Lambing Time

While driving through the Warwickshire countryside last week, I saw lots of young lambs in the fields and also some older,larger ones which I guess were born earlier in January.Lambing at Dol y Moch farm tends to be later(end of March/beginning of April) because early spring can be wet and windy here and therefore hard on the new born lambs.During lambing time it is possible to see lambs being born in the fields next to the Centre.At this time the farmer will be on the look out for Crows.These birds can attack the newly born lamb, pecking away it's tongue resulting in the lamb starving to death.Coventry children visiting Dol y Moch often ask why welsh sheep have tails whereas those in Warwickshire do not.This is because their tails have been removed to prevent their back end getting too mucky, which in turn can lead to a fatal blowfly  maggot infestation.In North Wales the risk of a blowfly infestation is low, so the lambs get to keep their tails.The welsh farmers also say that a long tail keeps the ewe's milk warmer for the young suckling lambs.