Go on a course: lambing skills
How to help deliver newborn lambs. By Ruth Chandler
'I had always fancied myself as shepherdess material, so I was looking forward to my one-day lambing course at Hadlow College in Kent. Tutor and local smallholder Peter Pierson led the class, which split into groups of six for the morning's practical work.
'Having been raised on James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, I'd assumed it was usual to help a lamb's delivery but, as Peter explained, you shouldn't interfere unless the ewe's been straining in labour for over an hour. Peter took us to a classroom in which stood a rectangular wooden box with a circle at one end, encasing a tube resembling the ewe's cervix and containing a dead lamb, which was a bit of a shock. Our job was to deliver it through the circle.
'I rolled up my sleeves, lubricated my right arm with slip gel and attempted to suspend my disbelief as I pushed my hand through the plastic tubing to reach the lamb inside. Its head was forward but both front legs were tucked under its body (one of eight positions from which a lamb might be born). "Feel for the shoulder blades," Peter said, "and follow them to find the front legs and its hooves." I pulled both hooves forwards, lined-up the head, and the body followed.
'After that, castrating with rubber bands, tagging and tailing in the lambing shed felt like light relief, while the pleasure of seeing the delivery of a healthy lamb made amends for the day's rather grim, if useful, beginning.
'In the afternoon we learnt how to look for signs of lambing and discovered the complexities of fostering lambs. Next time I spot a carefree newborn trying out her soft, rubbery limbs, I won't forget her tough passage into the world.'
Hadlow College offers a one-day course on lambing. Call 0500 551434 or visit www.hadlow.ac.uk for more details.
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