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We’ve had bees swarming this week and new calves born almost every day while the raging tide of new lambs has ebbed to a trickle and it will soon be time to vaccinate the lambs for bluetongue.
The-boar-that-fired-blanks has been renamed. He is now the-boar-that-works-very-well as we now have our two sows due to farrow any minute from the look of them and a Tamworth gilt bought in specially [so we'd have piglets for the open day] is due tomorrow or Monday.
So I am off this morning to ride another horse and escape this mad place for a just few hours grace.
The rest of the weekend when not seeing to these pregnant animals will be spent planting out several hundred veggie seedlings. Sweetcorn, cauli, broccoli, cabbage, red cabbage, beans, lettuce, and then we will have to water. We have a large tank which holds the run off from the grain store roofs. The onions planted some weeks back hace done nothing, it is simply too dry.
We use a Norwegian based weather forecast and they predict a lot of rain on Monday but the Met office does not. I wonder who will be themost accurate. I have a dear friend in the USA who says all the weather forecasters are simply ‘weather guessers’… Time will tell.
Well the rain arrived on Thursday night, in fierce bursts leaving us in a warm murky pool of humidity. Not enough rain yet, Jethro says, to do good and it fell so fast and so hard yesterday morning that it ran off the land and along the roads and is now filling up the pond. At least from the kitchen window the vegetable garden gives the impression of being damp at last and perhaps the onions planted two weeks ago will start to grow?
It is not just rain that is falling fast – new calves are arriving almost daily. So far without too much trouble [fingers crossed], one heifer [a young cow, calving for the first time] needed help, last week, late at night in the dark. The calf was almost out and swinging from her rear end with his hips held fast at the narrowest point of the heifer’s pelvis. A good pull and the bull calf was out, safe and sound. It is unusual for a calf to get stuck at this point because a calf’s head and shoulders are usually the widest and most difficult part to push through the birth passage but because we were there all was well and neither calf nor heifer were distressed. .
Cows are totally occupying our minds just now. With Open Farm Sunday coming up we are working on our displays and activities. We are building two model cows in order that anyone, but particularly the children, may try their hand at milking. There is however one problem the instructions have no measurements and no one here has any artistic talents. We are getting there by degrees, enlarging this cow piece by piece.. but hope that FACE may come up with the actual measurements soon. It does not even say how tall to make the beast! I am sure it will all be fine, in the end, but we all do wish at times at least one of us had the ability to pick up a pen and draw a cow or a sheep or a pig…
Reading last week in the Telegraph about life inthe countryside made me laugh out loud.
Why has there been such a long a gap in my blog entries .. not due to any shenanigans on my part that’s for sure. And there it was again on Sunday - in You magazine, the very same topic .
Laugh, we haven’t stopped! Well, in between wondering what expenses will next be charged to the public purse by over 600 professional persons and simply coping with all the after effects of all the sex and all the seeds.
Yes, I did say SEX, but sex is as normal an occupation for animals as breathing or eating. Sex, or service as it is often referred to in the farmyard, happens a lot in our herds and in our flock and Spring is the main time of the year for us to reap the consequences. It is just as well, putting it simply, if there was ‘no service’, they’d be no animals and we wouldn’t be farmers.
So far we have had over 300 lambs and are already in double figures for calves. We have one young pig due from 24th May and another two sows now do look to be in pig [fingers crossed]. We have a lot more calves due and still about sixty sheep to lamb.
The ‘dodgy boar’ may not be dodgy after all, he can be forgiven though as he was however young when he met the ‘muddy girls’ and a complete virgin, so perhaps it took him longer to put the pieces of the jigsaw correctly together. They are after all out door, and very free range, pigs and it has become clearer to me quite why some rare breeds are so rare! The friendly boar has has a ’stay of execution’ and will get another chance to sow his seeds again if the two sows produce good litters of piglets. We are all hoping all will be well and he will go on to be a champion sire.
And while I am on the subject of seeds I can report that the arable crops are doing well and I have a forest of tomatoes waiting to be turfed out into the unheated greenhouse from the ancient conservatory. However as the greenhouse is currently full of seedlings [caulilower, red cabbage, broccoli, leeks, lettuce, cabbage, more cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli, and sweetcorn] ready for the large vegetable garden, and the large garden is waiting for Jethro and his rotavator it may still take some time. I have resorted to feeding fertilser to the plant plugs that look sad to avoid the work and expense of totally repotting so many plugs just before outdoor planting.
