 8.00pm for our final night in the

lambing shed. Good night. Good night. Good night. Good night.