Clips
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Adam Goes to Market Duration: 00:45 Series 2
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Adam Henson and the woolsack Duration: 01:05 Series 2
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All wool is not born equal Duration: 01:06 Series 2
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Sheep 1 Adam Henson 0 Duration: 00:52 Series 2
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The amazing Manx Loaghtan Duration: 01:05 Series 2
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The twenty six thousand pound ram Duration: 01:00 Series 2
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Series 2 of Lambing Live
Kate Humble and Adam Henson return to the lambing shed. This time they follow the life and death drama of lambing season live from a sheep farm in Cumbria.
Visit the Series 2 page -
Clip from Series 2: Grunting Beltex Ram smitten with Kate Humble
After managing to escape Kate's best attempts to catch him - the Marstons huge Beltex ram makes quite a noise as Kate Humble tries to cover his belly in red raddle paint.
Watch the grunting Beltex ram here -
Kate Humble and Adam Henson follow the life and death drama of lambing
To get in touch with the Lambing Live team, please email us at lambinglive@bbc.co.uk
Watch the Series 2 trailer here
Around 16 million lambs are born in the UK every year, making lambing the biggest and busiest event in the farming calendar. Each spring our fields fill up with ewes and their new lambs – a seasonal feature of our landscape but also a reminder of a way of life that’s shaped our country and our countryside.
Sheep farming is big business but it’s also a gamble. For farmers the stakes are high. Sheep prices go up and down and you never know if your hard work is going to pay off. Farming is a twenty four hour, seven day a week job. There are plenty of challenges, but with those challenges can come rewards. From the glimmer of hope as a hypothermic lamb is nursed back to life, to the nail biting nerves as the auction hammer finally falls, it’s a rollercoaster ride that demands dedication and determination. BBC TWO’s Lambing Live opens the door to this incredible world. In spring 2010 Kate Humble and Adam Henson tested their shepherding skills on the Beavan family farm in South Wales. Now they’re heading for the hills in Cumbria with a new series, a new farm and a new family – the Marstons – three generations who’ve made their lives in the remote and sometimes harsh world of hill farming. Most of the lambing here is done outside – and there’s plenty more for both Kate and Adam to learn.
To find out more about Lambing Live Series 1 and 2 please go to the relevant series pages. -
Kate Humble
Kate’s TV career started behind the camera, as a researcher on Animal Hospital and Holiday though it wasn’t long before she was on screen. She’s presented a wide range of programmes including Amazon Abyss, Rough Science, Animal Park and The Frankincense Trail.
Her love of wildlife has made Kate synonymous with Springwatch and Autumnwatch which she’s presented since 2005, and it’s her passion for animals that make her perfect for Lambing Live. Kate lives on a smallholding in rural Wales with an assortment of pigs, donkeys, chickens, geese and two adoring dogs, but does she have what it takes to be a real farmer?
In September 2009, Kate joined the Beavans for her initiation into the world of sheep. It was a steep learning curve, from understanding how to judge a ram's assets to delivering her very first lamb. Now she’s heading North to learn a whole new language and a new set of skills with the Marstons.
Hill farming is very different – will Kate still want to get a flock of her own? -
Adam Henson
Adam Henson has delivered hundreds, if not thousands, of lambs on his 1625 acre farm in the Cotswolds. As well as managing over a thousand commercial sheep, Adam’s farm also includes the Cotswold Farm Park where he has more than fifty flocks and herds of rare breed farm animals that he’s helping to protect and conserve. Here there are sheep of every shape and size, from the tiny but feisty Soays, to the many horned Hebredians, to the local Cotswolds famed for their wool.
Adam’s a regular presenter on BBC ONE’s Countryfile but he somehow juggles this with his day job as a farmer as well as his presenting duties for Lambing Live. In 2010, Farmers Weekly voted Adam Farming Champion of the Year and his experience is a great match for Kate’s enthusiasm.
While Kate’s apprenticed to the Marstons, Adam will once again travelling the length and breadth of Britain to unravel the history of sheep farming, and in April he’ll be rolling up his sleeves to help out with lambing. -
Swaledale Sheep
A hardy sheep perfectly suited to the hills and fells of Cumbria, Yorkshire and County Durham.
Watch our video of an extremely expensive Swaledale ram. -
A Beginner's Guide to Sheep
Lambing Live is all about the secret life of sheep. Did you know?
• Along with goats, sheep were the first livestock to be domesticated. There is evidence of domestic flocks in Southwest Asia as early as 9000 BC. Sheep were a great all round animal for these Neolithic farmers, providing meat, milk, and wool and leather.
• There are now around 70 breeds of sheep in the UK. The number of breeds reflects the huge variation in our climate and topography. Over time we’ve bred sheep to suit every corner of the British Isles.
• The gestation period of a sheep (how long a sheep is pregnant) is around 5 months, with most ewes averaging around 147 days gestation. Sheep are also seasonal short day breeders. This means that most breeds of sheep are most fertile in the autumn because they come into season as the day length is shortening.
They get pregnant as the leaves are falling and give birth in the spring. There are a few notable exceptions to this, for example, the Dorset Horn, which can breed year round. -
Look back at Lambing Live series one
Learn more about our presenters Kate and Adam, get to know the Beavans and watch clips from series one of Lambing live.
Visit the series one website
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