What to Expect During Lambing Season at a Peak District Farm Stay
There is a specific kind of tiredness you experience at six in the morning inside a stone lambing shed. The noises are first quiet, then loud and insistant. You hear the soft shuffle of ewes. The low bleat of a newborn finding its feet for the first time. The smell of clean bedding and lanolin. It is the kind of moment you carry home with you through the long hours, the persistent worry and the dirt on your clothes has washed off.
At Booth Farm in Hayfield, lambing is not an attraction we have arranged for guests. It is simply what happens here in April (and sometimes December) with our pedigree Elderfold Valais Blacknose flock, Cameroons and crosses. If you happen to be staying with us during that window, you are welcome to be part of it.
We’ve been lambing now for three years and it was a steep learning curve having not come from a farming family. This is a guide to what that actually looks like, and how you can be a part of it.
What to know
Our Valais Blacknose flock lambs in April and occasionally in December. April is typical for other Peak District hill farms and about four to six weeks later than lowland farms in the south to allow for the temperature to warm up a bit! Because Valais sheep cycle all year, we do occasionally lamb in December too, depending on who has already lambed earlier in the year.
Guests can bottle-feed orphaned and twin lambs, join morning feeding rounds, and be present for births if timing allows.
Pregnant visitors must not enter the lambing area. New-born lams carry a significant risk to expectant mums. Full guidance below.
When Is Lambing Season at Booth Farm?
Peak District hill farms lamb in April. This is not tradition for its own sake. It reflects the later arrival of warmer temperatures and reliable grass growth at elevation, with ewes timed to give birth when there is enough nutrition on the ground to support milk production. Our Valais Blacknose ewes follow this same pattern, which places us roughly four to six weeks behind the lowland farms you might read about elsewhere. However, we do also sometimes lamb indoors in December when we have ewes that didn’t lamb in April.
For guests, this timing works well. By April, the dales around Hayfield are greening up, the light is longer, and Kinder Scout looks extraordinary on a clear morning. The lambs and the newborn landscape arrive together.
Within April, the busiest fortnight shifts year to year depending on when ewes were tupped the previous autumn. We can usually tell you our expected start date by February, so if you’re planning a stay between April and May (weaning) we’ll be able to tell you with some certainty what you’ll see and what you’ll be able to do on the farm during your stay.
What the Valais Blacknose Breed Actually Looks Like
If you have not encountered a Valais Blacknose sheep before, they require a brief introduction. Originally from the Swiss canton of Valais, the breed is immediately recognisable: a thick, curling fleece from nose to hoof, and distinctive black markings on the face, knees, and feet. They are calm-natured, curious, and, by any objective measure, extremely good-looking animals.
The lambs arrive with the same characteristic markings, though in miniature, and the first few days of a lamb's life in a Valais flock have their own particular quality. The ewes are attentive mothers. The lambs are bold. Most guests, regardless of what they expected to feel, find themselves quite attached within 24 hours.
What a Lambing Stay at Booth Farm Actually Involves
If you stay with us during lambing, it won’t be like a petting zoo visit. It is a genuine agricultural event, and the farm runs accordingly. Births happen at any hour, including 2am, and the rhythm of the shed does not adjust for guests. There will be lights on at all hours. Lots of joy, and occasional tears. What we offer is inclusion in that rhythm, for as much or as little as you want.
A typical lambing day looks something like this. Early morning, usually around 6/7am, is the first shed check: scanning for ewes showing early signs of labour, topping up hay and water, and attending to any births from overnight that happened between checks. This is the quietest and often most absorbing part of the day. For those that have lambed but didn’t take to their babies, it’s when the first of up to 5 bottle feeds of the day happens.
We need to bottle feed lambs for many reasons. For example, if they are orphaned or twin lambs where one didn’t take, or if they are a triplet. This is where guests who want to help or get involved tend to find their place.
This year, in addition to a twin lamb that didn’t take to his mum, we took on two foster lambs who came to us from a local charity while they found their feet. Fortunately, after a rocky start, the quickly began to recognise our voices and were quickly queuing at the gate at feeding time. Guests who were staying with us at the time found them difficult to leave.
Afternoons are when we tend to catch up on the stall clean-outs, continue the feed schedule and prepare for evening feeds for the mums and expectant ewes and, depending on where we are in teh season there my be up to two addition evening checks and feeds at 11pm and 2am.
What guests consistently say is how easy it is to become attached to the ewes and lambs, and that the can’t believe how quickly they can start to recognise the lands and when they need feeding. It’s what we found out ourselves during our first season. It happens because the animals are real, the work is real, and you are present for it.
What Families With Children Can Do During Lambing Season
Children settle in to lambing faster than almost any other guest. They find it easy to look past the mess and mud and quickly find bottle-feeding to be the highlight of their stay. Even children of three and four can manage it without difficulty, given a gentle set up and a lamb that is cooperative! Older children, six to twelve, take to the morning rounds with genuine passion. And teenagers often surprise themselves, becoming invested in a specific ewe and her lambs and checking on them repeatedly through the day. The important thing is that everyone find a place, from just helping out at feeding time to working with us on all the rounds, the cleaning out and animal care.
Beyond the shed, if you stay with us in spring you have direct access to some of the most wonderful parts of the Peak District on foot from the farm gate. And at one of the most spectacular times of the year too. The village sits at the foot of Kinder Scout, with routes for everything from a 20-minute walk to the pub to a a full day on the moorland plateau. You can be bottle feeding lambs at 7am and on the Kinder Plateau, Mermaid’s Pool or Mam Torr by 11am.
