Meet Penelope…
P for short.
I’ve just been catching up with our Ria – from Team Farm – about all the new arrivals this lambing season. 140-ish lambs have been born over the last few weeks. The breed we have here at Hollow Trees is called Easy Care – originally bred by Iolo Owen, a Welsh sheep farmer, in the early 60s, by crossing Nelson Welsh Mountain sheep with the Wiltshire Horn. A breed that tend to require minimal assistance with lambing, have strong maternal instincts, and in most cases milk well and will rear their lambs without any human intervention at all. Reared in the great outdoors, rather than in lambing sheds.
Unlike the majority of lambs we’ve recently welcomed and left to bond with their Ewes, Penelope has needed lots of intervention and nurturing from Ria. She was born last Saturday… well, she actual just appeared in the field… with no mama Ewe in sight. Poor lamb.
Somewhat rejected by the other Ewes’, Ria’s made it her duty to look out for her – bottle feeding her 3 times a day (cue that hungry, high-pitched baaaa), making sure she has plenty of straw, and carefully tail docking to ensure she’s safe and sound. Ria described the last week as pretty stressful, with good days and bad days. Something, I think any new mum can relate to, wholeheartedly.
And everywhere that Ria went
P was sure to go.
Pictured below having her first ride on a quad bike…
