Lambing is in full swing at Ballakelly Farm in Andreas.

Farmers Alan Teare and Rachel Ranson-Teare have already finished lambing their 30 pedigree Suffolk ewes.

Now, they are in the middle of lambing their flock of 400 commercial ewes.

Their 60 Easycare ewes are due to lamb in six weeks’ time.

Rachel reports that Alan is ‘really taken’ with the Easycare breed. They are quick to grow with little feeding and their narrow shoulders mean easy lambing.

‘They lamb outside and we don’t have to intervene,’ says Rachel.

They also shed their wool naturally and don’t need shearing.

But there is one slight drawback to the breed which they have discovered, as Rachel explains: ‘They’re a bit wilder than our other sheep and when we came to pen them the other day we realised there was nothing to grab hold of – we hadn’t thought of that!’

The Teare family has farmed at Ballakelly for five generations.

They raise sheep, pigs and cows on the farm and, in 2016, they established an online and mobile butcher’s shop to sell their quality meat directly to the public.

l You can find out more at www.ballakelly.farm.