At the weekend I sowed lettuce, radish, more lettuce , basil , carrot, spinach, swiss chard and hoed all the onions and garlic. I have been late with the sunflowers and have had complete failures of certain types of courgettes and runner and dwarf beans. So bad were the failures that I have wondered if they were all sown in the same bag of compost. The beans and courgette seeds just vanished. Normally I have very green fingers and it is very unusual for germination to fail and on such a scale. The later resowing of beans are just erupting now so it looks second time lucky for them. It is too soon however to see if the new courgette seeds have worked but the one courgette plant I bought early on from a road side stall for fifty pence is almosty in production so next year I must be much earlier for the indoor ones.
We are now desperate for rain here. It appears to be the sort of year where the grey clouds come and are swept away on these strong cold easterly winds. Jethro says this is a farm that either gets all the rain or none, and after two washout years in succession this could be the latter.
Almost a week has passed since I last blogged and it has been another really busy week. Lambing is now properly underway, and we have had another calf born safely. We’ve had three calves so far this spring and it is lovely to see them skipping in the sunshine.
Unusually, I have driven almost 1000 miles this week either viewing and riding horses to replace the previous horse who didn’t settle, or undertaking farm business. I am quite glad to be at home today for once even though I have been working flat out since 6am..
I think I have found a suitable horse for riding around the farm and hope to return on Monday for one more ride on him before agreeing to one month’s trial. It has been very hard to choose between two particular horses [ and of course they were 200 miles apart] after looking at and riding many equines over the last few weeks.
Only two were not as described in their particulars, or by their owner [with one, I should have remembered to ask about feet before doing a 250 mile round trip], and we have seen a huge variety of types and breeds, but it has finally come down to a choice of two and after next week I hope to be able to write more about the experience.
I have however met some lovely people along the way. The trust that has been shown to us, to take horses out unaccompanied and alone by someone that they don’t really know [or have any idea if we can ride] has been amazing and a very important part of the process. One little horse was almost discounted as when rode her for the first time, in the company of other horses, she almost went to sleep. Taking her out on her own, a month later, was much better, however I think she will probably be the last losser… but I am trying to be very objective about the whole process and have also taken advice. If the two finalists could have merged together I believe we’d truly have the perfect steed, but I guess that only happens in dreams.
We have also had a farm walk this week with fifty visitors of all ages. These educational visits are brilliant for making us have a major tidy up around all the buildings. Perhaps it is time for visitors in the farmhouse too… but since the Dining room is already overflowing with educational material for OPEN FARM SUNDAY, perhaps it will have to wait. It is always very interesting to us to hear new questions from the public about what we do, and to see how they act when visiting a farm. There are always a few people who think they can go anywhere they like on the premises and others who make the day for us by being so polite, patient and so very interesting.
All the plants that were potted on last weekend have grown on well, and I still hope to plant the onion setts very soon but must be careful not to over do the bending.. all our backs are creaking right now and we are all queuing up for the chiropractor. The cauliflower seeds have come up in record time but I am slightly confused by the instructions in the gardening book and no longer sure if we are growing late summer ones or early winter ones.. so long as we can eat them in due course that is all that matters.
PS: Poor Ruby has mastitis again, and is back on the intramammary tubes. We had to rush out and buy milk for the house, and hope she will be better soon. She has been turned out with the bull by day and is back in her byre at night. We hope to be back on her milk by Wednesday as we always go over the reccommended withdrawal period for all medicines.
Happy Easter!
Once again the days seem to have have flown and I have a gap in my regular blogging. This is partly due to the workload here and also from a much needed few days away from the farm.
The grass and crops are growing well and the sheep start lambing this week. We’ve had 2 calves born so far, and more due very soon. The greenhouse and conservatory are very full of plants waiting for the milder weather to plant out. 500 onion setts await immediate planting [ they only arrived last week by post] but since it has rained all over the weekend I have caught up with transplanting tomato and cucumber seedlings and sowing the sweetcorn, courgette, pumpkin and squash seeds under cover of glass instead.
