4 June 2016

The First Weigh-In

The lambs are growing fast. I gathered a flock in to weigh the largest lambs to see if any were ready for market the following day.



Nova and her little ewe lamb.



A Dorset ewe with an interesting hairstyle!


A little Kerry Hill looking for his mummy.


I dragged a big lamb into the weighbridge...


...and unfortunately for him, he weighed in at 97lbs. Our lambs weigh 95lbs+ before going to market, so this one was ready.


It is sad to see them go, but it's good to know they have had a good life here.



I spotted Iris in the crowd.


Pip had helped me to gather the flock. Over the past couple of years she has suffered terribly with the heat - almost to the point of collapse a few times. I'm very cautious when allowing her to work these days. When in the pens she doesn't sit down or stop moving at all, so to force her to rest I have to tie her to a gate.

She was not alone...


Fred and Nobby were in the pens to be weighed too. As the biggest and oldest pet lambs, they're fast approaching their ideal market weight.


Rather than play with the rest of the sheep, they preferred to stand with Pip.




Fred was first in, and weighed 85lbs. He does like to eat things, even the weighbridge!



Then there was Nobby, who weighed 92lbs - dangerously close to market weight.


At least the boys are safe for now, but I've got some tough decisions ahead about their futures.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the reminder about where my food comes from. I enjoy meat, but don't like to think about it often enough.

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