Lambs herald Spring at Reaseheath College
Hundreds of families flocked to Reaseheath College in Nantwich over the weekend for the first of two lambing events.
Spring has already arrived in the college’s lambing sheds with the arrival of the first newborns of the season. Visitors were able to meet the lambs and some were lucky enough to experience a live birth. The campus zoo, which is one of the best at any educational institution in the country, was also open to the public. Both attractions will open again next weekend – March 7 and 8.
Reaseheath’s lambing weekends have been a community highlight for over 20 years. The college has a flock of 460 expectant ewes which will produce 1,000 lambs before the end of the month. As well as meeting the ewes and their new families, visitors were able to watch a big screen showing highlights of the action and watch experts demonstrating the special care required for the delivery and care of the lambs.
There were also plenty of activities at Reaseheath’s zoo, which houses over 1,000 animals including meerkats, lemurs, tapirs, otters, birds of prey, companion animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs, reptiles and amphibians. Highlights included ferret racing, hawk walks and a new harvest mice exhibition along with educational talks by Reaseheath zoo keepers.
Reaseheath’s sheep unit manager Ollie Bagley, 22, a former Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture student, is in charge of the lambing flock helped by a rota of current students who are gaining practical experience in the lambing sheds.
He said: “Lambing is traditionally the first sign of spring and this event is always very popular, with some visitors returning year after year. Opening the lambing sheds gives us the chance to show what we do here and it’ll be even better next weekend because we’ll have even more lambs. As well as giving the public the unique experience of seeing lambs being born, it is also a great opportunity for us to educate them about the farming calendar and about the food on their plate.”
One of the lambs helped to record the action after being fitted with a mini video camera by animal management student and photographer Alex Lyth. You can view one of Larry’s videos here or to see more from ‘Larry’s lamb cam’ go to our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
Reaseheath College’s lambing sheds and zoo will open again to the public on Saturday and Sunday, March 7th and 8th from 10am to 4pm. For further details on the 2nd Lambing and Zoo Weekend click here.
