Young country diary: Not just one newborn lamb, but two! | Environment

As the mid-afternoon mist came down upon us, we drove over the picturesque rolling hills. The car jolted from side to side on the craggy, treacherous ground. We came to a stop at a farm and a farmer greeted us with a warm welcome. She led us into an old, creaking barn with friendly cows and a small flock of sheep laying beside their wobbly little lambs. We went outside and across the yard to see the two dominant male sheep in a massive field. It was feeding time, so the farmer poured feed into buckets as they nudged her legs.

She then fed the younger sheep in the opposite field, throwing them pellets like a thousand bullets firing over the wall. Suddenly, her phone went off like a siren, warning her that a baby lamb was being born.

The yew with her lambs. Photograph: Family handout

My heart skipped a beat and I felt a tingle down my spine. She ran off and instructed us to stay where we were. But soon she beckoned us into the barn. We ran carefully towards her and went in just as her husband pulled the lamb out. Slippery slime slithered down its body before it was laid down on the soft straw next to its mother. He then pulled out another lamb. My eyes opened in shock – I had never seen one lamb being born, never mind two!

After that dramatic event, we said goodbye to the farm and drove home, bumping along the road, my mind filled with awe and wonder.
Levi, 10

Read today’s other YCD, by Stanley, 11: ‘Being dragged away from my computer was worth it

Levi inside the barn with penned sheep
Photograph: Family handout

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