A knotty problem

We buy our own baler

The remaining sheep all sheared, we turned our attention to this year’s crop of hay.

We were lucky enough to spot a square baler for sale in the local ads paper, and after an inspection and a quick trial (stationary, feeding straw through manually) all seemed in order. Having sealed the deal we arranged to have it transported to us, but had to reverse our neighbours borrowed tractor onto the low loader to tow it off. Hair raising!

The bad news was that after trying it out again, it wasn’t working properly – the knotters weren’t knotting! After taking a closer look we thought we had identified the cause, and to confirm it one of our neighbours came for a peek. It turns out that they used to own one of the same model (over 30 years ago!), and were familiar with it.

Suitably instructed, we set about the repairs, and within a day our neighbour returned with his tractor for a trial run. Success! Straw in one end, bales out the other.

Feeling confident, we watched the weather closely and arranged to have the grass cut at what later turned out to be the perfect time. What followed was 4 days of scorching weather, and on the fifth day, we produced 250 bales with our baler (and borrowed tractor!).

Blitz (pictured) declared the bales suitable, and went off for a snooze…

Shear hard work

Shearing sheep is harder than it looks

As the weather warms up, it’s sheep shearing time.

Usually, we ask an expert to come round and do it, but this year we thought we’d have a crack at it ourselves. Armed with a set of electric clippers from our indulgent neighbour, we set about the task.

Having rounded up 6 of last years lambs, we managed to manoeuvre them into the shed one by one, positioning them on their backsides (where they can’t move around too easily). Each was clipped in a rather awkward fashion, and then released back into the pack to recover!

The first two seemed to take about an hour each with plenty of resting (us, and the sheep), at which point we decided to retreat and do a bit more research and have a cup of tea! After viewing a couple of online videos of shearing, we decided to have another crack at it. Although the whole sheep+sheers still felt a little alien, we managed to do the other 4 in about 20+ minutes each.

A vast improvement, but exhausting all the same! The others can wait a week or two…

Hamming it up

Attempting to make our own version of Parma ham

In April, when one of our pigs returned from the abattoir, we decided to try to air dry some hams. We’re hoping they’ll be similar to ‘Parma ham’.

Each of the two hams was salted for several weeks (according to weight), and when ready they were washed and wrapped in muslin.

In the meantime, we made a box with a mesh front, meshed door panel at the back, and 2 hooks in the top. Each wrapped ham was hung on a hook, where they will remain for several months while the air circulates around them in and through the box. At that point, they will be unwrapped and should be ready to eat. Yum!

The box should be outside really, so that the hams are in a draft. Perhaps later in the month we’ll get around to it!

Orphaned

This month we were busy looking after the rejects

April brings lambs for us, as we generally put the ram with the ewes quite late in the year. The rationale is that if the worst of the weather is over, lambs can go outside sooner without danger.

This year, 5 ewes gave us 11 lambs – a mixture of singles, twins, and triplets!

The downside was that for some reason, 5 of the 11 were rejected by their mothers (‘orphaned’). This can be quite difficult for all concerned, not least because they have to be fed several times a day on powdered ewes milk. Expensive, and time-consuming! Then there’s the head butting that takes place once they get the hang of the bottle. After you’ve hand fed 5 lambs you are black and blue!

It was touch and go for one lamb, who we thought we would lose. It wasn’t clear that she’d been orphaned at first, and we found her in a corner of the shed shivering. We brought her inside in a dog cage and placed her next to the range to warm up, and slept with her in our arms.

By the next day, she was much better, and a few days later she went outside into a crate with a hot lamp. Little did we know that she’d soon have 4 friends to join her…

Recovering the polytunnel

Windy weather gives us a break to do the job we had been dreading

Windy weather in early March gave way to a couple of days of fairly still air, and the job we had been dreading for quite a while.

The polytunnel we inherited when we moved in has been in need of a new cover for some time – something neither of us wanted to do (or knew anything about) – but necessity eventually won through!

Having bought the cover (and timbers, bolts, nails, etc) in Feb, and armed with a couple of knowledgeable friends, we finally took the old cover off and removed the rails.

New rails cut and bolted into place, then the beading attached, we were ready for the new cover. With all 4 of us pulling and moving and adjusting it, we drew the polythene fabric over the top and secured it with more beading and nails. Once pulled reasonably tight, we lifted and secured the hoops of the tunnel to tighten it.

Sounds easy, but it took 4 days to do! Little did we know at the time, that this was to be the only 4 days of calm weather for almost the whole of March!

Cover on

Extreme snow

A month full of snow and gales but at least the dogs are happy

February has been a month of extremes.

Snowfall in the first week, which the dogs (pictured) absolutely loved, gave us some concerns for the calf in the cold. Thankfully it seemed to pass without incident, and soon gave way to wetter but slightly warmer weather.

Then following a few more cold days, the weather changed completely and gave us several days warm(ish) and dry! This gave us the opportunity to finish the boundary fencing and shift the ewes in. The grass in there had been untouched for several months, so was fresher than everywhere else.

Unfortunately, though, the weather changed again in the last couple of days giving us severe gales with more forecast. Not ideal, but probably no worse than expected at this time of year. If we can just make it through March and the beginning of April, hopefully, we’ll start to see an upturn in the weather, and an improvement on the damp rainy conditions of last year.

Fingers crossed!

Welcome to the world

It’s a girl

January got the year off to a fairly damp and cold start, and work to keep Pippa (Dexter Cow) comfortable and warm didn’t get any easier! Pippa doesn’t like going into a shed, but she seems quite happy in her field shelter, so several bags of straw later she looked pretty snug.

Due to calf at any time (difficult to predict exactly when) it was extremely important to ensure the survival of the calf with plenty of bedding, and extra hay and cattle cobs were in order – not too many cobs though as we didn’t want the calf to grow too big and make the birth difficult.

Meanwhile, the first half of 25 fence posts were punched in along the far boundary. New fencing is required here to prevent our sheep getting out and either falling in the drainage ditch (see September 2007) or wandering about in our neighbours’ lush grass fields.

Finally, on the last day of January, and in the worst weather we’ve seen so far this year, Pippa’s Calf (Rosie) was born!

A cosy Christmas

Sitting round the fire waiting for Christmas day

As the end of the year approaches, so the evenings continue to get shorter. This makes working outside very difficult but no less necessary, although we have to admit that some tasks just can’t be done in the dark!

Rain, whilst not an everyday affair, continues.

On the plus side, we have chosen our Christmas Tree (soon to be chopped) and are enjoying the warm open fire in the chilly evenings.

Pretty boy

The ram goes in with the ewes but the wet weather continues

The Ram (pictured) was moved as planned, but regrettably one of the ewes had to be taken out and separated from the others due to lameness.

She seems to be recovering well, but it will be a while we think before she is returned to the paddock. We want to be sure that whatever is causing the lameness is cured before reintroduction into the flock.

Meanwhile, the sow has been removed from the piglets (easier than the other way round), and they now have access to a new area of fresh ground.

The rain has continued to pour this month, making it very soggy underfoot – for us and the animals.

New ewe(s)

We increase our breeding stock

Geraldine’s recovery is now complete, and she is as good as new.

We have also just added to our breeding ewes with a purchase of two more from a neighbour of ours (pictured – the ewes, not the neighbour!).

One is pure Suffolk as far as we know, and the other we’re not sure about. Both are a little older than ours, but should give us a few good years of service.

After a couple of weeks with the others, the ram will join the ewes in November. In the meantime, the girls all have access to the main field at night, just to give their current paddock a bit of respite.