You can call me Lambo, littl'un: Mammoth ewe Sally is born weighing 23lb

By Beth Hale

Lambing it up: Sally grins for the camera

As woolly lambs go, she's something of a mammoth.

So pity poor old mum when Sally arrived in the world.

Weighing a massive 23lb - three times the size of a normal lamb - the youngster doesn't so much gambol as stride across the pasture.


Mammoth: Weighing 23lb, Sally (left) is three times the size of a normal lamb


Farmer Ken Jones had been a little puzzled when ewe Daisy kept on getting bigger, and bigger, but didn't give birth.

But he soon found out why when he spotted the Suffolk cross struggling to give birth on Sunday.

'She was lying down and pushing for quite some time and obviously having some difficulties so I went to help,' he said.

'I thought she was having triplets, she was so big. As I pulled the front legs I thought, "This is a big one".

'It only came out about halfway when normally that would have been the whole lamb - it just kept coming and coming. It was incredible. We've had quite a few big lambs but she was nearly twice the size of anything we have had before.'


Family affair: Sally plays with her mother Daisy while farmer Ken Jones and his wife Susan look on


The whole delivery took about 15 minutes, compared to two or three minutes for a more modestly sized lamb. Not surprisingly, Daisy needed a bit of a rest after her birthing ordeal.

But Sally - named after the song Mustang Sally - was soon up on her feet and suckling.

Mr Jones said: 'They are usually a bit lazy when they are big, but she was surprisingly quick to get up.'

Mr Jones, a part-time sheep farmer with his wife Susan at their home in East Huntspill, Somerset, said Sally has a 'big future'.

'We tend to have too many ewe lambs to keep but she's special and has had a lucky escape,' he said. 'She's not for the chop.'

A spokesman for the British Veterinary Association said: 'Big births like this can be one of the quirks of nature - it could be down to things like the genetics or the feed.'


The sight of lambs in the fields is a sure sign that Spring has sprung in Britain.


And after the bitterest winter for more than 30 years, the sunshine, lambing season and display of seasonal flowers has has brought a bright forecast for the spring.

As wildlife came out to greet this week's warmer weather, the Met Office said it would be warm for the rest of the month.

Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said: 'The temperatures will be more normal and above average for the time of year.


Magical: A grey squirrel stands in the spring sunshine among blooming crocuses in Bath


Fresh life: A white pigeon walks among the mauve blooms in Bath

'There will be less cold conditions in March and early spring and it should carry on.

Pictures of squirrels and pigeons in Bath and lambs let out to pasture in Berkshire, show that nature believes we have a change in fortune

The widely longed-for turn, which brought highs of 14C in Hastings and 13C in Basildon, is accompanied by brilliant spring colours, shown here by the blooming mauve crocuses in Bath.

The BBC forecast predicts warmer temperatures overall with London expected to be warmest on Thursday, with a maximum temperature of 15C and a low of just 9C.


Re-emerge: Lambs are let to pasture near Dorney Lakes in Berkshire

The capital will be brightest today and enjoy sunny intervals on Wednesday.

While the new-found warmth is predicted to continue, the skies will become overcast later this week.

Powell said: 'The settled weather will break down on Thursday. Thursday and Friday will be wet and windy.

'But the daytime temperatures will remain around ten and 11 degrees, 12 and 13, and nights are above freezing.'

The winter of 2009/2010 has been the bitterest cold spell for 31 years, both in its temperature and length.

We have seen thermometers drop to below the -20C mark in Scotland, and skim -18C as recently as March 4.

Low temperatures and hard, dry soil (there has been little rain in recent weeks) has left a sad legacy in our gardens and countryside.

Flowers in particular have suffered. We have become accustomed to daffodils flowering in February or earlier.

But the first wild daffodils at Kew Gardens, West London, were only glimpsed on February 26

source: dailymail