Latest news with #lambs
RNZ News
16-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Lambs are flying out of the pens at the Canterbury Saleyards
rural farming 23 minutes ago A lot of Waitaha farmers are moving away from the traditional system of running ewes and finishing their own lambs. Now they're all in the market to buy in and finish other people's lambs.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Norfolk farm welcomes 'enormous' 10kg lambs
"Giant" lambs that weighed twice the size of an average newborn have been born at an estate. Shepherdess Hannah Murrell delivered half a dozen lambs weighing 10kg (22lb) in her first lambing season on the Gawdy Hall Estate in Harleston, Norfolk. Size was not the only thing to be on the up this year, and the farm said it had its biggest lambing season to date with 250 births. Mark Hayhew, estate manager, said: "You hope for healthy lambs around the 3-5kg, so when you see a healthy enormous one being born alive and well, which is nearly double that size, it's amazing. If not eye watering, for the ewe." The estate's flock included Llanwenog sheep and Norfolk Horn ewes - which are both on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust's amber list - alongside Lleyn ewes and associated pedigree rams. It said the size of a newborn lamb can vary depending on the breed, although they typically weigh up to 5kg, with some larger lambs weighing more than Murrell joined the estate in October to take on her first role as a shepherdess. Ahead of the season she said it was going to be the most stressful time to own sheep, the most enjoyable and sometimes the saddest. "It brings the mothering instinct out in you," she said. Mr Mayhew said everybody "loves" the estate's newest arrivals. "This year has been our biggest ever lambing season following a restructure and we were very surprised when quite a few very large lambs were born," he added."Everyone loves them. We've had lots of people walking past our fields and taking pictures and asking us about our giant lambs. When you see them next to the other ordinary-sized lambs, you can really tell the difference." He said next year's lambing season should see even more newborns as the flock numbers have increased to more than 400 breeding ewes. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
CBC
11-05-2025
- General
- CBC
'Rare' quintuplet lamb birth awes Saanich community ahead of Mother's Day
Social Sharing While dogs and cats are known to have large liters, sheep not so much. So when Ashley Rice returned to Prohibition Vineyards in Saanich to find five lambs with her ewe Abagail, she was shocked. Rice had just finished picking up her children from school and running errands when she decided to check on Abagail in the pasture, knowing she was pregnant and about to be giving birth soon. "We knew Abagail was our last sheep. We were waiting for her to have her babies, everyone else had their babies like a month ago," said Rice. After driving to the pasture, her son Jackon said, "look, three lambs!" Her daughter Scarlett followed up with, "look, four lambs!" When Rice went in for a head count, she said she was astonished to find five lambs. At first, the kids didn't believe her when she told them how many there were, she told CBC's All Point West in laughter. With her husband and farmhand away, Rice reached out to her neighbour, Sidney, for help. The pair scooped up the lambs and took them to the lamb pen for safety from ravens and eagles. Rice said the lambs are healthy and in good shape, but this litter has been smaller in size compared to previous ones. She said an attachment has grown and the lambs are being monitored regularly to support their health. "All of them are super healthy, no birth defects. They are all starting to jump around and the mom is just being super, putting up with lots of shenanigans in the pen," she said. In another sheep quintuplet birth story two years ago in Salmon Arm, B.C., a sheep researcher at the University of Guelph, Cathy Bauman, said that sheep only have two teats, so caring for more than two lambs at a time can be difficult for the mothers. Rice said extra effort is being put into caring for the lambs, given their special birth story. One lamb was on the bottle for a few days but has since rejected it and is starting to gain weight, so things are hopeful and looking good for the litter, she said. Bauman said sheep quintuplets are quite rare. She keeps a herd of sheep herself and has witnessed many births over the years. Five lambs from an ewe would be a surprise, said Bauman. Rice said that her children have been especially excited to see the lambs outside in the pen each day, and the sheep community in Saanich has been regularly checking in on the babies, rooting for their success and offering the family advice. The lambs will be ready to go out with the rest of the pasture this coming week, said Rice. "Everyone is appreciating the sweet, happy story and we appreciate it too — it draws light on farming and the sheep," she said, noting not a lot people farm the animals on Vancouver Island.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- BBC News
Lamb killed in Hunwick 'brutal' dog attack
A farmer has spoken of his "anger" after one of his lambs died in a dog attack."I have been looking after these little lambs around the clock, from 05.00 until 21.00 at night," Trevor Close, from Hunwick, in County Durham, 59-year-old said his flock had been worried by a dog just days before the fatal attack and there had been more incidents Police attended the scene and issued a community protection warning to a man in his 30s. Mr Close, who works on Burn Farm, estimated dog attacks had already cost him hundreds of pounds in injured lambs this year and that cost went up when he considered upkeep."One of my lambs had been injured days before the fatal incident," he said."I got a call saying that dogs were loose in the field again and I headed down to stop it."He said he arrived and spoke to the owner."I asked why the dogs were in my field and he just said they had got off the lead."The injuries were absolutely brutal. We tried to help the lamb but it sadly died."Mr Close emphasised the "tragic impact" of letting dogs off the lead near lambs at this time of year."I would tell all dog owners to please keep their animals on a tight leash and stay away from sheep," he added. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
