Vets from St. Benedict’s Vet Clinic in Co. Sligo have played a key role in delivering a set of triplet calves and a “massive” newborn lamb in recent days.

One vet had been visiting a farm to carry out an annual TB herd test at the beginning of the month when they noticed some discharge from a cow.

To the farmer’s shock and delight, three bulls calves were delivered.

Meanwhile, in another post on Facebook, the clinic detailed how this newborn lamb weighed 9.3kg when it was delivered.

Due to its size, the lamb had to be delivered by caesarian section on Sunday (February 4) morning.

lamb

Image source: St. Benedict’s Vet Clinic Facebook

The average weight of newborn lambs can vary from approximately 4.5kg up to 6kg, depending on whether the lamb is a single, twin or triplet.

Spring period

Meanwhile, Cork dairy farmer and mental health advocate Peter Hynes urged farmers to take care of themselves and to pay attention to their mental health during the busy spring period, when cows are calving and sheep are lambing.

He noted that a combination of worry and sleeplessness together that can can have long-lasting negative effects on a farmer’s mental health if nothing is done about it.

“It’s a snowball effect,” Hynes said. “If you’re worrying and under pressure about something, you can lose sleep from that alone. It’s that lack of sleep that can bring the onset of depression.”

The award-winning dairy farmer is of the opinion that not half enough is being done in Ireland at present to highlight mental health issues.

“Pressure is a problem in farming – the whole environment; long hours and volatile prices – it’s more high-pressure than a lot of jobs and should be recognised as such,” he said.