[in the hills]

Oh, thank you and sorry about your little ones.

Do you think your newborn was attacked by foxes or badgers? The prospect of that did worry me.

We do not have the facilities here to lamb indoors. It worked quite well this year but could see that a barn maybe a good option if the weather was particularly bad/ if you had problem births or if they arrived together and couldnt use the shelters.

Not sure how well my girls would take to confinement though. Although we have them quite tame now, they do panic when enclosed and dont settle or seem content at all. I suppose it is a gradual process to get them used to being in a building.

[Pedwardine]

Just been out of order and got upset with OH for letting me sleep too long. We are STUPID enough to be helping a friend move house today. STUPID STUPID STUPID  They've been so good in the past, made us a week's worth of curry when we were lambing last year but we really haven't time for this as well. Panicking now as OH needs to get his sleep, we have to load this end, do a forty mile round trip, and pray he gets removal men to help unloading at the other end. GRRR. And i needed a shower this morning as I stink of unmentionables! Have to be stinky 'til the afternoon now. Never mind.

Poor you Mrs J. How absolutely horrible for you. We've been lucky (touch wood) so far re foxes though I know they are about. We use electric fencing which is on at night only. It has an energiser that cuts out with repeated pulses should a lamb try and get through it though quite how it can deduce a lamb from a fox I don't know! I hate electric fencing, 'specially with lambs, but we don't have any other option on some of the land.
Your Soays sound so sweet in the hills.
Lord I'm tired....

[MrsJ]

I'm really not sure, in the hills.  There's no evidence of either  that I can see. 

Our "indoors" is a pole barn with pallets and sheets of ply tacked to it for the duration.  They're only half hight so it's not exactly snug but it keeps the worst of the weather off.  We make two pens at one end and the rest is open - that's where we brought them in the first year, but they did get a bit stir crazy towards the end.  We fed them in there every day to get them used to being inside to start with, and then penned them in when they started to produce.