FARMING MATTERS: Capturing the birth of a lamb on film

For some years my family and I have made short videos for YouTube about life on a typical English family farm. I do the filming, my son does the editing, and the stars are of course the animals, the machinery and the guys who work on the farm.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Apr 2016, 08:00 BST
New lambs let out to graze for the summer. Picture copyright Heather Jan BruntNew lambs let out to graze for the summer. Picture copyright Heather Jan Brunt
New lambs let out to graze for the summer. Picture copyright Heather Jan Brunt

In the past we’ve shown the barley harvest, bringing the suckler herd in for summer treatments, shearing the sheep, but we’ve never managed to capture the birth of a calf or lamb on film - you just have to be there at the right time, and often I’m not even on the farm, never mind in the buildings or fields, as I’m away at work.

But all that changed one weekend recently when I took the camera to film the work involved in letting the ewes and lambs out for the summer. Prior to turn out the ewes were given worm drench and fly repellent, and the lambs had their eartags put in. All of this was captured on film, and the perfect ending was the flock being let out into the field.

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Then I turned around and noticed that amongst the bunch of ewes that had been kept in because they hadn’t yet lambed, one was showing signs of doing just that! I had just one bar left on my camera battery, but amazingly managed to capture the birth,providing an even better ending to the day. The video will go online once my son has edited the footage.

Related topics:YouTube