Fordhall Farm celebrates arrival of baby Pancake as lambing season in motion

Staff at a Shropshire farm have celebrated the birth of one of their newest resident this week, who made his entrance on a very special day.

The male lamb was born at Fordhall Organic Farm, near Market Drayton, on Tuesday, February 21 – and has been aptly named Pancake to celebrate the occasion.

While people across the country were tucking into their homemade battered treats, the team at Fordhall were busy celebrating the arrival of their newest resident.

Fran Lant at Fordhall Organic Farm said: "He was slightly unusual as he was actually around the size of a one week old lamb at birth.

"The first of 2023's lambs on the farm were born on Thursday, February 9. So far this year there have been 35 lambs born, with a further 80 ewes still yet to give birth – there is an estimated 130-140 lambs still to be born.

"This year the lambing team have had a few first-time mums who have presented more challenging labours prior to birthing."

During the February Half Term, Fordhall Farm has also been offering its popular tours of the lambing sheds, which allowed attendees the opportunity to get behind the scenes of this busy time in the farming calendar.

The sell-out tours gave people the opportunity to meet the newborns while the team carry out their lambing duties on the farm.

One of the tour leaders named a tour highlight as pulling a lamb out of a ewe who was struggling, while also leading a tour at the same time.

"In addition to lambs, the first calves of the year arrived a couple of days ago, a couple of weeks earlier than expected," Fran added.

"The remainder of the pregnant cows are expected to birth their calves over the next few weeks."

For more information about upcoming events, visit fordhallfarm.com.