Farmers Weekly lambing gallery: Best snaps of 2024

For many, the busy 2024 lambing season is well under way – and hundreds of farmers have taken the time to send their photos to the Farmers Weekly lambing gallery. 

To celebrate the work of our sheep farmers across the country at one of the busiest and most exciting times of year, here are some of the gallery’s highlights: 

See also: Farm Doctor: How to spot signs of poor mental health

Mrs Hopps 

Mrs Hopps © Tamsin Soper

Based in Wiltshire, Tamsin Soper captured this picture of friendly sheep Mrs Hopps, named for her bouncy disposition, with her twin lambs.

Tamsin farms alongside her husband, and together they have built up a flock of 100 sheep after starting with just four orphan lambs.

They both work for other local farmers throughout the year, and also rear game birds.

“Mrs Hopps is a Texel cross mule,” Tamsin explains. “Her mum died so she ended up being hand reared. She’s become so tame that I just got so attached!”

11-month old Martha

11-month-old Martha © Stacey Christopher

Stacey Williams caught this special moment between her 11-month old daughter Martha and a newborn lamb.

Farming sheep and cattle in Michaelchurch, Herefordshire, Stacey works alongside her husband Josh Christopher and his father Andrew.

Martha will be turning one in April, and loves being out on the farm. “I don’t know how many lambs we’ve had so far – around 400 – and she stills gets excited when she sees me lifting them up,” says Stacey.

Farming as a family, Stacey says that Andrew’s mum Julie is a huge help looking after Martha while she is in the lambing shed, and Martha’s big sister Ruby, 8, also helps out with the lambs after school.

The family has around 100 ewes yet to lamb.

Growing like a mushroom

© Caryl Davies

Young farmer and agricultural student Caryl Davies, from Pembrokeshire, is pictured here with Barry, the Bluefaced Leicester-cross Suffolk ram lamb, who she says is “growing like a mushroom”.

“He is the ram from the first Bluefaced ewe that I bought,” Caryl explains. “He’s absolutely massive, and we’re going to keep him as a ram hopefully,” she says. 

Lambing started in early March for the 800 ewes on the farm, and Caryl expects they will finish by the end of the month or early in April, clearing the shed just in time for her family to move on to calving. 

Special Jennay and Jenson

© Sarah Pennington

Hailing from a non-farming background, young farmer Sarah Pennington, from Cornwall, bought two pedigree Zwartbles in 2020 to start her own flock, after spending years working on local farms.

She has now built up her own flock to around 40 sheep and shows her pedigrees at local agricultural events. Alongside tending to her own flock, Sarah still lambs for a few local farmers.

“This year’s lambing was OK, but tainted by Schmallenberg disease,” she explains. “We lost a few lambs to it.”

The sheep pictured, Jennay, is a Dorset ewe, and has a unique story of how she came to be in Sarah’s flock.

“I have her because I had to buy an emergency orphan lamb two years ago when one of my ewes was having a massive lamb, which ended up being a stillborn,” explains Sarah.  

“I called around to local farmers who I knew were lambing at the time to see if anyone had a spare lamb needing a mother. Luckily someone who I had lambed for the previous year had one – and this was Jennay.”

Sarah tried to do a wet adoption, which sadly failed. She then tried a skin foster, which was a success.

“I only have a very small number of sheep, so this working and having every ewe go out with a lamb in the end was fantastic,” she said.

Jennay has recently had her first lamb – a Dorset cross Zwartble named Jenson.