Viewers will be able to watch a live stream of lambing season thanks to a Dundee company.
Farmer’s Eye have installed a camera at South Slipperfield Farm in West Linton which will open a window on the work farmers put into lambing season.
The farm, run by Hamish and Susie Dykes, hosted BBC Lambing Live last year, which proved a surprise hit.
The LambCam, set up by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), will give everyone an opportunity to experience lambing during one of the busiest times of year for sheep farmers. The Dykes will have to lamb 950 ewes in a short period of time.
The aim of the QMS LambCam project is to encourage members of the public to learn more about the hard work and care which goes into rearing top quality livestock.
Live streaming from the lambing shed will be done via a dedicated page on the QMS website from 6pm to 9pm on the evenings of March 24 to March 27.
“Lambing Live last year was an incredible experience to be part of which our whole family enjoyed. It was also a really self-reflective process and made us really appreciate what we have,” said Mr Dykes.
“This year it will be QMS rather than BBC with a camera in the lambing shed, so instead of 70 crew in the shed with us there will just be one small camera above us. We’ll have to make sure we remember we are being filmed and other people will be able to hear what we’re saying.”
The Dykes family, including Hamish’s parents John and Kate, and the couple’s children Rosie and Murdo, take a great deal of pride in looking after their stock to produce high quality Scotch Lamb.
South Slipperfield is a member of QMS’s Quality Assurance Scheme which means it is inspected annually to ensure it meets scheme standards which underpin the Scotch Lamb brand.
“We’re very aware that quality assurance and animal welfare are extremely important to ensure consumer confidence in what we produce,” added Mr Dykes.
“Lambing is one of the busiest times in the farming calendar and sheep farmers up and down the country work incredibly hard at this time of year,” said Carol McLaren, head of communications with QMS.
“Like any maternity ward around the country, there will inevitably be problems such as lambs which are difficult to deliver due to natural mal-presentation or, in the case of twins or triplets, you can be faced with a tangle of legs and tails to sort out before the lambs can be safely delivered.
“While it can be very challenging, especially if there are problems such as bad weather, it is also one of the most rewarding times in the farming calendar.”