Today I was lambing at Shipley in Northumberland.
I learnt that at present, the farmer is attempting to control Jaagsiekte, a disease which is present in some of the flock, due to the entire flock not being completely culled when it appeared. As a result, lambs born from the infected ewes, had the disease, which does not tend to show its symptoms until the sheep is 2-4 years of age. It is thought to be contagious from nose to nose contact, and so it is important that sheep with the disease are kept seperate from the flock which are clean.
Jaagsiekte is a chronic disease of the lungs, with the name coming from Afrikaans, meaning 'Chasing Sickness'. During end-stage disease, animals exude a foamy white fluid from the nose which is thought to be the mode of transmission between animals. Fluid accumulates in the respiratory tract and the disease ultimately causes death. However, for farmers this is problem, as there is not as yet a vaccine for this disease, and is something that therefore needs to be very carefully monitored, to prevent the spread throughout a flock.

I experienced what a great feeling it is to bring a young animal into the world, when delivering my first lamb, and is a feeling that I will never forget.
As the ewe pushed, I pulled first the right front leg, until the head appeared, and then pulled the other front leg. At this stage it is important to pull the legs down towards the teats to ensure that the lamb comes out smoothly.
When the lamb is free, it is important to gently pull away the membranes from the lambs face, to ensure that it can breathe. Another important process, shown to me by the Shepard, is to ensure that the nostrils are not blocked, by pushing a short piece of straw into each nostril in turn, simply to clear any mucus from the airways.
At this point the Shepard who I was working with liked to check that the ewe had plenty of milk to supply the lambs. This was done, by gently feeling her abdomen, and squeezing each teat in turn to ensure that milk was not blocked inside.
The lambs were then sprayed with a naval spray, making sure that a good covering was applied to the naval and this ensures that the umbilical cord and surrounding area dries quickly, preventing the risk of infection.
Finally, the lamb is put back with the ewe as quick as possible, to ensure that it is not rejected by the mother, which is a serious problem encountered during the lambing season.

Another job that I had today, was checking the slightly older lambs, making sure that they were getting a good supply of milk. This is done in the same way as with the ewe, gently feeling her abdomen.
It is also important to check that the lambs have not got inturned eyelashes as these can cause blindness if left, and must be dealt with as quickly as possible.

I also helped to construct shelters for the lambs in the field, from large hay bales. This is important, so that lambs are not exposed to the strong winds that blow across the Northumberland moors. These can potentially cause lambs to become very cold and suffer from hypothermia and even death, which is obviously something that we want to avoid as far as possible.
Preparing the large barns for the lambing ewes is also a essential process, laying hay, to make sure that the ground is comfortable for the ewes. However a large problem that is facing farmers in the region is the quailty of the hay due to last years very wet weather, making rolling out the hay within the barns a very a long and tiring process.

For a first day lambing I learnt a great deal, and it enabled me to see what a real team effort lambing is-somthing I hope to participate in a lot more in the coming days and weeks on such a lovely family farm.