Merrist Wood College is one of the best places close to Guildford to learn about farming life and everything that surrounds it. Boasting around 400 acres of land, the award-winning educational establishment is where to go if you want to learn about everything from spiders to ferrets, rabbits to birds of prey. When the spring hits, that is when it is time for the lambs to be born, offering a unique opportunity for people to get up close and personal with the new additions to the farm. It is a heart-warming sight, making it something of a not-to-be-missed event.
Why Lambs Are Born in Spring
One of the first questions that you might have is why it is that lambs tend to be born in spring, rather than any other time of year. Although there are obviously some lambs born at other times of year, it is the spring that is traditionally thought of as lambing season. Academics at the Universities of Nottingham and Bristol attempted to answer that exact question, carrying out a study that discovered that long, cold nights in the winter create a hormone called melatonin in the pineal gland in their brains. This changes their brain to quite literally make them horny in the winter.
The study was published in the National Academy of Sciences journal reports and offers the first physical link between animal fertility and the seasons. It also offers a suggestion of how it is that farmers can look to change the timing of lambing season. As the impact of climate change causes different weather patterns and potentially harsher winters, farmers might wish to alter the breeding of lambs so that they can survive better. For most people, though, the joy of seeing a newborn lamb is that it means that spring is upon us, with nights brightening and days getting warmer.
What You Can Experience at the Farm Open Day
If the idea of sheep getting horny in the winter so that they can have their lambs a few months later doesn’t put you off, you might be interested to know what attending one of the Spring Lambing Open Days on the farm at Merrist Wood Farmyard entails. In short, it is an opportunity for you to spend some time in the company of relatively newborn lambs for a reasonable fee. It costs just £6 per person to attend, with anyone under the age of three going for free. The farm opens its gates from 10am to 4pm over a weekend, which is when you can head along.
You can go on either Saturday the 21st of March or Sunday the 22nd to see lambs take some of their first steps. Not only that, but there is a strong likelihood that other farm animals might well wander along. That could mean the chance to see a goat with its kids, for example, or some donkeys or cows. That will depend on the availability of said animals, but given the fact that it is a working farm, you would be extremely unlucky not to get the chance to see anything at all other than the lambs. That being said, the lambs are the stars of the show over these two days.
Things to Think About
This is all about experiencing the sights and sounds of new life on the farm. You will not be able to feed any of the animals, not least of all because the lambs are in an important stage of their development and what they eat and drink is crucial. That being said, you can still enjoy both the sights and sounds of the newborn animals taking their first steps into the world, along with the ability to be educated about what the lambing process tends to involve. The friendly farm staff will look to take you through the whole thing, all whilst you get to soak up the fresh air of the countryside.
If you’re concerned about what you will be able to eat and drink whilst you’re there, then you needn’t be, with a visiting refreshment vendor arriving on site in order to sell both drinks and snacks. One thing that you should bear in mind is that pregnant visitors are advised not to attend the event, on account of the potential health risks that it entails. Merrist Wood College is in Worplesdon, which is reachable by car, public transport, bike or even walking, depending on how far away you’re coming from. It isn’t far from the centre of Guildford, which is where the public transport hubs are based.