We are also deep into planning for Open Farm Sunday and LEAF have sent us many packets of seeds to distribute to the children when they visit the farm. These seed packets are provided by DEFRA and in our large batch seem to be predominantly red pepper seeds. There is also Rocket, Cress and Basil but as a seasoned gardener and grower of veg from seed I am very surprised by the choice of seeds since these packets are meant to encourage children to grow things. How many children actually like Rocket and how many will have the patience to try to grow peppers?
The day itself is not until 7th June, and that to my mind is late in the season for growing peppers. I have some grown from seed planted earlier this year that are ready to finally pot on now and I have planted the Defra pepper and basil seeds which arrived this week in the hope that we will at least have plants on display. Nearer the time I shall sow cress and rocket for the BIG DAY. I now have even more seed packets coming from another source, quick growing lettuce this time. If we don’t use them all I shall send them in to the local schools so they will be used up. I expect the numbers of visitors we will get on the day will depend almost entirely on the weather.
There is so much to think about for this big open day from First Aid cover to portaloos to catering and just what will interest our visitors and most worryingly will we have enough helpers? We will all be adding events management to our CV’s and do seem to be managing all this quite well without having a degree in the subject. Between us we just have several lifetimes of experience, an understanding of Health and Safety and buckets of common sense!
Today Jethro is weaning some of this year’s calves and moving some of the cows and one of the bulls to their winter grazing 3 miles away, we have a lorry booked to come in to take them. The driver’s first task will be to fetch the store cattle and few heifers back as we swop them all over. The store cattle will then go in the shed for the winter.
The rams are also going out today, lambing will be due to start on April 14th, but in reality the lambs always begin to come 2 or 3 days earlier.
The pig is much better, so much better in fact that she has made it quite clear to Jethro that she does not want any more antibiotics thank you, however he told her in the gentlest way possible, sorry you must finish the course. Meanwhile her sister is still a lady-in-waiting, which is not helping my early hours insomnia as I have to go and look in my pyjamas, just in case.
Recently, there have been huge developments in the fight against Bluetongue (BT) disease. I have received a lot of information from far flung parts of the country and it takes time, on top of a busy life here at the farm, to finally put it on here in a coherent manner.
The first information came from Wales which became a Protected Zone (PZ) earlier this month, allowing vaccination to start and trade to be allowed with all other PZ’s.
However this is not as straightforward as it seems as Wales is a huge livestock area, comprising many small farms, with incomes to match. The vaccine is expensive and there is much conflicting advice as to how best to proceed.
Apart from imported livestock [where does it state clearly anywhere in the public domain if these tests were for antibodies or actual infection] no actual new case of BT has been reported in the UK this summer, and apparently DEFRA have not looked for any. It is also quite cold, and farmers generally find it hard to believe that BT infected midges will cause havoc especially in Wales and in the north this year. Farmers have or are just about to put their rams in with the ewes. It is a generally recognised fact that vaccination will have to be repeated next spring. So the question from Wales is why repeat it next Spring, why not give primary vaccination next Spring?
The second information came from Scotland who have announced a compulsory vaccination programme for all farm livestock to be completed between 1st November this year and April next year. Additional details can be found in this article from The Herald.
This heartfelt message came by email:
“There are no clinical guidelines on vaccine use and rumour is rife: muddles with half heard stories and Europe’s experience last year, also there is the alleged cop out from the vaccine companies who want to guard themselves against being sued, and DEFRA who appear to not take any responsibility either.
The confusion is such: don’t vaccinate your rams now or they might be infertile, don’t vaccinate ewes from 2 weeks before serving until 2 weeks after- the rams remain in with the ewes for 9 weeks here [Wales], so Christmas will come before it is ’safe’.
The rumours continue: the vaccine may cause foetal loss, may disturb cattle cycling, vaccination may reduce milk yield in lactating cows or goats and buyers of store lambs don’t want it as they are fearful of temperature affects on the meat. Then there is the problem about fitting it in with other vaccines and medicines another raft of cautions given by the manufacturers excluding its use with any other medicine.”
Another famer asked if they should put off giving anti-liver fluke treatment for the vaccine but after such a wet summer missing a crucial dose against liver fluke would be a major mistake. Jethro once bought sheep from a fluke area [unknowingly] and they were very ill before we learnt what was wrong and treated them accordingly.
