A shepherding heartbreak at Ballakeenan Farm in Jurby has highlighted the challenges posed by lambing, even for experienced farmers.

After managing every lambing personally for the past three years, the farm’s owner faced a difficult turn when one ewe’s ‘tight pelvis’ meant there was no safe way to deliver her lamb on the farm.

She was rushed to the vets, but despite the efforts of two veterinary professionals, her large ram lamb did not survive.

‘One of those moments that really hits hard, you do everything right and still lose,’ a spokesperson for Ballakeenan Farm said.

The ewe is now back in the farm’s maternity barn, where staff are attempting a ‘wet adoption’ to give her another lamb a chance.

The process involves placing a newborn lamb, in this case, Baby, one of the farm’s Texel lambs, with the ewe and encouraging her to accept him as her own.

While she is not fully convinced yet, Baby is reportedly ‘big, strong and confident, and can handle a bit of telling off while we see how things settle.’

If the adoption does not succeed, the lamb will return to the Meg pen and the ewe will try again next year.

Ballakeenan Farm, a working 120-acre sheep and calf-rearing unit, offers family-friendly experiences including lamb and calf feeding, adoption opportunities, and hands-on farm activities.

Visitors can take part in events such as Lambing Live or explore the farm with its ‘friendly faces, both human and woolly.’

One family who visited said: ‘We love coming to the lamb feeding with the kids but it's not just for the kids it's also for us adults as well.’

The farm aims to bring people closer to farming life, one muddy boot and happy memory at a time.