Springtime arrivals at Stanford Dingley’s Mazelands Farm

Despite the recent showers, springtime has definitely arrived at one local farm, writes Shantal Mbaziira.

Hundreds of lambs have already been born at Stanford Dingley's Mazelands Farm over the past three weeks, as lambing season gets in full swing.

“We have 300 ewes on the farm this year for lambing,” Becky Breakspear, whose family run the farm, told the Newbury Weekly News.

Having grown up on a farm, Ms Breakspear is very familiar with the joyous chaos that comes with lambing time.

Fortunately she is able to count on the instrumental help of her parents, Manda and Robert, as well as her brother, George.

“The late nights are something you get used," she said.

“Work is split between the family with my parents and my brother helping out and everyone does their bit.”

Springtime is often filled with surprises and it seems Ms Breakspear has got a couple of her own.

“Surprisingly, there have been 12 sets of triplets this year which has been really lovely!” explained Ms Breakspear, adding that the first set of lambs, which were triplets, were born on March 13.

“We’ve also had lots of different breeds born this year such as Valais, Jacobs and Texel.”

After being born, the little lambs are often left with their mothers, with the triplets being topped up with milk to keep them going.

Compared to previous lambing seasons, this one has been particularly quick and Ms Breakspear hopes to finish in four weeks’ time with more lambs hopefully on their way soon.

When asked about what she enjoys the most about lambing season, Ms Breakspear said: “Watching all the lambs running in the fields is really sweet!”

But the lambs aren’t the only new arrivals on the farm – lots of calves are currently being born as well, keeping all the family very busy indeed.