week 3

LAMBING HAS FINALLY STARTED!   All four of our original Ewes have lambed, we have 3 sets of twins and 1 set of triplets!  Two of our new ewes have also lambed - one set of twins and a single....all

Gerry holding on the the triplets!

healthy and happy, so fingers crossed!  We have only had 3 ewe lambs

Mark taking Patch out to the field in his 'fly rug'!!

so far.....

Lambs in the sunshine!

This term we have started working with the horses; students are learning about stabling, mucking out, bringing the horses in from the field, and grooming them.   Some of our students have only ever looked at a horse over the stable door, so it is an exciting new phase in their learning skills!

We were given a lovely donation recently, and have bought a digital incubator with some of it!   We had been lent one last year, and the students thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, so we thought we would invest in a digital one this time.   It's got 'viewing' windows as well, which saves having to take the top off each time to check on them!  So in 
three weeks time, we hope to have some lovely bantam chicks and some of 'Fiver's' offspring!

A 'clutch' of bantam eggs found
 under a pallet next to the lambing
pens!  We have a bantam now sitting
on them, so fingers crossed!

week 2

Thank goodness we have some lambs arriving .....i was beginning to think we had been imagining their 'largeness'!

'Lamby',  Ella's Ewe with her two lambs

 Lamby had her two lambs in the middle of the night sometime.....and we didn't get to the lambing pens till around 4.30am.....by that time one of the other Ewes had 'taken' over the lamb - licking it and mothering it.  This is a real pain, as now Lamby doesn't want it, and it's our only Ewe Lamb so far.....so we have had to put her into a special neck brace for a few days.  This helps, as she can't see the lambs, and then doesn't keep 'knocking' the lamb back;stopping it from feeding.
Hopefully after 3/4 days she will accept it normally again.

The 3 Ewes, Mary Jane, Lamby and March with their lambs

We have had 6 lambs so far, but only one Ewe Lamb - but it will mean lots of Lamb for sale in October/November time....!

They've arrived at last.....!

Mary Jane - our first Wiltshire to lamb.....

Aren't they sweet.....good strong lambs hopefully!

one of the main flock ewes with triplets....!

WEEK 1 SUMMER SESSION!

With the weather being SO awful over the Easter Break, the Ewes seem to be 'hanging' on to their lambs....so nothing so far!  The students were all pleased to be back, and on Monday, we finished off the pens and made sure everything is ship shape.   We had one Ewe that  had to be put  in isolation in the trailer....she unfortunately had a dead foetus (very small) and now doesn't look as if she will have any more lambs this time.  Fingers crossed all the others are ok.   Thursday we had a full house, and spent the morning getting the raised beds finished, cleared and fenced (against those naughty bantams!) and planted out the potatoes.  Penny one of our volunteers is working with some of the students to make mosaic tiles to go into our 'wild flower' garden.  In the afternoon we had a bit of a tea party to welcome everyone back - scones & cake!
Today we had a rather soggy stand outside Dobbies; raising the profile of the Project - next time we need to make sure we get good weather!  (thank you to Gerry, Mike, Penny, Ericka and Alan for helping)
Thank you too to Ashton Keynes Parish Councillors who had a 'Lent Lunch' in aid of the Project - they sent us £85!