Who's in the family way?

Finally the sun came out. Went for a walk today and found these young ladies tucking into a good feast.

For the uninitiated, these ewes would have been mated in November. The rams, or tups as we call them in Yorkshire, wear a wax block on their chest, so once the deed is done the good lady ewe has a colourful reminder on her bottom.

Different colours are used for different rams, so the father can be identified, (very important for future stock selection.....don't want any inbreeding, do we.)

Once a week the farmer will gather the sheep in and put another mark on the back of the sired sheep, to signify in which week the ewe was sired. He then knows when to expect the babies, and can keep a close watch on his ewes as lambing approaches and give them extra food and attention.

Sheep gestate for around 145 days, so a ewe served on 1st November would be due around 26th March just as the better spring weather was hopefully arriving.