[ellisr]

I am very disappointed with countryfile lately, I would like to see more about farms and less about canoeing or rock climbing there are plenty other programs on the TV that can cover country recreation but not enough about the normal daily farming

[shetlandpaul]

were they a little quick sticking there hands in. the poor ewe had only just bagged and they were thrusting there hands in. like the swaledales too.

[bamford6]

 countryfile as lost its spark to much big stuff you Carnot run a farm with all that kit it would cost 1000s the 3 tractors cost over 80 thousand and a farm mangier and all them breeds .a normal farming is whot we wont .people strapt for cash real life . 5 rams 100 thousand whot stock they have on that farm .that farm lambing live looks like good prophit most off there stock would be worth  over 100 + each never mind the cattle

[Fleecewife]

were they a little quick sticking there hands in. the poor ewe had only just bagged and they were thrusting there hands in. like the swaledales too.

I thought that too - the farmer didn't want to as the ewe still had a while to go, but Kate pushed him into it, then they went off to something else leaving him with a ewe on her side.  But letting the Beeb in to film must be paying well, judging by the complete set of brand spanking new hurdles they have for the occasion.

[OhLaLa]

Hmmmm. 'Lambing Live' - except not much lambing actually seen - or indeed live. Lots of recorded stuff on other subjects. And stuff on cows. Not so much Lambing Live, as 'Almost Country File'. Ok in places but bit tedious. Shame.

And I felt sorry for that poor ewe on her side instead of letting her get on with it. Bless.

And what about all the other breeds of sheep...............? ? ? ?

[AengusOg]

I thought they missed a few opportunities...such as the lamb they said had its head back. I think Humble had her hand in then out again. They said the head was back, but cut away from the scene, and the next thing the lamb was out. No information on how to deal with that scenario, yet it is one of the things which people struggle with.

Incidently, if a lamb has to be 'put back' to allow it to be repositioned for birth, and the ewe is pressing and making things difficult, if the ewe is lifted by the hind legs, so that her back can be leaned against a small bale, the force of gravity will cause the lamb to drop away from the birth canal, making it easier to sort out. But I don't suppose they would want to show that much on LL, just in case the viewers got upset.

The other thing which surprised me was the Swaledale breeder who, when asked what makes a good sheep, spoke about the width of its face, the size of its head, the sweep of its horns, and the fact he liked a bit of bone on them. No mention of the any preferences on the length of its back, depth of body, the quality of its skin, or its feet.

And that Texel tup's feet had obviously not been prepared properly for him going out with the ewes. What a mess, and he was lame when they turned him away, and on a hind leg too.

I suppose its not really for sheep owners though, is it?...more about about fluffies for fluffies.

[ellisr]

It was explained last night why they get in quick with beltex sheep asically the lambs are really big and ewes do better with assisted births then later in the program they explained the head back denarii and also showed an assisted birth using a wire to guide the head. This program is not made for the minority that own there own sheep but more for people that have never seen this before. Yes it shows themoney side of things and doesn't dwell on the hardship involved and only slightly touches on feed shortage and costs. I think it is great that a program like this us on for people that aren't as privledged as some if us are owning our own livestock

[egglady]

is it just our telly, or is the picture terrible?  we had to switch it off it was so bad tonight!

[ballingall]

They have really struggled with the weather both last night and tonight. Alex recorded it, and we watched it, but it was off air 3 times tonight for a few minutes each time.


Beth

[Roxy]

I suppose they are unable to show anything "too technical or the slightest big gory" as the average television viewer is just tuning in to watch the cute fluffy lambs.  Its surprising how many people go queasy at the sight of for example an animal (or a human for that matter!) giving birth, and if they heard the blood curdling screams that go with it, well ...... 

I suppose they film a lot of stuff, and then cut it, to make good viewing.

Had to smile the other night when the presenter, whose name escaped me, said he had left his stockman dealing with his lambing while he was there ......wish I had a stockman too    - a nice looking one, please ........

[bamford6]

its naw called farm maniger .im starting on saterday and i no it wont be like that i dont have scans i let them do a proper birth on there own and onley iff there is a problem then il have a go .i onley have 200 but 5.30 then 12 noon then 3 pm and last thing 10 oclock will take eney back for 2 days feed clean and then out iff all ok .2 weeks and il be nackerd

[ellied]

I suppose a film completely live with long periods of waiting for sheep to do something (inevitably they will just stand and look at you til off air!) would be a bit boring so they've prepared the in between films to show how you get to the point of lambing and I thought there was a good mix of information for the basic viewers and a few opinions for the more experienced to talk about

As for weather putting them off air, that is live TV risk and it is also lambing/farming risk, weather isn't controllable so sometimes stuff happens - what I wondered was why they tried to go to an old edition of Coast (which also failed!) and didn't make sure there were clips of old footage available to play (one of the bits played within the programme) at the studio end if the live broadcast was cut off for a few minutes   Even bits due to go out the following night could be held in stock just in case..  Ah well

I thought the interesting bit was the kid who emailed asking why the guy never gets his hands dirty and Kate Humble is always in there (a bit fast in some cases) and he made a joke about it but realistically I guess it's cos he has done it for a living and she's a bit Blue Peter have a go girl with something to prove.. As for leaving his stockman to lamb for him, look at the Scottish Farmer and most farmers who can employ a lamber do so, I reckon he knows staying on the BBC team will help support his farm in a way that lamb prices won't   Last year they were at an early lambing farm before he was starting himself, maybe next year they'll film in Scotland and he can get his lambing done before he starts filming but a lucrative contract talking to and about farming must be a dream job for a farmer   other than the female presenter perhaps, she gets on my nerves 

[robert waddell]

it is all very well condemning the programme and presenters but what you see is what the camera sees edited of course some shots last night showed you the amount of equipment that is installed
as to Adam he contract farms something like 2000 -2500 acres of farmland and the observant will have noticed the new equipment that has appeared since he started his presenter role what price is eye candy just now or product placement?

[Roxy]

If only we could all get jobs presenting farming programmes - manufacturers would be falling over themselves hopefully to give us their latest machines and things .........

I remember when the farrming programme was on  Sunday lunchtime. ......from being little I used to sit and watch it with my Granddad and uncles, while my auntie got the Sunday dinner ready.  From what I remember, it was a lot more formal, but at least they discussed farming issues, and not some of the less useful (or so they are to me) subjects nowadays.

With the rise in popularity of smallholding, I am surprised that there is not a programme aimed at this section of viewers - we seem to have plenty of cookery programmes, so ditch a few of them, and replace with a smallholding one - not just gardening, but everything else as well.

[sabrina]

A word with the BBC might help, a smallholding program would be great. I enjoy lambing live and they do quite a good job. Most people would have no idea what is involved with the whole process. From tupping,scanning, feeding then the birth its self. Bet if you asked a child where lambs come from they would say Tesco.