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Arran’s first lambs of 2008 began to make an appearance this week.
The cuddly lop-eared Texel lambs were born at Donald and Ailsa Currie’s Bellview Farm in Blackwaterfoot last weekend. When the Banner called at the farm on Thursday their three-year-old son Donald was helping Mum as she tended the flock of Texel cross ewes in a large shed on the farm.
Ailsa said: ‘We have about 100 due to lamb over the next three weeks. They stay inside for a few days after giving birth to give mother and lambs a good start.
‘People don’t tend to lamb earlier than this any more because there is no grass around for them to eat and the early lamb trade isn’t that good.
‘Having them inside to lamb means that we can pop out every couple of hours through the night and check on the flock so we get fewer losses.’
In previous years the Banner has traditionally featured Arran’s first lambs at New Year from a variety of farms but a gradual change in farming practices means that it is rare to find lambs being born that early. Another factor in the absence of early lambs could be the lack of livestock at the Arran Show last August because of foot and mouth disease restrictions. This removed the chance of tups accidentally getting acquainted with ewes during livestock movements to and from the showground with the subsequent unexpected arrival of lambs at the turn of the year.
We asked Ailsa if young Donald would be following in their footsteps and becoming a farmer or shepherd. ‘Not if his Dad has anything to do with it,’ she laughed.
