🐑 Lambing Season Visitor Tips
20th February 2026
(What to expect in the Yorkshire Dales — and how to enjoy it)
In the Yorkshire Dales, lambing season usually runs from late March through April, sometimes stretching into early May on higher ground.
Lowland farms often begin lambing in mid to late March, while hill farms tend to start a little later once the worst of the cold has passed. By Easter, the fields are often full of tiny, energetic newcomers.
If you’re staying with us during this time, you’re visiting at one of the most magical (and busiest!) moments in the farming calendar.
🐾 Keep Dogs on a Lead
Even calm, well-trained dogs can cause stress to ewes and newborn lambs. During lambing season, sheep are particularly protective — and understandably so.
🚜 Stick to Footpaths
It’s tempting to wander closer for photos, but staying on marked paths helps prevent accidental separations between mums and lambs (and avoids some very unimpressed looks from the flock).
📸 Enjoy From a Distance
Please don’t touch, feed, or pick up lambs — however cute they are. Ewes recognise their lambs by smell and sound, and human interference can cause confusion.
🚪 Close Gates Carefully
Always leave gates exactly as you find them. A single open gate can turn a peaceful spring afternoon into an unexpected sheep round-up.
🤫 Keep Things Calm
Lambs are easily startled. Slow movements and quiet observation mean you’ll actually see more natural behaviour — including spontaneous lamb races across the field for no obvious reason.
🌼 A Few Fun Lambing Insights
- 🐑 Zoomies are real. Lambs often burst into sudden sprints purely because they can.
- 👂 They know their mum’s voice. Within hours of birth, lambs can recognise their mother’s call.
- 🛏️ If you see a lamb lying alone, don’t panic. Ewes frequently leave lambs tucked safely in grass while they graze nearby. This is normal behaviour.
- 🐶 The farm dogs take this season very seriously. From their perspective, they are clearly in charge of operations.