Calving 2026 went really well but it’s now all done for another year with the last calf born on 24th May. It’s an absolute favourite time of year for all the herders welcoming the new additions into the herd and enjoying the few weeks with them before they head onto the free range for the summer. We try to get out when we can to visit them but what happens on the summer free range is completely natural so we don’t always see every calf returning which means it is what it is! I thought I’d write down a few moments that I’ve enjoyed this summer to share our lovely experiences with the reindeer and their calves so here goes:
Filming – Mid May we took part in some filming which you will no doubt see later in the year (watch this space). As a result Andi and I headed onto the hill with a very small film crew of two other people and spent the whole morning hanging out with the herd which was mainly the cows and calves. As there was quite a lot of standing around while they were getting the shots they were after, it’s always during these moments you really get to enjoy being around the calves who are finding their feet within their new environment. Now and again they’d get the zoomies which usually meant mum flying after them trying to keep up and get them back under control… They can also be quite inquisitive and if you stand still long enough then you find a few calves come sniffing round your legs and giving a wee tug on your trousers.
Another nice moment I had was bringing Lolly and her calf in from our main enclosure which is around 500 acres of hill and forested ground into our smaller ‘creche’ where we keep the cows and calves once they’re born. I first had to locate them and of course they were at the furthest back point of the enclosure in the woodland, so, as I started pushing her back towards the herd the calf kept getting stuck in deep heather. Eventually I decided Lolly wasn’t taking her calf on the best route home so I thought I’d try catching her instead and walk them in via a more sensible and less vegetated route. Lolly is one of these reindeer who it’s hit or miss whether you can catch her to put her on a head collar or not so I was going in with caution, however, she was obviously in a good mood today and I caught her no bother. The three of us then set off, at a very slow pace, back towards our final destination. The calf at this point was only a day old so still pretty doddery… We stopped a couple of times, the calf had a lie down then a suckle of milk from mum then we’d carry on. It was a lovely sunny morning so I didn’t feel like I needed to rush. Both Lolly and calf were totally relaxed. From a reindeer who in the past was never up front and had a shy character Lolly has definitely gone up in my estimations.
The last wee story I’ve got for you, or maybe this was more of a challenge during calving time, was when Winnie, our hand reared female from three years ago decided to start calving during one of our guided Hill Trips in front of 40+ tourists… There is a time and place Winnie! Herder Amy swiftly popped her on a head collar and brought her into an area a bit quieter and out popped a little pale coloured female calf. At first Winnie was not impressed by what had just happened and was showing no signs whatsoever of wanting or loving this new addition in life! So, Amy dried off the wee bundle and we all worked out where to go from there. We held Winnie so her calf could get it’s first milk as this is really important, however, her milk wasn’t coming through as it should so I suspect this little lass was premature. We brought her off the hill to our paddock area where we could monitor her more closely and after chatting with our vets decided to give her a hormone injection to help bring her milk on but also help with the bonding.
This worked a treat and 2 hours after her injection she loved her wee calf and was licking her. The calf was still a bit too weak to stand and feed herself so we had to assist, however, with Winnie being so tame this only required some extra lichen (reindeer’s favourite food) for her while we held her calf in place. We did this every 3 hours roughly through the day and her last check/feed was around 10pm and first feed around 5am. The two then joined the reindeer on the hill so the wee calf could learn how to be a reindeer, not a human! Then at the beginning of June they headed for the high tops of the Cairngorms to spend the summer free ranging. With all the extra handling the calf got she was super tame and became a quick favourite amongst us herders.
Fiona