COLEG Gwent has welcomed a flock of ‘ewe’ arrivals after 110 ewes produced a bumper crop of lambs this Spring.
The Usk Campus, which is home to animal and land-based courses, helped to deliver 160 triplets, twins and single-born lambs.
The lambing season began in early March, and most of the lambs were born in the first three weeks, giving Level 1 Diploma in Land-based Studies (Animal Care) students hands-on experience of a working farm during lambing season
The flock of sheep consists of a mixture of breeds which include Suffolk, Mule, Cheviot and Texel.
Lecturer, Nicola Tranter, said: ”It was a very exciting time on the campus as we lamb all the sheep indoors.”
“Students help to set up the design and layout of the shed for lambing. Then once the sheep come inside, they feed the sheep hay, Maize and Barley, bed them down with straw to keep them dry and warm.”
“A few students also experience assisting with difficult births, although most sheep give birth in the late afternoon and night,” she added.
The students also handle the lambs after they are born, penning the newborn lambs with their mothers into individual pens, helping newborn lambs suckle for the first time, putting rubber rings on the lambs tails, spraying numbers on the sheep and lambs, and bottle feeding the pet lambs.
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