Every Wednesday morning one of our farmers, John Holt, delivers his lamb from Ramsbottom to the
shop. Mid-March to mid-April are key in so many ways to small independent hill farmers, much of it weather related. Our early Spring lambs are typically a minimum of 4 months old so with a gestation period of around 5 months, breeding commences in August. Born in January, these lambs are almost always barn reared and typically fattened on grass in early April, in the growing season.
Spring lamb is often associated with the proliferation of newborn lambs seen in the fields late
March / Early April. This early stock is at the highest risk. They tend to be born and reared
outside and this is where the weather dilemma kicks in. Farmers must be vigilant in relation to the
balance of the lamb’s safety and the survival of the pasture. Release of livestock is only viable once
the grass has started growing. Depending on altitude, which in Ramsbottom is typically 700-1000ft,
this tends to be late March. Lambs born in the wet can struggle to retain heat prior to their coats
growing sufficiently. Farmers will do what they can to keep lambs sheltered and dry, even
reverting to putting a small plastic coat on for a week after birth. But this bring its own
perils as the mothers can, on occasion, reject their newborn because it has the coat on!
The weather right now – early April 24 is unusually wet – and colder than we would expect. Night time temperatures may go below freezing and farmers are faced with a stark choice. Risk losing lambs or free up barn space currently filled with stock unable to be moved out due to the weather. Given the quantity of sheep in lamb, this is generally not sustainable. It is therefore a very nervous time for all farmers during these few weeks.
Why can’t the breeding be delayed several weeks, allowing the lambs to be born in better
weather? Fair question but one of the main reasons is flies! Male lambs are castrated at birth and tails shortened to prevent disease. The process of ringing takes a couple of weeks and these
mild wounds can easily become infected by flies, sometimes to the point of death of the young lambs.
Lambing therefore must happen in March/April before the fly has fully emerged. Easy to see how
the breeding and lambing season for those born in the Spring is fraught with difficulty. The
success of the season is very much dependent on the skills and husbandry techniques employed by
our extremely hardworking farmers.
Our first lambs our now with us at the shop. Come, enjoy and appreciate the work and skill involved in bringing these beautiful lambs to our menus and plates.