We have a flock of 120 breeding ewes to produce free range lamb for the shop.

The rams are Suffolks and Charollais, which are put to Suffolk x Charollais ewes, and also to North Country Mules. These mules are cross-bred sheep; Swaledale ewes, sired by a Bluefaced Leicester ram.

Every September we put the rams to the ewes, before scanning in the days just after Christmas to see how many lambs we’re expecting.

During the second week of December (or slightly earlier if the weather is poor) we bring the sheep in to the polytunnels to prepare them for lambing. This enables us to split the flock into groups, depending on how many lambs they’re having; singles, twins, triplets or quads. We can then feed each group slightly differently to ensure the ewes are receiving just the right amount of feed and nutrients for them to give birth to healthy lambs.

The ewes lamb inside the polytunnels between February and March. After lambing, each ewe is penned up with her lambs to allow them to bond, and to ensure that each lamb receives its first colostrum (which is imperative to provide the lamb with immunity against infection). After a day or two they are then let out into ‘nursery pens’ with other ewes and lambs, to give the lambs the opportunity to exercise and play with their new flock-mates.

So long as it is warm enough, the ewes and lambs are then turned out into the grass fields a few days later. The reason why lambing occurs at this time of the year is because there is plenty of grass growing to support the ewes whilst they are providing milk for the lambs. 

If you drive down to the farm shop from March onwards you will see lambs skipping around the fields, racing along the fence, whilst the ewes graze contently on clover-rich grass.

Come summer, Richard then has the unenviable task of shearing our ewes and rams. It takes a while to do the full flock, so it’s done in stages over a couple of weeks when the weather is optimum and before the main fly season begins. The wool is then delivered to British Wool, where it goes on to be sold to the wool textile industry for use in flooring, furnishings and apparel.

Sue and Richard have a love for the Lake District, and as they don’t get up there to holiday as often as they like they decided to bring a bit of the Lakes back to Lincolnshire and so started a small flock of Herdwicks. These are completely new to us, having purchased our first breeding stock in 2018. Lesson number one was Herdwicks don’t see fences as barriers, they see them as a challenge! So every now and then, when you visit the farm shop, there’ll be a Herdwick taking a stroll around the farm. Trust us, we’ve tried fencing them in, but there’s always who decides they’re Bambi and leaps over the top.

Have you ever wondered why we have different coloured Herdwicks? Well that depends on their age; they start off little black balls of fluff, with small white patches on the back of their ears. As they age, their face starts to turn white, with rings around their eyes and nose which gradually spread until their whole faces are white. Their fleece turns brown when they’re a year old, then after their first shearing the fleece becomes grey. And best of all, throughout this whole transformation, they look like little teddy bears!