While the farm is closed to tours again this year, the lambing season must go on.
Aveley Ranch has welcomed almost 750 lambs so far this season and the family expects that number to reach 1,000. Many of those babies are twins, as the ranch hands have counted almost 250 sets of twins. There are also a handful of triplets, though much less common.
Each set of twins or triplets is branded with paint so the lambers knows which lambs are siblings. Metal numbers are dipped in paint and pressed against the side of the lamb. The colour changes after each 100 sets, starting with blue and they are currently on red. Once that 100 have been branded, they’ll move onto green.
Sheep and their babies were scattered throughout the ranch, the days to weeks-older lambs in bigger pens with their peers, while the many sets of twins in theirs. When the lambs are born, they are secluded with their mother until they establish a bond.
This helps the babies to find their momma when they’re in the bigger pens with the others.
At night, the sheep are all herded into a single corral where they can be watched and protected from prey.
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