Lamb Marking

The ewes have finished lambing. It has taken 6 weeks for all the lambs to be born. And now the fun starts.......lamb marking!

All the ewes and lambs have to be taken to the yards, one mob at a time.  The ewes have to leave their lambs just for a little while. But they will be back together in no time!

Dad and Mum and PopPop all have jobs to do. I think Dad gets the best job, he has to give every single lamb a cuddle! Not really.....he has to catch them and put them in a special cradle. I love catching lambs, I can pick up the little ones but some are just too heavy! I am not quite tall enough to reach the cradles, so I just give Dad a hand to catch them.

Got one Dad!

  

Ready Dad!................. Quick......he's heavy!!!

It is like they all get to have a ride on the merry go round....round and round and jump off!

All ABOARD......spinning around and around!

All the lambs are given a needle by PopPop. It is to stop them getting diseases. I remember I had some needles once and it didn't hurt a bit!

They also get a special mark in their ear. It is so other people know what farm they belong to. I think it would be a bit like having your ear pierced?

All the lambs have their tails cut off, they cannot wipe their bottoms and their tail just collects poo! Then out they jump....and off to find Mum! 


Most mummy sheep have looked after their babies, BUT some have lost them. Some lambs died when they were being born, some die because they don't get enough milk, there are lots of things happen. We check all the ewes to make sure they still have their lambs, it is easy to tell......you just need to look underneath.....

this one has lots of milk!

The ewes that have lost their lambs have no milk at all, it is all dried up. They are taken away from the mob and put in another paddock. Mum says....

"we will deal with them later"