A MYSTERY ram has led to an early start to the lambing season at Doe Park Farm, near Cotherstone, this year.
Owners Stephen and Alison Lamb are none the wiser about what type of ram had its way with one of their Suffolk ewes after it gave birth last week – a month before lambing season starts.
Mrs Lamb said: “She has obviously found a willing gentleman a month early. We don’t know what the ram is, it is a mystery. Our tups weren’t out until a month later.”
One of the lambs is completely white, while the other is dappled with grey, making it impossible to guess the breed of the sire. The couple suspect the father may have jumped a fence, or might have been a castrated fat lamb that “still had some of its tackle intact” .
Lambing season official begins at the farm on February 21 when the first of three batches of the couple’s flock of 230 ewes are due to give birth. The batches are staggered so that they give birth at two week intervals. Mrs Lamb said: “We have had them scanned and we have a lot less triplets this year. Last year we had 64 sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets. We ended up rearing about 60 lambs but we got an automatic feeder, which helps.”
