So you want to be a sheep farmer ... ?

For anyone interested in farming, especially sheep farming, then Lambing Live is back on the TV.

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From :

http://www.penrithcrack.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=2897

Last Spring, Kate Humble and Adam Henson tested their shepherding skills on a lowland farm in Wales, this time the life and death drama of lambing is heading for the hills in Cumbria.

There’s a new farm and a new family – the Marstons – three generations who’ve made their lives in the remote and sometimes harsh world of hill farming. Here, much of the lambing is done outdoors and flocks are brought down to the ‘in bye’ land near the farmhouse to lamb under the shepherd’s watchful eye. It’s a risky business and Lambing Live will be right at the heart of the action with live nightly updates.

Kate has a good grasp of the shepherding basics but, since September, she’s been discovering that hill sheep demand a new set of skills and a whole new language. She’s been apprenticed to the Marstons, helping with the ‘fell gather’ (bringing the sheep down from the hills), learning about ‘hefting’ (teaching the sheep to stay on the fell) and discovering what goes into producing a prize Swaledale.

Come Spring Kate will have to put everything she’s learned into practice when she and Adam Henson join the family for all the daily dramas of lambing but until then there’s still plenty of work to be done….

How many lambs will be born? How many will survive? Watch and find out in April. And check the webpage for regular updates on this year’s Lambing Live sheep as well as Kate’s new challenges as a shepherdess.

The Marstons are a sheep farming dynasty spanning three generations, born and bred in the picturesque Eden Valley on the very Eastern edge of Cumbria. Each Spring they lamb around 700 sheep which are a mixture of pure bred Swaledales, Beltexes, North of England Mules and Blue Faced Leicesters. They also breed cattle. Plus there’s Hope and Lynne, the sheepdogs, and Smudge and Coco (apprentice but eager sheepdogs) and a few assorted chickens.

Andrew works closely with his father Donald to run the farm. They also live next door to each other on the edge of the farmyard. Andrew, his wife Rachel and their three daughters, Catherine, Abigail and baby Olivia live in a converted barn adjoining the original farmhouse which Donald and Andrew’s mum, Christine, call home.

When the sheep need to be gathered in from the fell or prepared for sale, everyone mucks in. At lambing time, Catherine and Abigail will help clean the pens and feed the sheep, while Christine is in charge of tagging. Lambing outdoors means there’s a lot of ground to cover and everyone helps out. For the Marstons, farming is a real family affair.

Like most hill farmers, the Marstons’ sheep spend most of their time on the open fell. Close to the farmhouse are a patchwork of small fields known as the “inbye”. These fields are typically divided by dry stone walls. Beyond the inbye the land rises up to the open fell. Here there are no walls or fences and the sheep graze freely. Each farmer’s sheep has their own patch or “heft” which is an area they will always return to. Ewes will teach their lambs the heft and this knowledge is passed down the generations.

The sheep need to be brought down from the fell for tupping (when the ewes are put with the rams) and lambing. In October, Kate went to help the family with what’s known as a “fell gather”.

Andrew and Donald headed off on quads to gather sheep from the farthest corners of the fell. They use their dogs to shepherd the sheep, first collecting small groups, then gradually bringing all the sheep together at the bottom of the fell. It’s an amazing spectacle and a real skill. Kate, Rachel and the children then all joined together to walk the sheep the last few miles to the farm.

Once the sheep are back down on the farm they need to be sorted. Andrew and Donald will usually have most of their own sheep but they will also have collected a few of their neighbours. The Marstons always need to sort or “shed” them and then make sure any strays are returned.

Like many farmers, the Marstons scan their ewes so they know exactly how many lambs they’re expecting. This way they can make sure that they provide extra food to those ewes having twins or triplets rather than those having a single lamb.

The Marstons bring in a professional scanner who uses an ultrasound to check each and every ewe. Then all the family help to mark the sheep up. The Marstons use one blue spot for a single, a red spot for twins and yellow for triplets. This year they have a total of 698 ewes expecting 1268 lambs. These are a mixture of 159 singles, 443 pairs of twins, 69 sets of triplets and an unexpected 4 sets of quads. To mark the quads, Catherine came up with the idea of using one blue dot and one yellow dot to indicate that 1+ 3 = 4.

Lambing will be busy!

All the sheep are marked with “smit marks”. These are coloured marks on their fleeces which are often combined with brands on their horns. Each farm has its own distinctive smit mark, so the farmers can tell who the sheep belong to. These marks are published in a Shepherd’s guide and most haven’t changed for generations.

Kate helped to sort the sheep, working the gates under Andrew’s watchful eye to make sure that all the sheep ended up in the right place. Once sorted, the sheep were put out into the lush fields of the inbye to get them into the best possible condition for tupping. Now all they had to do is eat well and wait for the rams!