I live on a farm and every year the arrival of lambs in the spring brings me much joy. I can hear the little babies shouting for their milk first thing in the early morning through my window. Their warm and fluffy little bodies are soft to touch and are so cuddly. Although sometimes the mums can get a bit overprotective and stomp their hooves to warn me off from picking them up.
I will never forget one day watching a young lamb in a lush, green field on a warm, spring day bouncing through the tall grass chasing a curious amber butterfly. It made me think of a new start of the year full of joy and fun. When they are young the lambs are very curious and trusting, so they will approach people for a sniff and a pat on the head, just like woolly puppies. When they get a little older, and start escaping from their fields, catching them becomes impossible without a well-trained sheepdog to help.
Sometimes I have to bottle-feed the newborns because their mums don’t have any milk, which is such a special experience for me to watch their greedy little faces suck on the bottle like I am their mum. Those babies recognise me as they get older and often allow me to pat them even when they’re a bit bigger. Lambing is my favourite time of the year.
Zara, nine
• Read today’s other YCD, by Kerensa, 12: ‘The view from the top of the magnolia tree’