Typical activities for children during a lambing stay:
Bottle-feeding lambs (supervised, any age)
Helping scatter hay and check water buckets and feed the horses
Counting sheep in the field and collecting eggs from the ducks (a consistent favourite)
Walking the moors, dales, and edges surrounding Booth Farm
Identifying different Valais Blacknose lambs by their distinctive markings
Helping us name the newborns!
What to Pack for a Lambing Stay in the Peak District
April in the Hayfield area is beautiful and unpredictable in equal measure. Sun, sleet, hail and deep mud can arrive within the same afternoon. Sometimes in the same hour! That is before you have set foot in the lambing shed.
Essential packing:
Waterproof jacket and overtrousers: non-negotiable for the Peak District in April and May
Wellies or waterproof muck boots: the farm is still suffering from winter and the fields from the rain in April and May so good footwear matters
Old clothing for shed visits: straw, mud, and occasionally milk will find them; expect it
A warm mid-layer: open fields and stone barns are cold regardless of the forecast, the wind will quickly tell you its spring not summer if you’re not prepared.
Hand sanitiser: use after every animal contact, before touching your face or eating
A second pair of boots: keep these clean and separate for afternoon walks
Sunscreen: when it happens, April sun at elevation is stronger than it appears
A camera with reasonable low-light capability: lambing sheds are dim and teh warm red lights for newborns make photography hard but worth it.
The Case for Switching Off
Springtime on the farm is hard, exciting, tiring and rewarding. But, combined with time outside exploring the local area it’s clearly good for you. Research published in Scientific Reports found that spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature was associated with significantly better self-reported health and wellbeing, and staying with us in spring gives you that on the first morning alone.
What a farm stay adds, beyond nature contact, is purpose. There is a meaningful difference between walking past sheep on a public footpath and feeding a lamb that was born twelve hours ago. You find yourself absorbed, present and, most importantly, happy.
What we hear most often on checkout morning are guests talking about their favourite lamb, their favourite ewe and how they didn’t realise how cleaver and affectionate sheep are.
Important: Sometimes you can’t join in
Sadly, if you’re pregnant, you must not enter lambing areas or have any contact with sheep, newborn lambs, afterbirth, or lambing equipment. This applies regardless of how the pregnancy is progressing, how far along it is, or whether you have been around sheep before.
The risk comes from two organisms that can be present during lambing: Chlamydophila abortus and Toxoplasma gondii. Both can cause serious complications in pregnancy, including miscarriage. The NHS issues clear guidance on this every year. We follow it without exception and ask all guests to do the same.
Anyone who is immunocompromised should seek medical advice before visiting a working lambing shed. The risk to healthy, non-pregnant adults and to children is low with standard hygiene precautions: wash hands thoroughly after any animal contact, do not touch your face in the shed, and do not eat inside the lambing area.
How to Book a Lambing Stay at Booth Farm
The most important practical point: do not wait until March. We book up well in advance of spring.
When you stay with us in spring, you’re part of farm life. But the number of guests we can welcome during lambing is limited by the nature of the shed and the scale of the flock. We keep it that way deliberately.
When to book: We can advise on expected lambing windows once ewes have been scanned in late winter. please do email if you’d like to stay with us during the spring and meet teh new additions to our flock and we can advise you on what might be going on during your stay.
Check availability and enquire
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need any farming experience to stay during lambing?
No prior experience is needed. We guide guests through everything: how to approach a ewe, how to hold a newborn safely, and what to do if you are present during a difficult birth. Most guests have no agricultural background at all, which is usually the point. The learning is part of the stay.
What age is appropriate for children?
We welcome children of all ages. Bottle-feeding works well from age three with adult support. Children of eight and above can join feeding rounds and take on small responsibilities naturally. Check with us directly about specific activities if you have younger children, particularly around access during active births.
How long should I stay to have a chance of seeing a birth?
There is no guarantee. Births happen on their own schedule. But you can always take part in the lamb care when we have them.
Can we walk in the Peak District during a lambing stay?
Yes, and it is one of the pleasures of the combination. Booth Farm sits in Hayfield at the foot of the Kinder plateau, with direct access to the national park on foot. The farms around us all have large flocks so you’ll see a lot of pregnant ewes and lambs while you’re here. But please don’t approach them. It is stressful for the mums and babies and can cause injury or worse. And please do keep your dog on a lead at all times.
Is a lambing stay suitable for people with animal allergies?
Sheep wool, lanolin, and airborne hay dust can trigger reactions. If you have known animal allergies, consult your GP before booking and let us know in advance. For mild allergy sufferers, antihistamines, long sleeves, and gloves can help manage contact exposure. The open-air field environment is significantly less concentrated than the shed.
A Last Note
Staying with us during lambing is not polished or orchestrated. It’s not Countryfile. It is muddy, early, occasionally urgent, and completely absorbing. If you are considering booking: come in April or May, pack for mud, read the health guidance above, and say yes if we ask whether you want to be there when a ewe goes into labour at midnight.
Sources: White, M.P. et al. "Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing." Scientific Reports, 2019. NHS guidance on sheep and pregnancy risks: nhs.uk. National Sheep Association lambing calendar data.