And another email came from a farmer with a strong background in human medical science:
“Really with farm animals that are about to get pregnant, are pregnant, are suckling young or fattening for the butcher the cautious advice from the drug companies means that hardly any can be safely vaccinated according to their guidance. Of course the vaccine has been taken off the shelf as quickly as possible so perhaps some of the safety testing that might have been done on young or pregnant animals for example has not been completed yet.
There is no one for the vets to turn to for clinical guidance [unlike in human medicine], there are no consultants in veterinary infectious disease to ask for advice, so they must bow to the farmers who must pay for everything and withstand any financial loss.
Even my own vet is going to wait and vaccinate his sheep flock next Spring. Really, I have to agree that that is the most sensible and economic policy, however I have vaccinated my own livestock.
Vaccination next Spring is really the most important vaccination time. It would be most convenient when the animals are in and before lambing. Somehow farmers must also learn they have to vaccinate the young next summer as well before there is a window for infection when maternally derived antibody has waned, in convenient batches.”
The livestock here at Prosperous Farm were vaccinated in May and June this year. We plan to vaccinate the cows and the ewes next March in what will become a routine annual vaccination. The calves and lambs will get some immunity from their dams, and will be individually vaccinated at around one month of age. The calves of course will receive a second booster dose 3 – 4 weeks after the first.
It is a horrible situation for the whole industry. Conflicting advice, multiple rumours, lack of actual science and the sheer practicalities [and costs] of vaccinating millions of animals who reside for most of the year in the far flung hills and dales of Britain are truly formidable. Initial reports suggest that Cumbria and Northumberland will follow the Scottish plan but there is a meeting organised by the National Sheep Association to be held at Hexham on 30th September so it will be interesting to see if the consensus changes in October.
There is one other important point to make and it will be a very contentious one. BT is a notifiable disease and by law must be reported to DEFRA immediately. However, even if farmers were able to identify that they had a suspected case of BT [clinical signs are not always obvious] in all honesty why would they actually bother to report it? There is no compensation, and it seems that there has been little routine testing by DEFRA out looking for this infection, or if they have been testing it has been kept very quiet.
The consequences of reporting a potential case are all financial: movement restrictions, lack of trade, and potential longer term consequences especially if the farmer has pedigree livestock. I think that with human nature being as it is will mean that nothing will be said, except perhaps by a few.
Nevertheless this worries me as I do firmly believe that the British farmer is generally honest, reliable, hardworking and cares deeply for his animals, it is the attitude of powers that be and lack of genuine concern for the industry that have let the farmers [and their animals] down and brought us sadly to this point.
Yesterday, we vaccinated seven calves against Bluetongue (BT) disease. This is the eighth time since May that Jethro has had to get the cattle in to vaccinate against this hideous disease. We were one of the first areas to be given the vaccine and owing to the fact that the cows calve steadily through the spring and summer months it has meant batching the calves and doing a few at a time, and then repeating 3 – 4 weeks later with the second booster dose on each calf. It is not an easy task, but one we take seriously and I wish that all the nation’s livestock keepers and policy makers were of the same mind.
The country is in a mess over the vaccinating programme, as devolved Scotland has decided so far not to vaccinate, despite the National Beef Association petition [please sign].
Wales and the north of England [ Cumbria and Northumberland ]are this month able to vaccinate and yet many individuals are dithering over whether to do so as they worry over potential trading difficulties with Scotland and other areas. However, in July, we were offered steers to buy from Lincolnshire and we turned them down as they were not vaccinated. The vendor was not bothered stating clearly that because others had vaccinated he did not need to. We have a lot of midges and whether there is BT around here or not*, we choose to vaccinate all our cattle and sheep, and we do not want to jeopardise our animals’ health and well-being by bringing in un-vaccinated ones. The new born calves get some immunity in the antibodies from the colostrum [first milk] until we are able to immunize them individually. [* DEFRA should do further testing across the country so we know if there is an underlying problem with BT infection or not. However the test must be able to discern the difference between either infection related antibodies or a stimulated response following vaccination. Clarification here]
Britain is a small country and to protect our livestock we need to be totally united, as we and all our livestock all reside TOGETHER on one island there should be one policy and devolution should be overruled.
